Fish Stories

[SteveM]

I contemplated changing my tippet, but didn't. After about 10 minutes of fighting the trout, he swam straight at me- and right under the

big rock I was standing on. By now, I was really wishing I had gone up in strength from the 3lb test that was connected to the 25" bulltrout

under my feet. Things were not looking good- I couldn't even feel the movement of the trout now; was I snagged under the rock? Arrrgh!

The day had started off great with some dryfly action for cutthroat trout on the Elk River in Southeastern B.C., as well as some bulltrout

up to about 24". At one point, I'd had 3 bullies chase the cutt I was landing; I released the cutt and grabbed my other rod, already rigged

with a big marabou streamer. In the next little while, I landed all three of those bulls; they just stayed right in the area for me to catch.

By then, it was time to start our drive back to Calgary. After 4 days of fishing the Fernie/Sparwood area, we wanted to make one more

stop at Michel Creek on the way home; always time for "one last cast", right? As my brother & I fished our way up the creek, the fish

just weren't cooperating, so I started the usual process of frequent fly changes, as well as downsizing my tippet. Through this, we

managed to catch enough cutts to keep us interested, & keep us moving upstream.

As we walked up to the biggest pool we'd seen on this piece of the creek, we decided this would be our last stop before we headed up

to the road, & back to the car. This pool was deep & clear, but difficult to see into, as the water moved swiftly between & over big boulders.

But every now & then a smooth "window" would open in the roiling surface near the head of the pool; this allowed me to see the school of

whitefish on the bottom. A couple of them looked quite large- time to throw on a nymph & indicator, & catch a few whities to end the day.

This was when I thought about going with a heavier tippet, but decided 3lb would be good enough to catch a bunch of whites.

Apparently, those whitefish had other plans. After drifting several different beadheads through the school with no takes, I tied on old

reliable- a San Juan Worm. On my third drift with the worm, my indi got abruptly yanked under...hookset...fish on!!! It felt like a heavy

fish, & pretty quickly I got a glimpse of my opponent on the end of my line- good fish! As the fish neared the surface, I realized it wasn't

a monster whitefish at all; the white leading edge on the fin was a dead giveaway- BULLTROUT! That's when that 3lb tippet started seeming

a little flimsy- a good-sized bull, fast water, lots of big, sharp rocks versus me with my 7.5 foot 5wt & 3lb test tippet. I wasn't entirely

confident that this fish was going to be landed.

That bull had his way with me for about 10 minutes, yet, somehow, he was still on the line. That's when he swam under the rock. I'm sure

you guys have had those moments where you're absolutely powerless to stop something that you can see happening right in front of you-

this was one of those moments for me. Tried to steer him away from the rock with side pressure; not a chance. Into the hole he went.

When he stopped, I tried pulling on the rod as hard as I dared- nothing doing. I reached down & pulled the line tight with my hand, hoping

to at least feel the movement of the trout- nothing. As I looked down, I realized the hole he'd gone into was actually a space between two

big rocks, & it appeared as though that opening went right through towards shore. I had one last chance.

I yelled for my brother to grab a stick, something to poke into that opening from shore; hopefully, this would result in the trout vacating

his safe haven & swimming back into the pool.

As luck would have it, there was a 10 foot stick nearby & my bro' grabbed it. As he VERY GENTLY felt around in the underwater cave, I kept one

hand on my line. Suddenly, a little hope- I could now feel the movement of the fish; seconds later, he came shooting out of his hideout

into the pool. Obviously, he'd had a nice rest under there, because he still had a ton of energy- it was like starting the fight all over again.

Now I was really wishing I had gone with heavier tippet, because if there was one nick in that 3lb test, it would snap like so much sewing

thread. I must have had some good karma that day, because nearly 20 minutes after hooking up, I tailed a beautiful 25" bulltrout. One

of my favorite fishing memories, ever. My worry about the stress of the battle on the trout was alleviated by how quickly his strength came

back as I held him in the creek; just to be sure, I held him there a little longer. One last look, a "Thank you" for the fight; I opened my

hand, & got a facewash as the bulltrout made good his getaway- his last act of defiance before he disappeared. A fitting end to the day.

As a footnote, I don't advocate using tippet so light that you can't land a fish in a timely manner. I wasn't anticipating hooking a bull on

a SJW; I thought bulls were caught on streamers- now I know better. Also, that was the last time I used less than 5lb test tippet for any

kind of fishing. If the fish are that line shy, I guess I just won't catch'em!

 

 

-Bob Loblaw-

 

 

 

 

This is one of my favorite fish stories; hopefully, you guys & gals will add some of your favorites in this thread. They can be stories about

big fish, difficult fish, big ones that got away, first flyrod fish, special circumstances around a certain fish- anything that makes the story

special to you. Long stories, short stories, several stories- let's have'm, folks!

Thanks in advance,

Steve M.(Bob Loblaw)

[lonefisher]

Cool story. Sounds a lot like the bull I caught yesterday cept mine took a golden stone. That and mine had about 30 seconds of really good fight in him before he tired.

 

I once landed a mid size rainbow and as I was unhooking (a beautiful hookset to the corner of the mouth) I noticed a piece of fishing line coming out the back end of the fish and hanging out about a foot...... So I gave it a gentle tug and realized that it was still attached to a hook. I looked in the mouth and saw a small nymph caught deep inside. The line had managed to make its way through but the hook had not. So I pulled the fly out and the line came all the way through. Fly was an oddball (I believe a a gray nymph pretty basic but with a blood red tail) so I tied it on and caught a dozen or so fish on it. That fly saved what had started out as a pretty slow day..... And I am pretty sure that the fish didn't miss it either

[reevesr1]

Bob,

Absolutely perfect timing. This will be repeated on the trip report, probably tomorrow, but here goes.

 

My son and I are fishing this small stream today down south. Ben decides the run we are fishing is played out and starts further down the river in search of cutts on his dry. I change up my nymph rig in an attempt to lighten up and quit picking up so much moss. I decide to try one of the buckskin SJWs I picked up at Fish Tales to lower the weight. I put it on, high stick into the 18" run and almost instantly hit a fish.

 

As soon as he hits, I know it is something special. I get a couple of big head shakes right away. He comes up a bit and I get a flash of the mid section of his body and it takes my breath away. All I can think is "what is a big bull doing this shallow". It has to be a bull. Too big for anything else. Don't panic I tell myself! Remember all the stuff you read about fighting big fish. He runs across the creek and then starts downstream. Then he comes up again and for the first time I get a good luck. OMG, it's a giant rainbow! Now the heart rate is really peaking! I look downstream for my son and don't see him. I call for him to come help, and again, and again louder each time.

 

The big rainbow starts downstream and I run to keep up. He never makes any fast runs, but he can go pretty much anywhere he wants. I am afraid to stress him too hard with the 6 lb (I think its 6 lb, or is it 5X? What fly is he on? Has to be the worm, so 6 lb). We go back and forth across the river for about 5 minutes and he comes up again and I see he is on the Copper John. Crap, 5X. I also realize he his even bigger than I thought. 26"? 27"? Whatever, he's big. Stupid big for this body of water. Keep the rod up! Keep him off balance! Don't let him get too far downstream of you! I've given up on my son and realize I'm on my own. Did I mention no net?

 

So after another several minutes, he is starting to play out. Just downstream I see a nice gravel section to land him on. I ease him over and get him into about 3" of water. I drop the rod and left hand on the tail, right under the belly and lift the monster out of the water. I am absolutely amazed. I've never weighed a big rainbow before, and this bad boy is FAT. My guess (and it is just that) is 8 lbs. I don't have a tape, but I measure him against my 4 piece, 9 ft TFO. About .5" past the first section. So 9 ft is 108". 108"/4=27" Holy crap. (checked it at home, 26.5")

 

Now here I am, no camera, no witness and what is certainly the largest rainbow I will ever catch on this body of water, maybe one of the biggest ever caught here. It is also the biggest trout I have caught period by 5 or 6". I am exhilirated and strangely disappointed at the same time. Not that I need anyone else to see, but I would have loved for my son to have heard me and seen the fish. Whatever, I ease him back into the water and less than 1 minute later he explodes out of my hand. Clean release! I sit on the bank amazed at what just happened. And I think "remember this, it may never happen again".

[SteveM]

Awesome story, Rick! That's exactly the kind of stuff I was hoping I'd find in this thread; thanks for posting. Sounds like a hella

sweet 'bow. I know how you feel, man. I've caught most of my big fish when I'm fishing alone, with no camera; so much so that

I'm beginning to think cameras & fishing partners are jinxing me!

 

-Bob Loblaw-

[SteveM]

Cool story. Sounds a lot like the bull I caught yesterday cept mine took a golden stone. That and mine had about 30 seconds of really good fight in him before he tired.

 

I once landed a mid size rainbow and as I was unhooking (a beautiful hookset to the corner of the mouth) I noticed a piece of fishing line coming out the back end of the fish and hanging out about a foot...... So I gave it a gentle tug and realized that it was still attached to a hook. I looked in the mouth and saw a small nymph caught deep inside. The line had managed to make its way through but the hook had not. So I pulled the fly out and the line came all the way through. Fly was an oddball (I believe a a gray nymph pretty basic but with a blood red tail) so I tied it on and caught a dozen or so fish on it. That fly saved what had started out as a pretty slow day..... And I am pretty sure that the fish didn't miss it either

"a beautiful hookset to the corner of the mouth"

Kinda reminds me of the two idjits who used to be on Canadian Sportfishing-

"Nice fish, Italo! Look at that sheen!"

"Thanks, Hank! Notice how I got the perfect hookset, right through the roof of the mouth."

I always wished the other dude would say, "Of course he's hooked through the roof of the mouth; you're vertical fishing a jig. Where else are

ya gonna hook'em, ya f***in' moron!"

As for your story, don't ya love catching fish on found flies? I know I do!

Thanks for posting, Lone.

 

-Bob Loblaw-

[reevesr1]

Bob,

I really liked your story, particularly starting toward the end then back to the beginning. Very nice, fun to read.

[Lawrence]

"a beautiful hookset to the corner of the mouth"

Kinda reminds me of the two idjits who used to be on Canadian Sportfishing-

"Nice fish, Italo! Look at that sheen!"

"Thanks, Hank! Notice how I got the perfect hookset, right through the roof of the mouth."

I always wished the other dude would say, "Of course he's hooked through the roof of the mouth; you're vertical fishing a jig. Where else are

ya gonna hook'em, ya f***in' moron!"

 

 

That's awsome!

[rhuseby]

First ever flyrod fish. I was spending the summer on Great Bear Lake as a guide and had bought a fly outfit just before I went up. We had a half-day free so rowed one of the boats out just by the lodge and commenced flailing away. Had several rises but missed them all before I finally noticed the point and barb were gone off the fly. Low backcast had hit the gunwale on the boat. So I'm really peeved and try to make a mighty cast. As usual the line lands in an immense mess right beside the boat with the fly sitting in the exact middle of it. As I start to mutter, I see a grayling come up from near the bottom and slurp the fly. Incredibly, I managed to get tight and land a 17 incher. Ever since then I've known you might get a fish regardless of how bad you're doing at any time.

[SteveM]

First ever flyrod fish. I was spending the summer on Great Bear Lake as a guide and had bought a fly outfit just before I went up. We had a half-day free so rowed one of the boats out just by the lodge and commenced flailing away. Had several rises but missed them all before I finally noticed the point and barb were gone off the fly. Low backcast had hit the gunwale on the boat. So I'm really peeved and try to make a mighty cast. As usual the line lands in an immense mess right beside the boat with the fly sitting in the exact middle of it. As I start to mutter, I see a grayling come up from near the bottom and slurp the fly. Incredibly, I managed to get tight and land a 17 incher. Ever since then I've known you might get a fish regardless of how bad you're doing at any time.

 

Thanks for the contribution to the thread, flyslinger. Great story with a great point- it's never hopeless, as long as your fly is in the water.

Sometimes, what we write off as a bad cast can get us into some great fish.

Again, thanks for the story; feel free to add more.

 

-Bob Loblaw- (AKA Steve M.)

[SteveM]

Bob,

I really liked your story, particularly starting toward the end then back to the beginning. Very nice, fun to read.

 

Thanks, Rick. Since I can't seem to find time to hit the water much, I thought I'd contribute a story from a few years ago; this is

a good thread for others to do the same. Keep'em comin'!

 

Steve

[cdock]

My best story...every time I fish. It just keeps getting better.

 

I know cheesy.

 

Good stories guys. I have to writing talent, hence the cheesy 2 liner.

[SteveM]

My best story...every time I fish. It just keeps getting better.

 

I know cheesy.

 

Good stories guys. I have to writing talent, hence the cheesy 2 liner.

That's OK, Cdock, your cheesy 2-liner bumps this thread up where others might notice it and post more stories.

Anyone else got something to share with the class? Anyone?...Anyone?...Bueller?