2024 Fish Pic Thread

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Originally Posted by Underoos

Here's the video from Bob's birthday in Boblandia a few weeks ago.

https://youtu.be/RH_wLarDMf4?si=sAU8860BbASJVmib

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Mental health day - taking a break from fishing. That was one had me smilin'

Which come to think of it, I haven't touched a rod since mid July. Longest I've gone in recent memory besides my annual winter break. Not intentional but been hiking, backpacking, and exploring new-to me areas. For those that don't follow the Montana thread, I was a few groups behind the grizzly mauling in Glacier this week. That was crazy.

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Gorgeous shots as usual, Swimmy,. I took a couple months off from fishing this summer also, and since I have been back, I've had very good luck in catching big fish. When you pick up a rod again, may it be so for you as well.

I spent a long, hot, and at times frustrating day on the river today, which ultimately, was very rewarding. I got on the water early enough that I was able to fish the trico hatch. The fish were sipping them from the surface, and I managed to catch one on a sparkly #18 purple haze parachute.


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Then my luck dried up for a couple hours or more, no bites at all for quite a while. I fished my way up Long Pool, and eventually, caught a small one on a purple chubby. Then I decided to ford the stream above Long Pool and go up river, I found a really fishy looking rapid into a deep run, and caught another small one, which nearly swallowed a small olive/black Pat's rubberlegs. I went further up and found myself at my furthest downstream exploration of the "New Place", which connected two large sections of the Clark Fork in my mental map. I had no luck there, so I went back down stream to Long Pool, so I could see it from a different perspective.


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I badly fished the water below the fallen tree (upper center above), having swapped to a double nymph rig, and trying to steeple cast to avoid the cut bank at my back, I tangled badly several times, and had a spike in my ill humor. I decided to leave, and as I rapidly stripped in my line, the fish below, attacked the Pat's on the surface, and hooked himself! I felt subtly mocked by the universe.


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After fording the river again, I threw into Long Pool from the top working down, I'd fished previously with a chubby/Pat's rig, but I'd swapped to the double nymph rig with one of ISBDs tung headed stones, and a small Pat's trailing. I didn't get too far down the pool before the bubble dove, and I had my prayers answered, a big fish! Alleluia! Thanks to the God of fly fishing (and Eternity too), and thanks to ISBD for the killer nymph.


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I kept trying for another one, as I fished back downstream toward the sunset, but I was ready to leave, and had to, because all I'd brought were my prescription sunglasses. Good night.


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Scotland
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I got up early today, and got down to the river for the trico hatch, there was also a hatch of what I think were hecubas.


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I rigged a double dry with a #12 parachute Adams, trailed by a #18 of the same. I caught five or six little guys, this was probably the biggest of them.


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I wasn't expecting much else, when suddenly, a big fish hammered the big fly, and I was treated to a lively fight by a beautiful rainbow around 16 or 17 inches in size, after which I got him to the net, and missed scooping it up. I brought him close a second time, and it came off the hook right at my feet. I was almost able to scoop it with my net, but didn't, and watched powerlessly as it very slowly swam away, NOOOOOOOOOO! Sadly, I was unable to hook any more decent sized fish, but did effectively tease one later by ripping the fly out of it's mouth, strong work Rasputin! Not.

Wallowa Lake
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Wallowa River
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pretty places to get skunked
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Originally Posted by romeo tango

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pretty places to get skunked
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Joseph, Oregon. What do you get when you have a beautiful, well planned mountain town without a ski resort? A retirement community where it feels like the average age is 70.

retirement community?
ranchers and ranch hands (the real deal)
outnumber the bourgeois retirees 100:1
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Ya, that's definitely the vibe I got down in Enterprise. Joseph, on the other hand, seemed like a lot of healthy happy old folks who'd found the secret to retiring to a sweet mountain town on a modest pension. No ski resort.

I sat next to a woman from Joseph on the bus, when I went out to Oregon earlier this year. She was super cool, and had developed a business growing sprouts of various kinds. She had been traveling with her partner, and their vehicle broke down there. One of the retirees let them park their trailer on her property, and then eventually offered to sell them the lot on which she'd let them park, they liked the town so much that they bought in.

I got up early today; the days are getting shorter fast, and I am adjusting to getting up before it's light out to make the most of the disappearing daylight hours. Also, it puts me on the river for the trico hatch, which today was a frustration. The fish were rising muchly, but I couldn't interest them in anything I tied on. I didn't catch anything until it was over, and I switched to a chubby/Pat's dropper rig, both of which converted.

After catching the first fish of the day (below) on the chubby, I hooked and lost a couple big fish before catching a whitefish and two small trout.


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I worked some water I had previously walked past, in a previous trip to "The New Place", and hooked up with a beauty of a rainbow, which waited until I got close to come off the hook, NOOOOO! Eventually I managed to land the big fish of the day (below) but it was smaller than the ones that got away. Oh well, at least later, I got to see a huge fish (it was so big, it was startling) surface ten feet in front of me, right next to my line.


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Got out with jcpm +1 yesterday. Colors were popping, a few fish were biting.

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Dang, what an hudge 'bow. ^^^

Yesterday was my birthday, so I went fishing. Sadly, for much of the gorgeous day, I was unable to hook a fish, and so I was very excited when I hooked up on a strong fish in one of my go to spots, however as has been to often the case lately, it came off after a few seconds, which lead to a loud exclamation of disappointment. Finally, after losing a modest sized trout, I finally caught one, and was very relieved to do so, as I'd fished five hours with only a few takes, which included a couple smalls rising during the trico hatch.


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A few minutes later I got a hit from a fish, that I thought at first was a monster, however when it came into sight I was shocked that a fish that size could pull so hard. She was barely 15", but the highlight of the trip, as I got no more action. It was certainly a beautiful day out, and I was in a generally good mood even though the fish were generally unwilling to be part of my birthday proceedings.


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Happy birthday! Nice fish roos, that looks like fun water to row.

Went down near the MT/ID border to camp and fish with some hot springs action as well. Prob not he best idea to camp at a spot close to a rotting Moose carcass but didn't see any bears or wolves and dogs were happy chewing questionable pieces of said Moose. Played with some eager little brookies. Few bowhunters out but not many people off the beaten path.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...3dc69598ea.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...c0d96306f4.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...52d586ff39.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...e69f94c8f5.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...256a46e0a1.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...943b6ff586.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...bfbe6abaa2.jpg

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That pic with the two dogs looking eagerly at the brookie is priceless. ^^^


As for my day, it started out with me slicing into the tip of my thumb as I cut up potatoes for breakfast. However, luck was with me, because, though I cut myself pretty good, we just happened to have those fancy end of finger Bandaids! So adversity met with providence.

I took my sweet time about getting out of the house, even though it was cloudy out, and imagined that the fish were rising like crazy, but I took the time to remove the skins from a crock-pot full of peppers I had cooked to make hot sauce, while listening to my beloved Grateful Dead. It was getting on toward 1 pm when I finally got out the door. Again I was blessed, when I remembered that I didn't have my camera before driving away. Alleluia, thank God for small miracles!

I took the overland route to the South shore of the stretch of river I fished on my birthday. About the time I got there, the sun came out, so I took off my long-sleeved shirt. Once I got out into the river, the sun hid behind the clouds, and the wind kicked up; I started getting cold as this was no gentle breeze, it held steady at 20 mph or so, with gusts up to 45 or more. My trucker cap suddenly was wholly inadequate to keep my head warm, and I began to get cold in spite of having donned both of the long-sleeved shirts I had with me.

I lost a large fish which broke off the purple Pat's (with pink legs) I'd bought out of the clearance section at Bob Ward's. Along with the coldness of the wind, losing the fish led me to become grumpy, so I howled and roared to directly express my emotional displeasure, rather than cursing, and I eventually caught a small trout (on the purple chubby chernobyl which I was using as an indicator for a black Pat's rubber legs). However the wind was still giving me fits, and I growled my displeasure. Then I caught a fine 13" trout, with a taste for black Pat's, and felt such profound gratitude for the God of fly-fishing (and the First Cause of creation) that I gushed "Thank you God" a dozen or more times. Adversity had lead to providence again! I sat down on the bank and had lunch, and my mood had turned from pessimism to confidence.

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I was about done fishing that section, and threw into that last spot of softer water next to the head of the riffle, then bam, I became happier still when a fat she trout took a hold of my black Pat's and found her way into my net.


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I called it good there, the sun had come back out, and though the wind persisted, I enjoyed looking up and appreciating why they call Montana "Big Sky Country".


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Up river, when I hooked up in the "Big Bend" area, and saw a trout jump out of the water, the spray was caught in the sunlight, briefly creating a rainbow, which I thought was appropriate, as I thought it would be one of the large 'bows which I've caught there. Wrong! It was a brown trout, which I rarely catch. This one was so feisty that it jumped out of my net, leading me to attempt to re-scoop it, trip over a rock, drop my rod in the river, and watch the fish swim away. However the black Pat's held onto it, and I had my second 16"er of the day!


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It was sunny skies, good times, and ridiculously high winds the rest of the day.


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I headed back down the river. I felt blessed, and though it wasn't late, I decided to walk back down to where I'd started the day, and throw a few more casts before heading home. I stopped to admire the beautiful meadow along the way.


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My heart was full as I lofted casts with the sun and wind at my back. I was enjoying it, not expecting any more fish, and as I got back to the head of the riffle again, I told myself, "One more cast." But, the chubby landed upside down, and ruined the last cast, so I was obligated to throw a good one, and it was so good that the biggest fish of the day grabbed the Pat's, and put up a mighty fight, before posing for a last pic.


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Providence again! I am humbled by the good fortune granted by the God of fly fishing (who also kept me from getting shot, by the hunters who were repeatedly emptying their magazines nearby, at whatever poor creature takes five shots to kill).

Cuttie water

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Caught while trolling a streamer behind the paddle board as it way too windy to try and maintain position while casting and stripping.

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Felt kinda bad about keelhauling the first fish for what could have been a half mile, but it released just fine. The others took drag.

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Caught some small bluefin off the coast of So Cal. So much fun! 2 days of straight fishing. Caught 5 fish, lost another 4 and I’m tired.


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I went to the river late, but wanted to get a couple hours in before sunset, and landed two fish. One was a five inch whitefish which hooked itself as I was walking through the water, unintentionally dragging my pheasant tail dropper in the water. The second was the cutbow below, which rose for a royal micro-chubby:

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Today, after paying the rent, and breaking in the gift card my son gave me for my birthday, I eventually made it out to "The New Place". I was not in a good state of mind, I can't say why, but I had some things to work through, and so the time on the river was not restful or enjoyable, because things outside oneself cannot be enjoyed unless one has the receptive capacity for that which is without.

Anyway, I was not feeling good, and as a result the experience I was having proportionally was not a good one, I couldn't get the fish to bite, and then when they did, I couldn't hook them. I bent the hook setting it on the one fish that showed a genuine interest in my fly. I got into the state of mind that said nothing good was going to happen, and so nothing good was happening. I left the area of the "black Pat's hole" where I'd done quite well before, and headed to where I had first fished at the "New Place". Along the way, I did my best to count my blessings. I said to myself, "Well you are quite fortunate not to be in Gaza, or Lebanon, or Ukraine, I'm sure folks from those places would feel blessed to be here not catching fish on a beautiful sunny day....". Then I realized I was judging myself for feeling unhappy, as if it was bad of me to feel upset within myself. So I apologized to myself, and about the time I got to the big riffle where it dumps into the deeps, I found that my acceptance for myself softened my mind's control over my emotions, and I started to shudder through my body, and sob out loud.

A few casts later, the chubby dipped abruptly, and the hook-set was met with meaty resistance. It became apparent that it was a rather large fish which had no intention of coming my way. I was concerned that the 5x tippets fastened to the black Pat's would break, as I repeatedly tried to bring the fish closer, my arm was feeling rather strained, and I begged out loud to the God of fly-fishing (The Almighty) to please let me land the fish, as I have lost a disconcerting number of large trout in the past couple weeks. My prayer was answered, and I landed the 20 incher pictured below, which was considerable heavier than the one I caught a while back, my biggest trout yet.


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I expect that some who read this thread may cringe a bit when I speak of God and faith in connection to my good fortune in fishing, and that it is just confirmation bias on my part, the rationalization of deluded superstition, and I can understand that point of view, but I also cringe at such skepticism, and think of it as denial bias.

I understand how reality is formed, by the electromagnetic oscillation between an individual's polarities of magnetic essence, and the electrical quickening of consciousness. I have time and again experienced the manifestation of desire, as the vibration of emotional movement opens space for the vision of possibility to manifest into form. I also have often been wise enough to listen to the guidance of the inner voice which foreshadows the future, enough so that I joyfully get to see the fruition of having faith in said guidance. Today this latter dynamic played out thus.

After I released the big guy, I had the thought to switch over to my streamer set-up, as I am quite certain that there are many more big fish in that area, so I grabbed my nippers, and had the line between the blades, when God told me to stop. I was told that I should cast the same chubby/Pat's rig a bit more. So I stopped what I was about to do, and cast, and after a few throws, I was delighted to see the indicator dive again, and was thrilled by the jumpingest fight I've ever had. Though the big one was much heavier, this one was more athletic, and my heart soared, not just because of the fight of the fish, but because I had listened to the voice of truth guiding me to what my heart desired, and which otherwise I would have almost certainly missed.


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After releasing my second fish, I thought again about the streamer idea, but the voice again said no, to leave that for another time. So I switched over to a double dry rig. I wanted to avenge my earlier disappointment throwing dries. I didn't care about catching another big one, so I went to a place where smaller fish often rise in the foam of a small eddy, and there I caught a small one on a griffith's gnat. I was very pleased, then went back to the "Black Pat's Hole" and didn't catch anything, but I found a chubby chernobyl on the ground. As it often goes for me, adversity triggers the movement of my will that allows my desires to manifest, that's how it works, to think otherwise is just denial bias.


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Some times denial bias perfectly describes my day of fishings. Nice fish R, that big one is a beaut!

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First day out in a while. Stellar weather.

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hey Rasputin, check your mailbox,
message sent
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Nice fish Swimmy, good to see you back at it.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by romeo tango

hey Rasputin, check your mailbox,
message sent
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Got it, I was out of town, not catching big fish, at "Big Cutthroat Creek".

Yes. Sad but true, that in two days at Big Cutthroat Creek, I caught only two modest sized cutties, and one small rainbow. The water is the lowest I've ever seen, and the fish are skittish. The shallow water is crystal clear, and the hot spots there were luke-warm at the best times of day. I briefly had a big fish on last night, which surprised me, by taking an olive Caddis X as I was stripping it in.

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Rasputin

Nice fish Swimmy, good to see you back at it.

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So, after I caught my biggest, so far, trout fish nine days ago, I have had a string of mediocre outings, catching only smaller trout, and often putting in long hours with almost no action. I was getting a complex about it, I lost my mojo, lady luck had left me, etc. Well, today I a few hours before having to be home for a Zoom meeting, so I went to the easiest access, that would be easy to get home on time from.

Since there was only a few hours, my expectations were low, but I had a moment on the river the night before where I had found some peace with my inability to woo bigger fish. I had caught one little fish on a dry fly around sunset, and had lost another just after that, but I had fun doing it. Today I put on the same fly, a bright orange elk hair caddis which the store calls an October Caddis, but frankly, it seems like a poor imitation in both color and shape. However, some fish (three of them today) seem to disagree with me on this point. I rather quickly got my first fish of the day on said caddis; his picture was blurry, but the second fish took a fine picture for me, a cutie of a cutty.


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Then I tossed into the "honey hole" which has produced many respectable fish in the past. I muffed the first cast, but got a refusal by a smaller fish. The second cast drifted in perfectly, and got my third eat on the "October Caddis". I was thrilled to break the small trout streak I'd been on.


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At the confluence I decided to switch to a hopper dropper rig. I felt drawn to my random nymph box, and tied on a Rainbow Warrior jig head, which I had found a while back when I followed a piece of monofilament in the river. This turned out to be a great choice. First getting a couple whitefish in the confluence of two great Missoula area rivers, and then in the same area my target species, and even thicker than the previous trout fish.


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Then I caught six more whitefish. Here's their representative, most were around this size.


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I was running out of time, but took the time to fish the spot I had started fishing, and once again Rainbow Warrior for the win. It seems like I've got my mojo back. My 13th fish in four hours. Alleluia, praises to the God of fly fishing!


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Thanks for the beta,
catch you next time ....

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^^^ Yeah, too bad the timing was off RT.

I went out late again, and it went well;I've got my mojo working. I have been wondering if it's getting late in the year to be fishing hopper dropper rig, but found my answer, as glassy water was broken to take the black and purple chubby chernobyl.


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Sometimes the sky amazes me; I very much love when the sun plays peekaboo.


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I went from The New Place, downstream all the way to Long Pool, my inner guidance told me it would be worth the hike, and so it was!


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I had another good day, I caught four fish in about three hours, and it gave me an eye to appreciate the beauty of little things.


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Sadly, I'll be leaving town next week to do something less fun than fishing, in a place I would otherwise have no interest in going. Oh well, the past couple days have been great, and I have all winter to fish.

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Mrs.Plug w/ one:
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This 18”er was a snack compared to some of the hogs I saw today. Some had to be ~35”.

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Need a calm day to sight fish, with the normal chop can’t really see them until you’re on them.

Kinda cool, same fish I caught yesterday. Yesterday sipping midges, today Baetis.
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One of the nicer ones from today:
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Wife with some chrome
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Blue spot
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Fishing w/ someone allows yer pic to be taken:
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Strong work folks, this place has been blowing up lately!

I'm about to go catch a late train for California, but I had to get one more outing before I went. I caught seven whitefish and a lone trout, all on a rainbow warrior nymph, and in just over two hours. No lunkers today though.

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thanks for leaving a few
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