2023 Fish-Pic-O-Rama

There was a fresh covering of snow outside when I got up today, so I thought it would be a good day to go fishing. I pedaled the 3.8 miles to the boat ramp, and arrived about 1 pm. After a half dozen disinterested casts into the churn, I waded over to the spot I'd caught three of them on Friday, the first cast there yielded the first fish of the day, a chubby little trout.


Attachment 479005


Fishing in a winter wonderland:


Attachment 479006


Attachment 479007


I caught four whitefish and two trout in three hours. The whitefish were all respectable size, this was a thick 15", caught on a #12 Pat's rubber legs, in coffee brown. All the other fish took the red beadhead Copper John which was trailing.


Attachment 479008


The sun tried to break through, but only got this far:


Attachment 479010


A little ways up the Bitterroot, I caught my last fish of the day (the smallest of the whitefish today), then weakly hooked, and quickly lost, two in a row. I knew it was time to saddle up and head home. A good afternoon on the river.


Attachment 479013

considering the growth of Missoula/Bitterroot valley the past few decades and
the influx of Northern Pike in the Clark Fork,
I'm impressed and encouraged by the number of large, healthy trouts being caught

,

I'm sure there are any number of old timey locals who would tell you it ain't what it used to be by a far cry, and they would probably be right, but I'm not complaining; every time I go out, I go with the awareness that I might get into a big fish, and it's not all that unlikely to catch my biggest one yet. I still haven't caught a twenty incher, but they certainly are in there.

Another afternoon on the river today began with four troutfish in the first twenty minutes or so, which was nice, but the fish were not large.


Attachment 479146


From then on it was all whitefish, three of them, this was the first.


Attachment 479147


Nothing big today, but seven fish in three hours is not a bad day out for me, and as always I enjoyed wonders of nature.


Attachment 479149

This is a cool site: https://www.thefloatingfly.com/the-study

It's just a bunch of interviews with "famous" dry fly fishermen from around the world talking about how they fish. Also has great pics.

Hey Rasputin! I have some extra almost new waders with 10.5-11 socks too. Happy to hook you up if you need em!

Cool of you to offer schwerty, thanks for that. I don't know how to respond to all these offerings of waders, I don't know how to sort or prioritize. So instead I'll post the only pic of a beautiful, and sorely trying day at the river. I caught one small whitefish, and only had one other take, but the day sure was pretty.

Attachment 479431

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Self Jupiter

Striper on the middle spook from earlier this month, they love them. My favorite way to fish for them during the day.

Attachment 477701
Attachment 477702

---

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by The Suit

I brought my camera along on a fishing trip for the first time in years. This was in the eastern Pacific - Chiapas, Mexico.

Day one I got some artsy (for me) shots on the way out:

https://photos.smugmug.com/Casa-Aman...SC04474-XL.jpg

https://photos.smugmug.com/Casa-Aman...SC04473-XL.jpg

I had to figure out all over again how to get decent photos, so despite catching a bunch of sailfish and a blue marlin, all I got was one decent sailfish shot:

https://photos.smugmug.com/Casa-Aman...SC04505-XL.jpg

Day two was slow, but I got a couple decent pictures

https://photos.smugmug.com/Casa-Aman...SC04586-XL.jpg

https://photos.smugmug.com/Casa-Aman...SC04588-XL.jpg

In the next three days we had a few cooperative sailfish that put on a show while I had the camera out

https://photos.smugmug.com/Casa-Aman...SC04650-XL.jpg

https://photos.smugmug.com/Casa-Aman...SC04878-XL.jpg

https://photos.smugmug.com/Casa-Aman...SC04868-XL.jpg

https://photos.smugmug.com/Casa-Aman...SC04839-XL.jpg

We mostly try not to catch dorado (mahi mahi), but we made an exception when this this big bull showed up in the spread

https://photos.smugmug.com/Casa-Aman...SC04823-XL.jpg

And lastly, you don't see this very often - a sailfish just cruising around with his sail erect. We dragged baits in front of him for at least five minutes but never got any interest.

https://photos.smugmug.com/Casa-Aman...SC04915-XL.jpg

---

Jupiter and Suit..... I missed both these up thread. great shots

Rasputin... nice work with the year round trout season! hopefully you get into some waders asap. Ive got some used size 14 Simms boot with another season or two on them if your a big footed guy. happy to send them your way

nice fish Suit!

.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Rasputin

Cool of you to offer schwerty, thanks for that. I don't know how to respond to all these offerings of waders, I don't know how to sort or prioritize. So instead I'll post the only pic of a beautiful, and sorely trying day at the river. I caught one small whitefish, and only had one other take, but the day sure was pretty.

Attachment 479431

---

keep doin your thing

PSA- Scott Rods on sale

Grizzley Hackle in Mizzoula has all models of Scott's on sale with their 12 days of Christmas deal. %25 off through the 12/15. then 20% off the next 3 days. Free shipping/ no tax. Yea Im a Scott fanboy, but that's a really good deal. they never go on sale

https://shop.grizzlyhackle.com/colle...scott-fly-rods

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by jpcm

Rasputin... nice work with the year round trout season! hopefully you get into some waders asap. Ive got some used size 14 Simms boot with another season or two on them if your a big footed guy. happy to send them your way

---

Golly, thanks! You guys warm my heart with the all the goodwill offerings. While I've heard it is customary to size-up wading boots, 14 seems like a bit too far up. I think tgapp was going to send me some boots closer to my size.

I haven't fished year round yet, however this year I do intend to fish through the winter. My knees, resources, and soul progression decided that I should quit skiing, so fishing is my remaining outdoor indulgence/obsession. I fished before I ever skied, so it is fitting that should fish after I've finished skiing, like my father before me, who long since quit skiing, but he still fishes at 87 years old.

I had kind of checked out due to changing seasons. But glad I clicked on the thread. Good stuff in here...dig the vibe.

With no snow and temps this weekend in the 40's, I'll probably dust off the gear.

Anyway, keep it up. https://images2.imgbox.com/6c/e2/L8V...?download=true

This threads awesome. Great pics. Looks fuckin cold.

It got pretty cold last night, but it was somewhat sunny today, though filtered through strato-cirrus clouds most of the day. It was around 30 degrees when I arrived at the river, a bit past 12:30pm.


Attachment 479621


I started fishing again where I've regularly been catching small trout this past week; I know there are big ones in there (I caught a 17"er once), but I've been unable to tease them into any takes. I caught a couple littles today, and tried to take a pic of each, but my net came untethered when I tried to shoot the first one (I dropped the fish rather than watch the net float away), and the second one was just too wriggly, and escaped. Here's the very fishy spot though.


Attachment 479622


The confluence was a bust today, not a bite, but I hooked a whitefish, and lost it, a foot from my outstretched net. Other spots up the Bitterroot that usually produce yielded nary a bite. With about an hour before sunset, I decided to hike upstream about a half mile from the boat ramp towards the rope-swing. I was running out of daylight quickly. I stopped to admire the frozen foam along the shore.


Attachment 479625


Just across from the rope swing, my indicator disappeared, and the third troutfish of the day made it into my net. I tried to take a better pic, but the writhing fish escaped me.


Attachment 479626


The sun set on another day, I didn't knock 'em dead today, but it was a good day nonetheless, sure beats hiding from the cold.


Attachment 479627

Surprise running into this guy yesterday!

https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...age50Q9Vw.heic

https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...agec4bPY7.heic

https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...agektTKES.heic

https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...ageNvpmWz.heic

Well played swimmy!

This arrived mysteriously in the mail today, I suspect it's from Dad.

Attachment 480143

Attachment 480413

Attachment 480414

Attachment 480415

Attachment 480416

Attachment 480417

Attachment 480425
Attachment 480426

Getting that last squeeze of juice out of the 2023 fishing license.

I like catching fish but fishing Dec. 23 at 6500ft in Idaho is so, so wrong. There should be 4 inches of ice covering the river by now. Bad omen for the upcoming snow pack.

First fish on the new rod & reel.
Attachment 480427
*My new net showed up today.

Wow, some nice looking fish! Neckdeep's is a fatty, and skiingislife's is very pretty.

Yesterday's outing (which yielded the above pics) was one of great consternation. I arrived at the river before 11 am, and caught the lone juvenile rainbow within the first ten minutes. Also within the first ten minutes, my boot which I had been patching, and on which I had sprayed layers of flex seal for days, started leaking in a new place, left me with a soaking foot for the whole day. After that first fish, I only had two "ghost takes" which sucked the indicator under abruptly, but the hook set came back with nothing but water. I covered a lot of ground in over six hours on the river, and grew despondent over the course of the effort, returning home exhausted and dissatisfied. Well, at least I caught the one fish.

I did some exploring further upstream than I've gone before, but did little fishing there, as I was unsettled in my heart, and couldn't muster the focus and faith it takes to fish well. I hadn't been out in a week, and it was a let down, but sometimes we have to go down into the well before drawing forth the water of life, and the fish which reside therein.

You gotta get out of those boots and into some waders! Did anybody send some out? If not, I have a spare pair of Redington Sonic Pros I can ship out to you after Christmas, just have a pinhole that I've been neglecting to patch.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by MarsB

You gotta get out of those boots and into some waders! Did anybody send some out? If not, I have a spare pair of Redington Sonic Pros I can ship out to you after Christmas, just have a pinhole that I've been neglecting to patch.

---

Im still trying to track down an XL pair for Rasputin. If you've got some then feel free to step in for my sloth.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Rasputin

I did some exploring further upstream than I've gone before, but did little fishing there, as I was unsettled in my heart, and couldn't muster the focus and faith it takes to fish well. I hadn't been out in a week, and it was a let down, but sometimes we have to go down into the well before drawing forth the water of life, and the fish which reside therein.

---

Umm, this is like, umm, really good writing. Nice dude.