2023 Fish-Pic-O-Rama

[lifelinksplit]

What kind of Wisconsin cabin are you staying at that doesn’t have a bunch of old nets laying around ?

To be fair, he said near the Dells so it's mostly FIBs ready to party...

I second bass on poppers and pike in the lily pads. Have fun tgapp.

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[MarsB]

Since tgapp foolishly decided to leave town during hopper season, I took it upon myself to taunt him yesterday by texting him real-time pictures while I fished the river 10 minutes from his house.

[plugboots]

Well played.

[romeo tango]

.

.... FIBs ready to party...

FIBs

HA!
I haven't heard that in decades!
.

[plugboots]

Fucking In Breds?

[Harry]

FIB = Fuckin Illinois Bastard

FISH = Fuckin Illinois Shit Head

Yo tgapp, you in the Dells yet ? Tomorrow I’m taking my brother down River X in my boat, he’s cheating and using spin gear, probably using a buzzbait. 🤪 Supposed to be in the 90’s tomorrow, so we are getting an early start to beat the heat. Meet us at the boat ramp at 5:30am.

[tgapp]

FIB = Fuckin Illinois Bastard

FISH = Fuckin Illinois Shit Head

Yo tgapp, you in the Dells yet ? Tomorrow I’m taking my brother down River X in my boat, he’s cheating and using spin gear, probably using a buzzbait. [emoji2957] Supposed to be in the 90’s tomorrow, so we are getting an early start to beat the heat. Meet us at the boat ramp at 5:30am.

Nah I'm there the weekend after next. How far is the drive? Could I take a day off work and rally? I gotta show up MarsB after all his shit talking, what better way than by putting a musky in the net?

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[stapes]

Nice evening session with a buddy yesterday. Trying to make hay…









Fished til we could barely see our flies. Just looking/listening for takes.

[swimmy]

Planning a 5 day backpacking trip back to the Beartooths Aug 9-13. If anyone wants to join, you are more than welcome. The lakes above 10,000 are pretty spectacular.

[tgapp]

spent my lunch break teaching a coworker how to throw a fly rod. tried my best to channel SFB - "joan wulff called, she said you're dropping your back cast." and "10 o'clock and two o'clock"

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[plugboots]

Walk down to the river and catch smallmouth bass why waste time on a rooftop?

[Lumpy]

Once or so a trip I get to get off the sticks and try to find a stupid one to share. Yes, I should be ridiculed for cargo shorts and wading boots, not Simms Flats Guide pants, snap Howler Bro's long sleeve, a Clown Posse Buff pulled up over my nose, and Tevas, but I'm fat and old and just feel lucky to be able to climb into my ancient Clack, and get to the takeout without having a heart attack or stroke.

[tgapp]

Walk down to the river and catch smallmouth bass why waste time on a rooftop?

Ehhh yeah I need to get some poppers and other bass lures. Just brought streamers with me for the lake. Casting streamers on the river walk would be minorly terrifying.

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[plugboots]

Ehhh yeah I need to get some poppers and other bass lures. Just brought streamers with me for the lake. Casting streamers on the river walk would be minorly terrifying.

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Pretty fun videos of guys catching them in the harbors. Take your full sink down there sometime.

[lifelinksplit]

I can't really see fishing the Chicago River but taking some gear and trolling off the back of one of the architectural boat tours would be hilarious [emoji23].

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[Rasputin]

Last night I got back to town after four days fishing at my favorite creek, cutthroat heaven. After sleeping to late, I managed to assemble meager rations, and needful gear, and found my way to the creek, threw down a tent near the "Fish Bowl" (where I've caught many of my largest Cutthroat. After tossing drys for a few minutes, I switched to a streamer, about which time a guy and his son showed up, (then while we talked, his brothers and their sons) told me how he'd been coming there for twenty years and how it changed, and going on about fishing pressure at that hole. After he left, his elderly father came limping along, and we further had conversation about people leaving their travel trailers parked in camp spaces during the week, so they would be sure of a spot for the weekend. He started fishing the Fishbowl while I swapped back to my floating tackle.

I moved down to "The Corner" and began fishing a hopper dropper, and hooked into a solid fish shortly after starting. He went for the tan chubby, but got snagged in his tail by the Purple Prince dropper.






It wasn't long before I got another, again going after the chubby.





I cut off the dropper, and was tying on a dry trailer when the six guys, three brothers and three sons, came down stream, two of the sons splash across the stream a way up, the guy from before asks bluntly if I was going to fish that hole, and when I said I was just tying on a dry trailers, to do so, he admonished the youngers that they wouldn't be swimming there, but to cross back over, a ways down stream. He repeated a bunch about fishing pressure and how things had changed up there. Then they all stood on the overlooking road, staring at me for a few minutes while I fished. Later, after they had gone on down the road, and I was done there, their father came wandering down and we talked some more about it, he'd been at the big pool since I left him. I told him about how my dad had got me into fly fishing when I was young.

I went back up to the Fishbowl, and caught a sporty little cutthroat, and while I was reviving him, dropped my camera in the water.





Oh noes, not the camera! I had no rice to put in a baggie, but there were a couple shop towels left on a roll, and a half of a Bounty extra-absorbant paper towel, so I wrapped the camera in said towels, sealed it in a tortillia bag, and went fishing.

To get away from the "fishing pressure family" I went far down stream, and fished from the lowest bridge down towards the confluence with a larger river. I caught five small trout, none bigger than eight inches. I'd never caught a small trout in this creek before, but I hadn't fished the lower creek's pocket water much.

After taking a few minutes to eat, I went up stream, and found no one fishing "The Rock Wall", where I've caught many of my biggest fish. I was excited to fish it, and felt certain that being camera-less, I was certain to catch a big fish. After first landing a ten incher on a spruce mothish sort of parachute fly, and then nothing for a while, I tied on a size ten Renegade, which got hammered on the first cast, and lead to an awesome fish fight featuring heavy pulling and powerful runs, and at the end the glory of a gorgeously colored cuttbow, of about 17". He was blind in one eye, which just goes to show, that big flies that don't imitate anything specific, can fool big half blind fish.

I went back to camp, and then fished the Fish Bowl at dusk, losing a heavy fish, after fighting him a couple minutes,when the 6x dropper failed (I'd been fishing light tippets, long leaders due to bright sun and crystal clear water). Another fisherman came through, obviously disappointed that I was there, though not unfriendly, he said he had to be at work in 45 minutes. After he headed up stream, the fish started rising lower in the pool, I moved down, and started trying various patterns with no luck. The fish began practically boiling on the noseeums on the surface. So eventually I tied on a smaller size Renegade, and bam! A big, solid, and bloody red bellied Cutthroat eventually made it into my net. He would have made a great picture. Day one was also my first day to hit double digits! Ten trout!

[Rasputin]

Day two, I went straight down to further explore the lower creek, and fished the "Gorge" which has high steep walls on one side, and a steep bank down from the road high above on the other. It is a picturesque stretch of pocket waters and plunge pools. I worked down the half mile or more, and caught twenty-two fish before finishing the stretch. They were all in the five to nine inch range, and mostly on the small end of it.

After lunch I hiked out to the mouth of the creek, and fished fruitlessly up to the truck again. Later, having returned to camp, I found a whole truck of fisher folks unloading and preparing to bombard the Fish Bowl. I had hoped to fish a hatch like I'd seen the night before, but when I went over there to fill water to filter, they were on all sides of the pool casting in, including one throwing a large spoon from a spinning rod, they were young, and whooping it up, so I just went down to the Corner, and started throwing an orange stimulator which I'd found on that creek last fall. It disappeared, and I pulled in a strong fish, which, upon inspection of photos, turned out to be the same as the first fish I'd caught this trip! How about that?!





I continued fishing stimulators, and occasionally seeing gray ghosts rising from below the silvery sheen of dusk light on the water. Then, having a hard time seeing the flies, I had the thought that I should just use a chubby, since it would be easier to see, and would have a big distinct outline. After a bunch of fish started loudly rising off the point between channel and backwater, I drifted my chubby down and got the most solid take of the trip. It was a strong fish that just kept fighting, pausing only for my net pic. He had almost inhaled the chubby, it was hooked into his tongue.





Before I could get off another picture, the fighting fish busted loose and flopped on the shore until I could get a hold of him, and get the hook out. While I revived him, I dropped my camera in the water again. Happily, he did revive well, and blasted off into the current, but I felt bad about it.

I caught one more fish that day, was glad not to have the hassle of trying to get a pic, and just get the fish back in the water.

[yeahman]

First day fly fishing this year. Been a crazy summer.

[mud]

Trying to learn how to spearfish by getting out there and learning how a professional does it.
I don't know why I thought it would be easier than sitting in a boat drinking a beer but here we are.

[swimmy]

Floated with new friends yesterday. Fishing was slow.

[plugboots]

This is one of the few flies I’ve tied myself, which I’ll probably keep doing because these (mostly), cutties don’t care. It’s tied with rubber bands I found in the kitchen drawer, materials from when I used to tie flies for surf perch, and foam rubber from the thing they put between Mrs. Plug’s toes when she gets a pedicure. I’m calling it the Pedifly.

[skaredshtles]

Gotta love those spunky little 5-inchers.

[Rasputin]

Other last week stuff. Fish Bowl.





Evening number three at the corner.

[jpcm]

We took last week off and bummed around WY and ID. Fished some new water and spent a lot of time on some old favorites. Dry fly fishing was exceptional. Salmon flies, golden stones, drakes, pmds, Sallies, and caddis. We pretty much got eats on everything we threw.
A big stonefly eater to start off the trip on the right foot.

The Mrs with her personal best. A great eat right off the bank. She finally clicked on the whole reach cast thing, and it paid huge dividends throughout the week. While I’m taking this picture I’m yelling “hold that fish like Swimmy does”!!!



We thought we were late on the big bugs, but our camp was absolutely crawling with them.


Speaking of camps…we had some pretty sweet ones



The riffles were money



And teaming with well fed cutties



Our dogs getting old. 10.5 for a English is ancient . She’s been a amazing boat dog. Hope she can hang around for another year or two of smelling the fish.

Loved having the motor…especially on day 7/8

The weeks fare


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[kokomas]

Dang dood. Drooling over here. Nicely played

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