Braggin Board for Fishing!

[Outdoor Writer]

Those are some great looking Macks! Don't see to many like that anymore.

It's a fly-in lake about 40-50 miles from Watson Lake. When I was there -- twice --there were only two small lodges on it. I would bet that lake still has some lakers that big and maybe bigger. It also has a very large population of hungry northerns. Nothing to catching a couple dozen a day, and I'm not talking about hammer handles. Most are in the 8 to 15 lb. range. It's been a long time, but I seem to recall catching several pushing 20. It's lots of fun because the water is so clear, you can watch the pike chase & take a lure even in 15 feet of water.

 

[Outdoor Writer]

The most fun I ever had fishing was a week I spent at a fly-in lodge on the Hotlitna River in Alaska. We caught a couple species of salmon, and one day we flew to a place to catch sheefish -- the tarpon of the north -- which was the topic of the article I was doing for Outdoor Life.

Best of all, another day we poled our way thru a 7' wide, 1/2-mile long shallow channel into a tiny back slough filled with reeds. The open water was about 40 yds. across. Once we anchored in the center, we never moved the boat. We got there at 7 a.m & didn't quit fishing until 10 pm. Over that time, we boated 102 northern pike over 8 lbs. with most between 10 to 15 pounds using nothing but bass-type spinnerbaits I had brought along. The backstory on that choice is kind of humorous in itself.

I've probably landed a few thousand pike over the years but could never break the 25 lb. mark. This is the closest I have come at 23 lb. on that day

Here's a not-so-good scan of a 35mm slide of that one.



On my trophy room wall....

 

[roosiebull]

I think I have enough springers now, and it’s getting busy where I’m fishing, but I won’t complain about a limit of good eats... I think it’s time to switch gears and switch to summer steelhead

 

[OXN939]

Know how you get too cool for stuff as a kid that's actually awesome? I definitely thought kayak fishing was for nerds who like to go slow while I was chasing pelagics offshore in high school and college... but all of the fish below cost a combined $0 in maintenance, fuel, property taxes, titling/registration fees and launch fees. Not to mention yaks get you into some great spots that are no gos for boats, and it's about the most relaxing way out there to get on the water.

 

[roosiebull]

Today on the big pond

 

[Outdoor Writer]

Two 5+ caught about two minutes apart on two different rods.

 

[Outdoor Writer]

I decided I'd better explain the double catch above. It was right before dawn, and I was tossing a surface bait with two treble hooks. The biggest of the two fish ingested it where several hooks became embedded. So while my trusty Mex. guide was trying to get it all freed, I picked up another rod with a spinnerbait attached and nailed the 2nd fish on the first cast. Both were released.

 

[cnelk]

Went lake trout fishing today.
Because that what you do on Mondays when you're retired

 

[Lowg08]

Two WNC mountain creek browns. Both 18” and both released back alive.

 

[Outdoor Writer]

My bride working on a northern pike...​

Another from that same sequence....

​

And another...

​

 

[Outdoor Writer]

ESPN host, Mark Zona with a fat Lake El Salto bass.

​

 

[Outdoor Writer]

View attachment 110812View attachment 110812View attachment 110812View attachment 110812View attachment 110812View attachment 110813View attachment 110812View attachment 110814View attachment 110815View attachment 110814View attachment 110812View attachment 110816

Me thinks you stuttered a bit.

 

[Outdoor Writer]

Apache Trout -- Christmas Tree Lake, AZ​

 

[bsnedeker]

My little girl (4) has finally figured out how to cast! Other than me baiting the hook and taking the fish off she did this all by herself!

 

[Salmonchaser]

So far this season we’ve just been fishing for rainbows. Seen a few kings roll and the subsistence nets have picked up some reds and kings. I have yet to get anyone over 30 inches but lots of 26 inch fish

 

[TripleJ]

I think I have enough springers now, and it’s getting busy where I’m fishing, but I won’t complain about a limit of good eats... I think it’s time to switch gears and switch to summer steelhead

Looks like you and your wife did quite well on the springers, congrats!

 

[Salmonchaser]

This morning produced the first grizz encounter. He popped up behind the beaver den as we approached. We gave him the run to fish.

 

[roosiebull]

So far this season we’ve just been fishing for rainbows. Seen a few kings roll and the subsistence nets have picked up some reds and kings. I have yet to get anyone over 30 inches but lots of 26 inch fish

what part of AK are you from? that ain't a Pendleton rainbow dang nice fish!

 

[Salmonchaser]

what part of AK are you from? that ain't a Pendleton rainbow dang nice fish!

It’s a nice fish, annually we get a dozen or more over 30”, but most of those come in September. We are out in King Salmon, Pendleton in the fall and winter.

 

[roosiebull]

Looks like you and your wife did quite well on the springers, congrats!

it's been good for us.... kinda funny now we are on the south coast but coming back up for the weekends (for now) i have never been a weekend warrior before.... historically i just don't fish weekends at all.... now if i don't, i don't get to fish those fisheries.... makes for some early days, which is ok if they are biting well. one morning, the plan was to get a limit killed early for my wife then get out of dodge early.... legal light was 4:35am.... we were trolling right at legal light, and had 3 in the boat before 5am.... my buddy was the first boat i saw that morning, and he came up around the corner as we were tagging that 3rd fish, haha.

nice thing about troll fisheries on the coast is folks don't seem to start until actual daylight, and i have had a bunch of days over the years getting back on my trailer and out of dodge before it's light, and before other boats are even launching..... even when it's crowded, i usually get 45 minutes or an hour of peace and quiet (relative, there are some savvy guys of course)

got my work boat almost ready, and finally got my permit transfer done, so my fun fishing is going to be reduced, which is fine, because we had some good days.... though last monday it was a little slow and it took me until almost 9am to kill my 2nd fish .

hoping some summer steelhead show up soon... they are MIA so far. went one afternoon, had it to myself, water was LOW and i didn't see a single fish, which means there aren't many around.... i see probably 90% of the ones i catch in that water, and they just weren't there.... did catch a springer though, haha