Fish size and/or perception

On Monday I fished a river 10 minutes from home hoping to get in a couple hours before it started to snow again. As I was walking from my truck I encountered a very nice gentleman who informed me that he was from Tennessee and it was getting to cold for him to fish any more that day. I asked him how he did and he was glad to inform me that he caught three fish over 20 inches and lost a rainbow of at least 25". I politely said "WOW" and went along my way. Now I have fished this water for over 35 years and can count on one hand the number of fish over 20" I have seen, let alone caught.....And my point?.... Why is it we have such a need to exaggerate the size of the fish we catch?

A few years back as I was "peeping" on one of these fishing boards there was a pissing contest going on about the size of fish some folks were catching, and getting pictures of. A very minimal scrutiney of the photos showed some claims were "inflated" by as much as 6 inches. A 16" fish is a VERY nice catch and one that brings great satisfaction. This would also be a "trophy" on some waters yet it is about this size were exageration seems to "kick in" by giant leaps.

It appears that we sometimes give the false impression to new practioners of this great sport that large fish are the norm and anything less is a failure. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Trout over 20" inches are fish to be enjoyed, treasured and by all means remembered. Here in Montana there are many large fish in the water, and some are caught, but they do not "jump" on your fly as many first time fisherman to the state seem to perceive.

Size does not count in bringing enjoyment to this sport BUT size CAN make for a memorable experience. Enjoy both ends of the tape measure.

Cheers....Bandy

Manhattan, Montana

I agree with your view on size. To me it's the time on the water that counts. It is very hard to guesstimate the size of fish and I do not take them out of the water to measure them. Too much stress on the fish.

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Eric "nighthawk"

It's a great day for fly fishing!

I see it all the time. There is a guy I fish with who catches a 27" rainbow nearly every year in a river that doesn't have any 'bows over 18". And he's always alone and forgets his camera when he catches them. To most people, a 15" trout is a damn big fish, they look at them and say "oh that's got to be a 20-incher". That's fine by me. It's all in the mind.

Actually one of the funniest thing that ever happened to me was with an Alaskan rainbow. A bunch of us guides were fishing after work and one of the gals caught a damn fine fish, about 7 pounds or so. We taped it and did the math and it said 11 pounds. I was like no way, that fish isn't 11 pounds. So I grabbed the tape - it was cloth - can measured it against my plastic tape. It was about 3 inches short, it had shrunk down a bunch from getting wet or something. We all laughed pretty hard about that one, all of us guides wanted to know if we could get a bunch of them for the lodge to use!

The bottom line is if you know the score, who cares about other people's exaggerations? If they're happy, then just let them keep on going.

Best,

-John

Bandy -

I really try hard not to "big-eye" my fish (too) much.

Then if I really *do* catch a big one I can brag and brag. http://www.flyanglersonline.com/bb/wink.gif

I do carry a tape measure with me at all times (and a scale in the truck). It's often a great "humbler".

Dang John - Where can I buy one of those tapes?

[This message has been edited by HideHunter (edited 09 November 2005).]

It doesn't matter to me what people say they've caught because I really don't give a flying fish.

As long as everyone respects each other, the fish and the environment whilst fishing then I'm content to let everyone find their own way to happiness. If that means a total breakdown in their perception of reality then that's fine with me http://www.flyanglersonline.com/bb/smile.gif

Bandy:
I can't answer the question about why people need to exaggerate the size of fish they catch. I usually take fish stories with a grain of salt, and expect most people take mine too. But, this last year I purchased a fairly good sized net with measuring markers in the bottom, so that when I take photos of my fish, I can, and others if they wish, can see the size of the fish. Then when I tell the folks at work about the 26 1/2 inch, 25 1/2 inch and a few 24 inch rainbows, as well as some monster browns that somehow landed in my net the past couple of months, I can back it up.
I can't subscribe to the view that because a person has fished a particular river for a number of years that it doesn't have any large fish in it, however. The larger trout aren't necessarily going to fall for the same flies and techniques that will fool the smaller fish. For example, on a river near my home, I can catch 10-14 inch trout all day using a dry fly, small nymph or small streamer. However, if I throw out a big old sculpin pattern all afternoon, I'll usually land only one or two fish, but they'll be the fish that eat the 10-14 inch trout. I've noticed that those people catching a lot of bigger fish are usually targeting those fish. So, just maybe some of those "exaggerated" stories should be given a little consideration (though I agree most aren't).

Trout that large are rare, unless you fish in certain lakes or rivers. Read Taylor's "Big Trout" book for specifics. Based on normal growth charts, a 18.5 inch rainbow is 7 years old and a 22 inch brown is 5. Both rare fish.

I have made size mistakes myself. I fished the upper Rogue one June with a friend (my first time on the upper), and the trout there are mostly stocked and quite fat. Resident rainbows in the middle where I live are wild, and smaller. I told my friend I could not believe we were catching trout this big. He asked, "How big do you think they are?" "18 - 20 inches at least", I said. Measure the next one. It was shy of 15 inches. The "girth" threw me way off.

I caught a large steelhead 2 weeks ago, a male with a big girth. I was sure it was a 20 pounder. I used my rod to measure length. What I thought was a 35 inch fish was a 30 inch fish when I measured the rod length guess with a tape measure.

Oh well ...


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- rriver

CEA

"WOW".....I'd love to see the pictures of these fantastic river fish. Can you post them for all of us to enjoy? You have been most fortunate indeed. To land one fish that big in a lifetime of flyfishing for WILD river trout has proved unattainable for many an expert yet you have done it multiple times in just the past couple months. Congratulations! You are truly a lucky man and evidently a very skilled flyfisher.

Even here in Montana catching 14" trout all day could be considered a good day. Throw in a couple 16"-17" trout and it could be considered a great day. A former fishing client of mine, who later became a good friend, remarked to me one time if he could catch 14" fish all day back home in Connecticut fishing the Housatonic River he could die a happy man.

"...If that means a total breakdown in their perception of reality then that's fine with me..."

Its hard for me to abide that fishing could be considered "a total breakdown of reality" when the reality of fishing is probably what keeps us interested and committed to the sport.

Cheers.......Bandy

Bandy: I have no idea how to post pictures and do not have them on any picture hosting website, but I can certainly email them if you'd like (I didn't see your email listed, but if you want to send me an email I'd be glad to send photos). I can't say that I am a very skilled angler, lucky is probably more appropriate. However, I've fished long enough with both spinning gear (though not for some time) and fly fishing gear to know where, when and with what to try and find the bigger fish in a stream, if those are the fish I am after on a particular day.
I also see that you live in Manhattan, MT, not far at all from quite a few 20 inch plus river-dwelling trout.
I don't want anyone to believe I think I can catch 20 inch plus fish on every trip to any river. Certainly that isn't the case. I'm lucky to live in an area with a number of trout streams, some of which have a number of hefty fish.


[This message has been edited by cea (edited 10 November 2005).]