Caught my biggest trout ever yesterday morn in the Roanoke River in Salem, VA. Landed a 27" brown with a 16" girth. Caught it in a Catch & Release area; so, had to release it ASAP with no harm. Wouldn’t fit in my “measuring” net that only holds a maximum 24 inches. Three inches of tail were sticking out. Fly fell out when I netted it. Had my waterproof digital camera handy; so, was able to snap two quick photos and then put it back and swam it back and forth till it was revived enough to swim off. Had a tape/weight device somewhere in my fishing vest; but, didn’t want to stress the fish any longer then necessary; so, held it to my rod from butt end up and it reached the joint at the first section of my 4-piece rod. Measured when I got home at 27". Two hands around the girth and thumbs and middle fingers were an inch apart at both ends. Knew there was a weight calculator that you could use with length and girth for a good estimate and found one on the Internet. According the the formula the brown came in at 8.64 lbs. However, a friend also sent me a current 2008 calculator formula from Fly Fisherman magazine, I believe, and that put “Mr. Big” at a whopping 10.01 lbs. decided to take my friends calculator!
What a battle. Got him on a beadhead Woolly Bugger, black marabou, with crystal flash wrapped from hook eye back to hook bend and then trailing the rest of it thru the tail. This was my only one that I received in an FAOL swap and I should have snipped it off; but, continued fishing and lost it to another nice trout later in the day. Tying up a bunch more ASAP.
River was about a hundred feet wide and it was airborne about 4-5 times. Made several long runs; some so fast that the line going through the water created a loud humming noise. Hadn’t had that experience before and didn’t realize what it was at first. Took me through 30’ of fly line and into the backing once and almost once again. Hooked good in the left jaw; but, everytime it went downstream just knew the tippet would break off with it either over his head towards me or across his mouth. Had it almost in netting distance about four times before I could get it in, sort of!
Had “Frog Hair” 5X tippet rated on the spool at 3.9 lbs., I think. Took about twenty minutes to finally bring him to net. After the release had to sit on the river bank for about fifteen minutes till my heart restarted at a normal pace!
Had no witnesses to the event, couldn’t take the trout to a certified weighing station because of the Catch & Release water requiring immediate put back; so, luckily the photos I was able to snap will serve as proof for submission for a Virginia Trophy Trout Certificate from the Dept. Game & Inland Fisheries folks.
Sorry for the long winded posting; but, this will probably be the best trout I’ll ever have a chance to catch around here.
Can’t post a photo here as I don’t have any saved on one of those hosting sites and don’t know right offhand the proper way to do it even though I’ve seen it listed here before.
Fantastic fishing and great story!! Don’t ya’ just love those “hand trembles” and “weak knees”, when you’re not sure if you’ll land a fish like that, or, not?
No, need, for pictures either. Rather have the fish returned safely to the water, quickly and safely, whenever possible!! And, you certainly don’t need any pics to “prove your story”. Thanks for sharing it, hope you have many, many, more!
I could feel your excitement! And it is so cool to let a fish like that swim off too. I spent a lot of my early fishing years taking them home but it feels so much better to let them swim out of your hands.
WOW !!! Hardly know what to say ?? Your write up is EXCELLENT. Felt like I was standing there next to you with a net waiting to help land it.
That is one heck of a fish, and no doubt is in the bracket of 8.5 to 10+ pounds, and with the girth you describe I’d bet money it was in the high end of the bracket, if not something over 10.
I had the first 10-15 seconds of what you described with a similar brown on the Henry’s Fork last fall on a streamer - so getting to read about the whole process from hookup to reviving and releasing it was kind of like living out what I got started on that day. Thanks.
I just went through the learning process on posting pictures, coached by spinner1. I’m sure spinner1 will help if you send him a PM, or if you want to take me up on my offer, send a PM to me.
Not to be outdone by Fly Fisherman magazine ever, I ran your fish through the FAOL ‘length/girth = weight calculator’ and have the actual weight. 12.8 pounds. I always us that one.
Seeing a picture of that great catch would be nice, but, the write up on the catch was priceless!! Job well done! Loved the post! Thanks for allowing me to be there to watch you catch it!
Thanks for all the kind replies from the FAOL family. And special thanks to Jeff for posting the photos.
JC - think I’ll use your weight calculator forever in the future. This fish may reach 20 pounds by the time we’re through!
Sorry I had to even place it on the river bank; but, the fly dropped out of it’s jaw and it jumped out of the net just as I got it to the edge of the bank. Was hoping to keep it at the edge of the bank and still in the water while I snapped a quick photo. Was nice to see it swim away.
Amazingly enough there is another large brown in the same vicinity that was caught about a week ago by another TU chapter member and photos are posted on our website at: www.roanoketu.org If you go there just click on the scrolling words.
Well done! That’s a great fish and well told story. Nothing like a big brown jumping around to get the adrenalin flowing. With the crappy weather out here and the river levels being unfishable it’s nice to hear of someone else’s success.
Caught my biggest trout ever yesterday morn in the Roanoke River in Salem, VA. Landed a 27" brown with a 16" girth. Caught it in a Catch & Release area; so, had to release it ASAP with no harm. Wouldn’t fit in my “measuring” net that only holds a maximum 24 inches. Three inches of tail were sticking out. Fly fell out when I netted it. Had my waterproof digital camera handy; so, was able to snap two quick photos and then put it back and swam it back and forth till it was revived enough to swim off. Had a tape/weight device somewhere in my fishing vest; but, didn’t want to stress the fish any longer then necessary; so, held it to my rod from butt end up and it reached the joint at the first section of my 4-piece rod. Measured when I got home at 27". Two hands around the girth and thumbs and middle fingers were an inch apart at both ends. Knew there was a weight calculator that you could use with length and girth for a good estimate and found one on the Internet. According the the formula the brown came in at 8.64 lbs. However, a friend also sent me a current 2008 calculator formula from Fly Fisherman magazine, I believe, and that put “Mr. Big” at a whopping 10.01 lbs. decided to take my friends calculator!
