I know some guys who repeatedly electro-shocked a brown down near Three Forks Montana, that they never actually got to the net. The fish would always break free from the magnetic field at the last moment. But they knew where it lived and saw it many times.
And estimated that one a 25lbs or more. That was 20 years ago. So that fish would be gone now. But it does make you wonder how many fish like that there are. And what it would take to catch one…
Very, very nice fish! Wow! Thanks for sharing. I must say with that small of a fly in addition to the lightest tippet I’ve ever heard of … must have been some battle. I bet you were thinking the whole time “That’s a small hook, hope he doesn’t shake off” or something like that. Out of curiosity, how much do you think the fish weighed?
Man I had to re read your post a couple of times you got it on a size 32 with 12x tippet must of been a long fight , nice going…
glad you got a photo or no one would of ever of believed it…
A friend of mine, from my time in the Idaho Falls area, took a 28.5" brown on the South Fork east of Ririe a few years ago and a friend of his landed one that went almost 32" a few miles further upstream a couple weeks later. A bit further east, in a beaver pond on an interesting spring creek, there was a brown that a couple of us estimated at 30-32". I bounced nymphs off his nose a couple times, but he didn’t seem to notice. That was about six years ago.
Some big browns in the North Fork, also. I hooked and lost one four years ago that probably went 28" plus or minus. And in the mainstem Snake below Idaho Falls, both browns and rainbows in the mid 20"s are pretty common.
Dan Garren ( now there is a really interesting guy ) makes the point about the mainstem Snake being an underutilized fishery. Access is an issue, and a lot of the area really isn’t a very pretty setting for fishing, especially compared to most sections on the North and South Forks, but if you are looking for BIG trouts, you need to talk to some of the folks at Jimmy’s All Seasons Angler in Idaho Falls. I believe all of that water is now open year round.
Where did you find 12X tippet? The smallest I have is 8X.
And the #32 must have been a Tiemco, not a Mustad.
Curious minds need to know.
Nice fish, tho.
I see that fish has what appears to be a tail punch int he upper caudal. Do they do a lot of research or studies on browns in that area? It is a common mark for mark and recapture, just curious.
I worked with a guy several years ago that fished the river at night, close to the Johns Hole bridge, right in Idaho Falls. He was fishing really large homemade plugs (like Rapalas) with lead core line. He showed me several pictures of browns he’s caught in the 30" range. He was pretty close mouthed about his methods and exact locations, but I know he was fishing from a boat. There are some pigs in there that never see a hook, especially ones with feathers tied on them.
The one time I worked as a volunteer with the Idaho F & G surveying ( electroshocking ) the Henry’s Fork from Chester Dam down to the Fun Farm above St. Anthony, the “hole punch” in the tail was the method of identifying fishies caught and counted.
12X tippet? Know how you can tell a fisherman is lieing? His lips are moving. Why is this thread on the fly tying board? I am very suspicous of this thread.
That fish was part of a study. They (…it’s in the story, if you follow the link) just started studying (and fish shocking) that part of the Snake River. The guy holding the fish probably knotched that fin, right before they took the photo.
