Which was your personal record, guys? I know, size is not always important, but…I imagine that you remember that beast you caught! (or lost…sorry)
My record was a 23lb. 8oz. Striper at lake Texoma Spillway,took 35 minutes ta land…and a 7lb.4oz German Brown on the Lower Mountain Fork River in BrokenBow Oklahoma both made it to the wall and yes I feel kinda guilty but what can I say…its a man thang
A 24 inch cutt out of the alt River in Star Valley, Wyoming.
14lb Rainbow, and a 12lb Brown caught 15 years ago on the lower Colorado River near Rifle Co. I caught both fish within two weeks of each other, and within 100 yards of each other. I havent caught a double digit trout since.
A six pound bass that I caught on a 8 inch bluegill that I caught on a white popper because the bluegill was wedged in it’s mouth. My first, and largest, rainbow trout that I caught on my grandfather’s old H&I fiberglass rod and automatic reel (no backing!) while wearing hip boots and carrying my half dozen flies in my pocket. It took a AP nymph (that was 2 sizes too big) in 6 inches of water and I will never forget the “cover shot” picture in my mind when it jumped silhoutted against the sunrise after taking out about 3/4 of the line. After I got it to hand, no net!, it generated on of those Ed Zern moments when another older (orvis clad) angler asked me what I caught it on! It was 23 inches…
Rocketfish, All my “record” fish remain in memory only. They get bigger that way. But realistically, although I’ve fly fishing for purtnear a hunnert years, my biggest trout may have been a brown a 20" (+ -) out of the Gros Ventre in Wyoming and a few more just like it out of the South Fork Snake , and Snake near the Rockefeller Memorial highway between the parks Teton and Y’stone. Maybe the fish weren’t as memorable in size as was the experience in being at these places to catch them. I’m still hunting for that “big one” and I hope , Lord willing, there’s time.
Mark
… because I’m one of those who “lost the big one.” Actually, I’ve lost the two biggest fish I’ve had on.
For openers, I’ve landed something over a half dozen brown trout and two mountain whitefish right at the 23" mark on the South Fork of the Snake, and about as many 21" rainbows, mostly on the Big Lost River in the Central Mountains of Idaho.
The two that got away ?? One was a brown that ate a PSC on the Henry’s Fork. When he rolled, I could see his side, and it was HUGE. He took me almost to my backing in two quick runs. When I decided to hold him, because I couldn’t follow him downstream from my position and I didn’t want to try to crank him back upstream in the water he was headed for, he popped a fresh 2X 10# tippet like a piece of 8/0 tying thread. I figured he was somewhere around 27-28" at minimum.
The other BIG one that got away was on the South Fork of the Snake about a month ago. He took a rubber legs stonefly nymph at midriver in a deep, fast riffle. As luck would have it, I was again in a place where I couldn’t follow the fish downstream and didn’t want him getting into the water he was headed to. I saw him clearly, right up to the time I tried to put the brakes on and he broke off a 3X fluoro tippet without even slowing down. He was definitely in the mid to upper 20" range.
Both of those big ones, had I decided to try to land them, would have involved long fights under difficult conditions. In both cases, I opted to try to hold the fish rather than get in the situation of probably killing the fish by trying to land it. Glad I did. The memories remain, and so do the fish.
John
My biggest was a 12lb Brown from a small stream in the Waikato region of NZ. I was using a 6# with about 4lb tippet and it took too long to get the fish in, I held him in the water untill my hands turned blue but he just would not revive so I cooked him on the barbie and he was delicious.
All the best.
Mike
My best was a 7 1/4 lbs brown, taken at the mouth of the Waiteti Stream. It was also the first fish I caught at that location, which had skunked me on a number of occasions prior. I had never realised how deep the hole was right at the river mouth and always fished it with a floating line. The fish hang deep there, and you need a deep presentation to interest them. Also, I had tied up a my own squirrel tail streamer pattern specifically to try at this location, since I knew the fish feed on smelts and bullies (it’s a FOTW, the Hammlim Minnow). It was just after dark, and the moon had come up, and I was the only one at the mouth. I would cast out, swing around while the fly sank deep, then figure 8 it back at various speeds. Finally, I was thinking on heading back to the camp, since I tend to tangle heroically when casting in the dark, I had a good pull and it was on. The fish stayed deep the whole time, and just bulldozed around until I finally got it back in. This one came back home, and provided us with smoked trout for a couple of meals. Very nice!
- Jeff
Mine was a almost two pound blue gill that was 12 inches long caught at calloway gardens about 12 yrs ago
If we include spinning gear, for me would be 32 lb Flathead Catfish, and a 24" 7lb 8oz Largemouth Bass, to pick out a couple.
For fly tackle, it’d be a 36.5" 25lb Grass Carp, 32" 16lb Common Carp, and 31" 12lb Channel Catfish. Not your usual fly tackle species, I guess…