Well, Ron, your namesake fly took a near U.S. record length mountain whitefish on the South Fork of the Snake this evening !!
This whitefish is between 22.5" and 23", based on my field measurement, double checked by scaling several photographs. The grip and reel seat plus fighting butt section on my rod measures just a hair under 12". Scaling the rod grip against the fishy on three different photos, confirms a length between 22.5" and 23".
The U.S. record, last time I checked in March '08, was an Idaho fish that measured 22.5" and weighed a bunch. The second biggest whitefish on record at that time was a Montana fish that measured 23" but was a few ounces lighter than the Idaho fish ( less B.S. or more hot air ?? ).
So, Ron, your namesake fly took a fish right up there with the record setters - probably longer than the Idaho fish and just a tad shorter than the Montana fish.
Sorry about that. But what’s a little infamy to a famous guy like you ??
I need to start maeasuring and weighing the Cheekers I have been catching the past ten years. The Colorado state record is 5 pounds 2 oz. I think I have beat that mark a few times. This fat Whitey was 23 inches.
This is the second whitefish at or close to 23" that I’ve caught on the South Fork. The other one was about a mile upstream of where I fished today, taken in March '08, which is why I checked the records back then.
I think DG has referred to a number of whitefish that he has taken at or around 23", and a friend of mine locally took one just at or over that mark on the Henry’s Fork about a couple years ago.
Probably if more people knew what the record is, it would have been broken by now. No doubt a lot of folks look at a big whitefish, say ugh ( take REE for example ) and throw it back in without a second thought.
John
P.S. The record ( as of March '08 ) Idaho mountain whitefish came out of Island Park Reservoir and the record Montana mountain whitefish came out of Hauser Lake. As lake dwelling fishies, they would get heavier for their length than the river dwelling whitefish. A 23" whitefish in a river probably is a record in its own right in most any ( western ) state in the U.S. The world record which came out of a river in B.C., I think it was, measured something around 27".
P.P.S. Most of what I have read about targeting whitefish with a fly rod suggests using small nymphs, like size 16 copper johns, midge larva, etc. Most of the whitefish I catch on the South Fork are taken on salmonfly / golden stone nymph patterns ranging from size 8 2XL to size 6 4XL right on the bottom.
Thanks, John. Nice to know my namesake fly took such a magnificent speciman of slimedom. You keep posting pics like those and I may start fishing for Whiteys exclusively since I’ve only caught one in my life.
I seem to recall the Montana record was five pounds and change, and I have seen a few that came close to that. I would really hate to be known as the king of the whitefish if I did manage to catch a record. Thankfully, there are no whitefish in my local waters here in Colorado, so the temptation does not occur.
I will try to get REE to top that while we are in Lowell. There is a big pod of whities across from where we will camp this week, and some more right upstream.
PS. Dub, that hat doesn’t go with your shirts. Stop wiping the whitefish ugly slime on it!
Thankfully, there are no whitefish in my local waters here in Colorado, so the temptation does not occur.