Braggin Board for Fishing!

Joined
Aug 23, 2020
Messages
832
Location
Glendale, AZ
Those are some great looking Macks! Don't see to many like that anymore.
It's a fly-in lake about 40-50 miles from Watson Lake. When I was there -- twice --there were only two small lodges on it. I would bet that lake still has some lakers that big and maybe bigger. It also has a very large population of hungry northerns. Nothing to catching a couple dozen a day, and I'm not talking about hammer handles. Most are in the 8 to 15 lb. range. It's been a long time, but I seem to recall catching several pushing 20. It's lots of fun because the water is so clear, you can watch the pike chase & take a lure even in 15 feet of water.
 
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Joined
Aug 23, 2020
Messages
832
Location
Glendale, AZ
The most fun I ever had fishing was a week I spent at a fly-in lodge on the Hotlitna River in Alaska. We caught a couple species of salmon, and one day we flew to a place to catch sheefish -- the tarpon of the north -- which was the topic of the article I was doing for Outdoor Life.

Best of all, another day we poled our way thru a 7' wide, 1/2-mile long shallow channel into a tiny back slough filled with reeds. The open water was about 40 yds. across. Once we anchored in the center, we never moved the boat. We got there at 7 a.m & didn't quit fishing until 10 pm. Over that time, we boated 102 northern pike over 8 lbs. with most between 10 to 15 pounds using nothing but bass-type spinnerbaits I had brought along. The backstory on that choice is kind of humorous in itself.

I've probably landed a few thousand pike over the years but could never break the 25 lb. mark. This is the closest I have come at 23 lb. on that day

Here's a not-so-good scan of a 35mm slide of that one.

TonyAlaskaPike.jpg

On my trophy room wall....

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Joined
Aug 23, 2014
Messages
5,340
Location
oregon coast
I think I have enough springers now, and it’s getting busy where I’m fishing, but I won’t complain about a limit of good eats... I think it’s time to switch gears and switch to summer steelhead
 

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OXN939

WKR
Joined
Jun 28, 2018
Messages
1,847
Location
VA
Know how you get too cool for stuff as a kid that's actually awesome? I definitely thought kayak fishing was for nerds who like to go slow while I was chasing pelagics offshore in high school and college... but all of the fish below cost a combined $0 in maintenance, fuel, property taxes, titling/registration fees and launch fees. Not to mention yaks get you into some great spots that are no gos for boats, and it's about the most relaxing way out there to get on the water.

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Joined
Aug 23, 2020
Messages
832
Location
Glendale, AZ
I decided I'd better explain the double catch above. It was right before dawn, and I was tossing a surface bait with two treble hooks. The biggest of the two fish ingested it where several hooks became embedded. So while my trusty Mex. guide was trying to get it all freed, I picked up another rod with a spinnerbait attached and nailed the 2nd fish on the first cast. Both were released.
 

Lowg08

WKR
Joined
Aug 31, 2019
Messages
2,233
Two WNC mountain creek browns. Both 18” and both released back alive.
 

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Joined
Mar 25, 2019
Messages
792
Location
Pendleton, Or
So far this season we’ve just been fishing for rainbows. Seen a few kings roll and the subsistence nets have picked up some reds and kings. I have yet to get anyone over 30 inches but lots of 26 inch fish
 

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TripleJ

WKR
Joined
Apr 12, 2016
Messages
1,968
Location
OR
I think I have enough springers now, and it’s getting busy where I’m fishing, but I won’t complain about a limit of good eats... I think it’s time to switch gears and switch to summer steelhead

Looks like you and your wife did quite well on the springers, congrats!
 
Joined
Mar 25, 2019
Messages
792
Location
Pendleton, Or
This morning produced the first grizz encounter. He popped up behind the beaver den as we approached. We gave him the run to fish.
 

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Joined
Aug 23, 2014
Messages
5,340
Location
oregon coast
Looks like you and your wife did quite well on the springers, congrats!
it's been good for us.... kinda funny now we are on the south coast but coming back up for the weekends (for now) i have never been a weekend warrior before.... historically i just don't fish weekends at all.... now if i don't, i don't get to fish those fisheries.... makes for some early days, which is ok if they are biting well. one morning, the plan was to get a limit killed early for my wife then get out of dodge early.... legal light was 4:35am.... we were trolling right at legal light, and had 3 in the boat before 5am.... my buddy was the first boat i saw that morning, and he came up around the corner as we were tagging that 3rd fish, haha.

nice thing about troll fisheries on the coast is folks don't seem to start until actual daylight, and i have had a bunch of days over the years getting back on my trailer and out of dodge before it's light, and before other boats are even launching..... even when it's crowded, i usually get 45 minutes or an hour of peace and quiet (relative, there are some savvy guys of course)

got my work boat almost ready, and finally got my permit transfer done, so my fun fishing is going to be reduced, which is fine, because we had some good days.... though last monday it was a little slow and it took me until almost 9am to kill my 2nd fish ;).

hoping some summer steelhead show up soon... they are MIA so far. went one afternoon, had it to myself, water was LOW and i didn't see a single fish, which means there aren't many around.... i see probably 90% of the ones i catch in that water, and they just weren't there.... did catch a springer though, haha
 
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