Braggin Board for Fishing!

[Outdoor Writer]

A fat & sassy one from Lake Huites, Mex.

 

[EastMT]

My boy in eastern Montana, the game warden was waking up as he pulled the bottom one in. He yelled it’s the biggest catfish ever! Haha he was all wound up.

 

[Misty12]

25 1/4

 

[Misty12]

Another Rivers Inlet, BC king...I caught two this trip that were about the same size; one was 52 & one was 57. I don't recall which one this is.

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Wow! What a monster! Great fish

 

[Outdoor Writer]

My trusty guide holding my rainbow -- White River, Arkansas​

 

[Smallie]

Finally joined the 50 inch club this past weekend

 

[roosiebull]

My trusty guide holding my rainbow -- White River, Arkansas​

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The best fishing partner I ever had has fished and hunted all over the country, and he ended up on the Oregon coast for several years (about 15) he had a lot of stories about the white river, and the different fisheries on that river… it’s one of the few places that I would like to fish that isn’t on the west coast, and isn’t salt water… from his accounts, it sounded like an awesome place.

of course I’m sure a lot has changed from when he fished it until now, but it certainly was a unique river.

my friend had one of the deepest southern drawls I have ever heard, and was a big loud guy, abrasive to some, but liked by anyone who grew to know him. I went to school with his son, and saw them on the river chasing salmon early on, and they didn’t really have a clue being new to the west coast… it didn’t take him long though and he was a killer, and through all of the years, he was the only guy I would rather fish with him than alone… I enjoy my alone time on the river, but that guy was just fun to fish with and gave me a lot of opportunity when I was too young to drive… one of my favorite people in this world, but he passed away in January.

I have been lucky to live a lot of life for my age, growing up on the ocean, and when I wasn’t, I was on the river or in the woods… Tom really lived a lot of life, and had about a million stories rarely repeating one… he was just one of those guys who could go anywhere and figure things out really quick

 

[Outdoor Writer]

The best fishing partner I ever had has fished and hunted all over the country, and he ended up on the Oregon coast for several years (about 15) he had a lot of stories about the white river, and the different fisheries on that river… it’s one of the few places that I would like to fish that isn’t on the west coast, and isn’t salt water… from his accounts, it sounded like an awesome place.

The White River is (was?) all of the things your friend claimed. I fished it twice -- once during the 1980s & again in the 1990s. Stayed at Gaston's Resort & caught lots of nice trout both times. I have a bunch of 35mm slides but only one other scanned. Only reason the two got scanned was for an online article I wrote way back when. Here's the other one.

Foggy morning on the White River, Arkansas​

 

[roosiebull]

The White River is (was?) all of the things your friend claimed. I fished it twice -- once during the 1980s & again in the 1990s. Stayed at Gaston's Resort & caught lots of nice trout both times. I have a bunch of 35mm slides but only one other scanned. Only reason the two got scanned was for an online article I wrote way back when. Here's the other one.

Foggy morning on the White River, Arkansas​

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one of the really cool parts to me was how finicky those trout sounded like they could be in certain scenarios, and the lengths one had to go to do well.... very comparable to sight fishing summer steelhead late season in warm, clear, skinny water.... seems like those fish just won't bite, until you figure out the lengths you need to go, then it's excellent fishing.

really does sound like an amazing river in a region you don't expect there to be a river system like that with the fishing opportunities it has.

if you have the article handy, post it up, i'm sure lots of us would enjoy reading it.

 

[Outdoor Writer]

one of the really cool parts to me was how finicky those trout sounded like they could be in certain scenarios, and the lengths one had to go to do well.... very comparable to sight fishing summer steelhead late season in warm, clear, skinny water.... seems like those fish just won't bite, until you figure out the lengths you need to go, then it's excellent fishing.

really does sound like an amazing river in a region you don't expect there to be a river system like that with the fishing opportunities it has.

if you have the article handy, post it up, i'm sure lots of us would enjoy reading it.

Yup, one doesn't expect there to be a big, cold water river with trout that far south, I guess. That water coming out of the bottom of Bull Shoals is frigid, however, making it a perfect tailwater fishery. It's not quite the equal to a few in the West I've fished like the Green River below Flaming Gorge in UT, the Colorado at Lee's Ferry below Lake Powell in AZ, the South Platte below Eleven Mile Res. in CO & the San Juan below Navajo in NM, but it's no slouch either.

I haven't followed along for the past 20 years, so I don't know if the magic is still there. I'm guessing it is. The flyfishing on the trip from Gaston's downriver to the take-out point is awesome. Caught a couple nice brown trout, too.

Most of my old articles are archived on a computer that is belly up right now with a kaput power supply. I don't plan on reviving it but need to pull the hard drive & install it in a working unit when I get the energy.

 

[Outdoor Writer]

Guide with a San Juan River rainbow of mine.

​

The San Juan River below Navajo Lake, NM

 

[Dirtbag]

Big ugly in Nebraska.

 

[Dirtbag]

Idaho Steelhead.

 

[Btaylor]

The White River is (was?) all of the things your friend claimed. I fished it twice -- once during the 1980s & again in the 1990s. Stayed at Gaston's Resort & caught lots of nice trout both times. I have a bunch of 35mm slides but only one other scanned. Only reason the two got scanned was for an online article I wrote way back when. Here's the other one.

Foggy morning on the White River, Arkansas​

View attachment 302835

It is still a world class fishery. Spectacular trout fishing at the upper reaches, transitioning to smallmouth then to all the warm water species.

 

[william schmaltz]

Sockeye fishing on the Kenai has been ranging from good to great the last couple of weeks. I don’t think we’ve fished longer than an hour for a limit in 7 outings. The river was wide open until this last Saturday. It seems everyone was waiting for the run to slow down to show up. Trout fishing is slow, as to be expected. The river is getting beat pretty hard.

Our 2.5 year old is really into it this year. I'm excited for the pinks to show up so he can participate a little bit!

 

[TripleJ]

Sockeye fishing on the Kenai has been ranging from good to great the last couple of weeks. I don’t think we’ve fished longer than an hour for a limit in 7 outings. The river was wide open until this last Saturday. It seems everyone was waiting for the run to slow down to show up. Trout fishing is slow, as to be expected. The river is getting beat pretty hard.

Our 2.5 year old is really into it this year. I'm excited for the pinks to show up so he can participate a little bit!

Love it! I spent a couple summers in anchorage about 30 years ago. My aunt and uncle lived there and my cousin and I went up 2 summers in a row, worked odd jobs, and fished whenever we could. Some of my favorite memories were hiking in to our “secret spot” to avoid the crowds and catching sockeye on the Russian river.

 

[TripleJ]

I don’t make it out near as much as I used to, but here’s a few pics from this year.

Winter steelhead


Spring chinook


Spring chinook

 

[bmola]

 

[Outdoor Writer]

It is still a world class fishery. Spectacular trout fishing at the upper reaches, transitioning to smallmouth then to all the warm water species.

We went to only the first take-out point, so I don't think we got to the warm-water stretch. Have the smallmouth been there a long time? I don't recall them even mentioned back then. I love catching them on flyrod poppers.

 

[Btaylor]

We went to only the first take-out point, so I don't think we got to the warm-water stretch. Have the smallmouth been there a long time? I don't recall them even mentioned back then. I love catching them on flyrod poppers.

When you get down to where Crooked Creek runs in you can find smallies. Crooked Creek is a fantastic smallmouth fishery. I grew up fishing the lower end of the river where it is bass, bream, crappie and catfish. It's a big river down at the lower end where it dumps into the Mississippi. There have been a few years where some trout venture all the way down and get caught. Same for smallmouths. A buddy caught a smallmouth last year way down on the lower end. Doesnt happen often though. Pretty awesome fishery taken as a whole considering you can catch stripes, white, black and smallmouth bass, bream, crappie, catfish, brown, rainbow, and cutthroat trout depending on the section of river you are fishing.