Discussion Topic |
|
This thread has been locked |
briham89
Big Wall climber
santa cruz, ca
|
|
|
Sep 13, 2017 - 10:51pm PT
|
^That is good advice. Although I have landed a steelhead on the fly without going to the reel....once. Too excited to think.
|
|
BG
Trad climber
JTree & Idyllwild
|
|
|
Sep 13, 2017 - 11:10pm PT
|
Micronut, I've lost so many monsters it really doesn't bother me that much anymore when it happens, it's part of the game. The way I look at it, you either have a really good hookset, or not. Sometimes what I'll do is set the hook a second time, once the fish stops going crazy.
Get 'em on the reel and let the drag work the fish before you start trying to pull 'em in.
If a fish jumps, bow to the fish (give it slack). If you're fishing a river, look for an area of soft water where it will be easiest to land, then point your rod downstream and toward your shoreline as you guide it there.
It's best to have a strategy and plan for it. If you're fishing for really big fish, it's not worth wasting time at a spot where you know you won't be able to land 'em.
For the really big ones it's best to have someone net it for you.
|
|
drF
Trad climber
usa
|
|
|
Sep 13, 2017 - 11:19pm PT
|
The Tug is the drug.
No more no less
K.I.S.S
|
|
Stimbo
Trad climber
Crowley Lake
|
|
|
Sep 14, 2017 - 08:21am PT
|
What Bob said....
Micronut, I will add to what has already been mentioned, which has been spot on advice. With barbless hooks, keeping tension to the fish is paramount. That said, even if you do everything correctly, sometimes they come "unbuttoned." If you get your hookup at the bottom of a swing, you are counting your lucky stars that they grab the fly well. Each section of a river may be unique with current speed and water clarity, use the heaviest tippet you think you can get away with. Your rod angle is super important as you want the rod to absorb the current and head shakes, not the line. And here is something to add to that, as the fish gets closer (not quite within net range), if you maintain a high rod tip, you start lifting the trout's head out of the water. They freak out at this point. Instead, lay your rod over, more parallel to the water. You can still maintain a good rod angle and keep the fish under the film. Then, at the last possible second, once you think the trout has tired, lift the fish head by raising the rod tip as you pull it into the net, pointing your reel away from you. As Bob said, having a second person with a net is the way to go.
|
|
guyman
Social climber
Moorpark, CA.
|
|
|
Sep 14, 2017 - 08:43am PT
|
Thanks for the good advise, all.
I hope to put some of those tips to good use ASAP.
Muskellunge, now there's a fish...Northern Pike are minnows by comparison.
RR.... when we would go for N. Pike... my friend packed a .22 pistol! and a yard stick.... when we would get the sucker next to the canoe... measure it... if greater than 36".. shoot it in the head, then bring it on board. I was raised on Trout fishing that was a whole new deal for me. My Midwest friends always spoke in awe about the fabled Muskie.
|
|
micronut
Trad climber
Fresno/Clovis, ca
|
|
|
Sep 14, 2017 - 09:27am PT
|
Man what good advice guys. I've been making some fundamental mistakes now that I hear your input. I need to get back out there!
|
|
BG
Trad climber
JTree & Idyllwild
|
|
|
Sep 14, 2017 - 10:09am PT
|
|
|
micronut
Trad climber
Fresno/Clovis, ca
|
|
|
Sep 15, 2017 - 07:39am PT
|
Now THATS how you land a fish! Calm, collected, smooth and steady. Super cool.
|
|
limpingcrab
Trad climber
the middle of CA
|
|
|
Sep 15, 2017 - 12:18pm PT
|
There's me being dumb and trying to lift its head out of the water too soon and making it run. Then I remembered what I read on here and brought him in low and right to the net. Thanks, VLTLT
What the what!?!?! I've never seen or even heard of anyone hearing of a Brooke trout in the kings river. Not sure how it got here but it looks like he's had a hard life. Surprisingly good fight and released back out to confuse the next guy.
PS. First fish on my new Orvis recon. Me likey
|
|
G_Gnome
Trad climber
Cali
|
|
|
Sep 15, 2017 - 03:32pm PT
|
Looks more like a lake trout than a brookie though.
|
|
Stimbo
Trad climber
Crowley Lake
|
|
|
Sep 15, 2017 - 05:58pm PT
|
Looks more like a lake trout than a brookie though.
I agree, way cool!
"Crab," nice peanut gallery you've got going there!
|
|
limpingcrab
Trad climber
the middle of CA
|
|
|
Sep 15, 2017 - 08:01pm PT
|
Two more this evening. That's what lake trout look like!? I thought the white border on the fins meant brookie. I'll be darned, these would be my first lake trout ever then. I've been fishing since I could walk, but it's almost entirely west side sierra streams and rivers so I haven't caught a wide variety of species or subspecies.
Still surprising. Never heard of lake trout in the lower kings either. Cool.
Edit: thanks stimbo, this is one of the few spots where kids can play without supervision and I can fish nearby so it's been the go to recently.
|
|
limpingcrab
Trad climber
the middle of CA
|
|
|
Sep 15, 2017 - 08:10pm PT
|
|
|
ruppell
climber
|
|
|
Sep 15, 2017 - 08:54pm PT
|
It could be a Splake.
|
|
G_Gnome
Trad climber
Cali
|
|
|
Sep 15, 2017 - 09:10pm PT
|
In any case, it isn't a trout; it is a char. I don't really like that we have put char into western trout streams. The only good char is a Pacific ocean char - yummmm, salmon!
Of course if that is confusing, consider that the Atlantic salmon is actually a trout.
|
|
Stimbo
Trad climber
Crowley Lake
|
|
|
Sep 15, 2017 - 09:21pm PT
|
The thing that throws me is the, "deeply forked tail." Like Ruppell said, it could be a splake, a hybrid between a brookie and lake trout. It is from the char family. Regardless, they must be fun to catch. The kids must have liked that.
|
|
drF
Trad climber
usa
|
|
|
Sep 15, 2017 - 09:44pm PT
|
^^^
Brook Trout all the way
You should see the ones pulled out of Henry's Lake that look just like that.....but really big!
|
|
BG
Trad climber
JTree & Idyllwild
|
|
|
Sep 16, 2017 - 03:55pm PT
|
I believe that's a splake. A brook trout will always have the red spot within a blue spot as seen in the photo above. A key identifying characteristic of a lake trout is that they always have a deeply forked tail. A splake has neither.
A splake is a cross between a speckled (Sp) trout (the Canadian word for brook trout) and a lake trout. This hybrid doesn't occur naturally. Unlike other artificial hybrids, like tiger trout, splake can successfully reproduce once they've been created in a hatchery. The lower fins and belly of a splake will closely resemble a brook trout. Splake can grow significantly larger than brook trout. The IGFA world record is 20 pounds 11 ounces.
Relatively common in New York, Pennsylvania, and the Great Lakes, but in California? You may have found a rare self-sustaining population.
|
|
micronut
Trad climber
Fresno/Clovis, ca
|
|
|
Sep 16, 2017 - 04:20pm PT
|
Splake? I think it might be a Trarp. Cross between a trout and a carp. Strange things out there on that river these days. I've seen what the neighbors throw in the water.
|
|
|
SuperTopo on the Web
|
Let us know!