tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-350959153844106542024-03-05T06:28:09.708-05:00Chasing fish in VTEnjoying life on the water, whether it be cold or warm water species.Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15589332333017654436noreply@blogger.comBlogger64125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35095915384410654.post-31005226354554115262015-08-01T08:25:00.001-04:002015-08-01T08:25:30.194-04:00Trouting aroundWith the Summer heat settling in to the big rivers in the area, colder and higher is usually better. While some streams closer to Lake level run cooler than even ones that run down mountains, the biggest factor besides the source of the flow is the amount of shade on the water. <br />
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I found myself looking at Google Maps for some new water a few weeks back. I looked for heavy cover alongside a mountain, which was not hard to find. There was, however, a 3/4 mile stretch of river where the shade was replaced by sun, the large boulders replaced by sand, and the narrow and deep pools replaced by wide, shallow water. In other words, not very trout friendly water. This surprised me, as I'd fished a good 6-7 miles of this river already, and have never run into the same conditions. I decided to trek in to where the abundance of tree cover started back up on this particular stretch, and fish my way up. <br />
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By the time I got to water, I was pleasantly surprised to see an abundance of deep pools, large boulders and logjams. I had a bunch of Elk Hair Caddis that were itching to get wet, so I tied one on. My poor fly was greeted with animosity as soon as it hit the water for the first time. <br />
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Being able to witness the fish lock-on to and chase the fly after coming out from an undercut in a rock is always a blast! I was filled with joy to see such a pretty, wild fish come to hand on my first cast. I continued on, only to have another fish of the same size shake off after the hookset. The obvious downside to removing barbs from flies is that many fish will inevitably shake off, but the trade off is worth it (higher chance of survival) While 99% of the brookies I catch are usually released without being touched or handled unless necessary (grab the fly and shake off while in the water for the most part) the fish like the one above are handled with care and released immediately. <br />
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While these fish are usually abundant, it doesn't hurt to take extra care in handling them. You never know when you may run into a large 12 or 13" stream-dwelling giant that may have been a fish that was released a year or two prior. <br />
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After the 5th or so fish in just a few pools, I decided it would be worth it to walk a ways downstream to see how things looked, even IF it didn't look very good on the map. I was happy to see plenty of pools with undercut banks, and even a 5' deep plunge pool that had a few smaller fish willing to play. The further down I got, the less desirable the water was. I chose to fish my way back up to where I started, and walked over to the first pool big enough to hold fish. A large tree had fallen, and was laying across the river. Half of it was in the water, and the other half out. A great place for a big predator to hide. I leisurely fished my way up, picking up the occasional small brookie. When I got to the top of the run, I threw out my fly at an angle, landing right above the log. I skated it halfway across the river before it was pulled under the surface film. I few quick twitches was all it took before something BIG grabbed it. At first, it was just dead weight. I thought I'd caught myself on the tree laying across the river. Right as that thought finished crossing my mind, it started to pull back. "wow!" was the only thing I could think of. Was it a big, wild brown? I was surprised to watch my reel spin backwards for quite a ways. Something that is rarely seen when fishing for brookies! If the fish wouldn't come to me - I'd come to it. I walked downstream towards the fish, who was bulldogging himself underneath the tree. I caught a glimpse of it, and assumed it was a brown by the size of it. It wrapped itself around a limb on the underside of the fallen tree and my heart just sank. I knew exactly where this was heading..."just another fish story" I thought to myself. Getting closer to the log, the seemingly shallow water only got deeper. Before I knew it, I was nearly waist-deep, probing underwater with my leg, trying to find where my line was caught. Finally, I found the limb and kicked it until it broke free. I stuck my rod underwater and pulled the fish back underneath the tree....broken branch and all! Before I knew it, I found myself kneeling on the side of the river, with a big 13" brookie in my net, hooting and hollering. It was one of the biggest I'd ever caught!<br />
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I unhooked the fish and pulled my phone out of my pack to take a picture. After unzipping the ziploc baggie my phone was in, I positioned it to take a picture - only to find out my net was empty. I was dumbfounded....how? Then I remembered the multiple tears in the rubber bag of my net. It didn't take much for a fish even up to 15" to wiggle its head through and then slip out. I was more happy I actually landed the fish than upset I didn't get a picture, so I didn't let it bother me that much. Fishing back up to the car, I found a dozen more fish willing to play, but not any nearly as big as the escape artist. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This was the widest part of the river I've ever encountered. It makes it look so much bigger than it really is!</td></tr>
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Once back to where I started, I kept on fishing upstream and ended up almost a mile upriver from where I started. By the end of the day, I'd come across some amazing water and the fishing was great, including a beautiful 14" wild brown that also managed to slip out through the hole in my net while I got my phone out. Needless to say that later that night I ordered a new bag for my net. The 1.25 mile walk back to the car gave me an opportunity to reflect on the days fishing, and determine whether or not it would be worth fishing that section in the future. The answer was simple - absolutely. <br />
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<br />Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15589332333017654436noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35095915384410654.post-57135309543109964002015-07-27T06:30:00.000-04:002015-07-27T06:34:13.196-04:00Late May steelWhile I normally veer away from targeting late season steelhead due to water temps being too high and stressing fish, when I got an e-mail from a friend about seeing a few steelhead in one particular stream that was, for the most part a brook trout stream....I couldn't pass up the chance at possibly hooking into another steelhead!<br />
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While there are very few people I trust with "secret" spots, my good friend Chris was one of them. So after a short talk, he was on board to go chase steel. The river we fished was small, gradient, and very turbulent. It made sight fishing a bit tough, but in a good way. We started low on the river, scanning and fishing our way up. We stumbled upon a pod of spawning suckers with one HUGE female at the center of all the commotion. She was probably the biggest white sucker I've ever seen, and we didn't pass up the chance at trying to catch her. While doing so, we "accidentally" caught a few of the smaller males circling her, which were all for eating nymphs and eggs. After a while, it was clear that getting a fly in front of her was nearly impossible because she was on the move constantly (and I don't blame her with 8 males crowding her) Still, Chris wanted to catch this pig of a sucker, so he stayed behind while I scouted upriver.<br />
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Not too long after leaving Chris behind, I saw a flash in a pool upriver. I stopped moving forward, crouched down and waited for more movement in the pool. A few minutes had passed until I finally noticed that there were at least 2 fish in this particular pool, one being in the low 20" range, and the other was in the high 20" range. I called downstream to Chris to let him know what I'd found, and he quickly came up to see.<br />
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Chris was first at bat, and these fish were putting post-spawn feedbags on for sure. They were both in feeding lanes, picking off anything that looked edible as it drifted by them. I hadn't seen the larger one for a while, which probably moved up to the next pool. Chris worked hard for a hookup, but the fish just didn't seem interested.<br />
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Eventually we switched spots and I had a whack at it. I changed flies a few times before remembering that the suckers down below were mid-spawn. A sucker spawn fly seemed like the most logical thing to try, so I did.<br />
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We have a winner! A handful of drifts later, I hooked into the smaller one and it started blowing through the pool, nearly flying downstream in water that was seemingly impossible to fight a fish in. I had Chris block the only way downstream to avoid that and it worked - the fish stayed upriver in the pool. Chris came in with a perfect netting and celebrations followed.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Some of my favorite looking fish are male steelhead because of the dark maroon color they end up with.</td></tr>
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After releasing him, he took off upstream and probably spooked the larger fish in the pool above. We both worked through the next pool where it had to be, but no hookups. We spent the next few hours trying to find more, but it seems we may have stumbled upon some of the last fish to drop back. Still, it was all worth it!<br />
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<br />Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15589332333017654436noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35095915384410654.post-36205581597320351292015-07-14T20:53:00.001-04:002015-07-14T20:53:51.706-04:00Back to trout with a side of rescueAfter getting hit with a few weekdays of rain, I was doing my usual scanning of river flows and noticed quite a few of them were dropping slow, so they were off limits for the weekend. Not a big deal though - I wanted to make my usual stops on some small water anyway. This particular river always fishes great after rain and high water. My brother Nate tagged along again, but since the flows were high and the water was a bit tricky to fish with flies, he opted to spin fish.<br />
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The water level was high, and clarity could have been better - but we caught a bunch of fish! Nate outfished me, but I had caught the biggest on the first river. A nice, healthy wild brown! We were both having a blast, and Nate was getting hits almost nonstop! After moving upriver, he hooked into something with a lot of weight which got us all excited...until it popped off!<br />
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I was downriver from him, swinging nymphs and getting a ton of hits from rainbow parr. It was great to see so many wild fish in this river. Definitely one of my favorite trout rivers even though I've never pulled anything over 20" from it. We fished until we couldn't get upriver because of posted property, so we went back to the car and hit another river 15 minutes away. <br />
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Another fun river that almost always produces after rain. The water couldn't have been any better, and Nate started things off with a bang with a nice bow that was probably 15". I picked up a nice bow of my own that was all over this swung hares ear. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I like to call these brookies, "hand hangers" Ones that hang off both sides of your hand...a decent sized brookie!</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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Nate was once again hooked into something big and heavy. Judging by the way his rod was bent, it appeared to be a big brown which was not uncommon for this river. We were both psyched to see how big it was - that is until it got off. Heartbreak!! Nate kept fishing the same spot in hopes of another chance, but we both knew the truth, he wasn't going to even sniff anything with a sore lip. <br />
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Less than 5 minutes had passed and I decided to put on something big and ugly. If there was another big brown hanging around, then surely this big hunk of meat would get it's attention!<br />
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I threw in at the top of the pool and let the fly get deep enough before stripping it back. Right as I went to pull it out of the water, a big football-looking rainbow came up with hit my fly like it owed him money. I was shocked, and ended up pulling the fly right out of his mouth. After a few choice words, the pool went dead. We didn't get a single hit until moving upstream. Losing one big fish from a pool is one thing...but two???? <br />
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We got to the next pool which was one of the deeper ones on this section of river. I could see shapes moving around in the shallows - what were they? I had Nate cast to them and we found out shortly that they were suckers. Still, we kept on fishing in hopes for a second chance at a big fish.<br />
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I remember I kept hearing something that sounded like kids screaming off in the distance. I didn't think anything of it because we were in a close proximity to a few houses. It wasn't until about 30 minutes later that I had realized what it actually was. I was making my way upstream and noticed something was in the middle of the fast water in the river. At first, I thought it was a dog fetching a stick, and going back to shore. It wasn't until I got closer that I realized it was a fawn that was trying to cross the river. I stood there for a moment, hoping it's mother would come help guide it out, but I saw nothing. All of a sudden, it stood up on its feet and tried to go forward again, but got swept away in the rapids. It started to tumble downriver towards me.<br />
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I remember throwing my rod into the woods and rushing upriver towards the drowning fawn. I remember the sound of it trying to cry for help, but having a mouth full of water. Luckily, I got to it in time before it had reached the big plunge pool as I am sure this fawn was way too young and exhausted to actually swim to shore. Having no other choice, I picked it up out of the water and held it in my arms. It was violently shaking and crying, but I could feel it didn't have much energy left in it. I let go of it to assess how much energy it had, but it had only made it a few steps before almost falling over before I caught it. I wrapped my arms around the deer and Nate began to find the number for a Warden to help this poor fawn.<br />
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After about 15 minutes of phone calls, Nate finally got ahold of a warden who promptly said that the State isn't allowed to rehabilitate fawns, and there is nothing he could do. We were dumbfounded, and called a local vet who said the same thing. We told her what we were seeing with the fawn, and that it most likely fell down the steep riverbank into the water while traveling with its mother. She assured us that the mother is probably keeping watch on the fawn from a distance because of the people around. We went to the edge of the woods in the same area that I had saved the fawn and placed it in some tall bushes. It stood up and stared at me for a little while before limping off into thicker brush and then laying down. It wasn't until then that I noticed I had some blood on my waders. It had an injured leg, but it was still able to use it with a limp. The vet said it was most likely a cut from the sharp rocks when it fell, and I hoped it was just a cut as well.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It eventually calmed down in my arms and I could feel its heartbeat returning to normal....poor thing!</td></tr>
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I felt horrible having to leave this poor thing in the woods, and it just ruined the rest of the days mood. Nate and I didn't even want to fish anymore because we felt so bad for the fawn. The vet assured us that the fawn would cry out for its mother who would not leave the area for days until finding her fawn which made us feel a little better. We left the area shaking our heads, hoping the mother would find it soon and nurse it back to good health. <br />
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It was difficult to get a good nights sleep to say the least....Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15589332333017654436noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35095915384410654.post-38581110232543559202015-07-14T20:00:00.004-04:002015-07-14T20:00:45.965-04:00Smallies galoreWith the summer heat approaching and the steelhead dropping back into Champlain, it was time for another run of spawning fish - smallmouth bass. As the water temps climb due to low water and warm weather, the smallies come and the steelies go. There are a few steelhead that will stick around a bit longer, which is why some people can sometimes catch both smallies and steelhead in the same day, but that's not always the case.<br />
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Since I'm not much of a bass fishermen, I usually don't target them after the steelhead fishing is over, but this year I made an exception.<br />
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When they first come in, they're all over anything that moves, even topwater. As they settle, they can be very finicky and frustrating at times, but if you stick to it and figure out what makes them strike, you've got some great fishing on your hands!<br />
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My first day targeting them was probably the best. I'd landed almost 20 fish over 15", with most between 17" and 19".<br />
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After a week of picking away at them and probably landing over 40, I
took my brother out to another river for some bass that weren't as
pressured. Since he had to work until later in the afternoon and we only had about 3 hours to fish, I spent the morning scoping out the water, making
sure there were still some around. I was seeing plenty of fish, and knew he'd have plenty of opportunities to hook up. I brought my spare 5 wt and rigged it up for him. Since he's never fly fished, I knew this would be a good learning experience since these fish can be caught at close-range. Within minutes of being on the river, he'd already spotted a big smallie in a pool, cruising around. He was shocked to see such a big fish in such small water!<br />
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I showed him the basics of what to do with a fly rod and explained to him how it worked and had him do a few practice casts before he started fishing. He picked it up well, but as with any beginner his timing could use some work. He wasted no time in getting this big smallie in the pool to strike! After a few missed hooksets, he was hooked up!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinrb0m5M8Lyioe9D3wikqjaqRRDIDqvSMuPvWXucTjAYgQvIc8VO-b8KOjkCVniRZlk7CfDWtjBVNb40PtUmgNiOjfFk31KOJJeynHoqSdl1cvV_r-Atj6SxVEnrYbnl5nALtmOywGuw/s1600/IMG_1144.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinrb0m5M8Lyioe9D3wikqjaqRRDIDqvSMuPvWXucTjAYgQvIc8VO-b8KOjkCVniRZlk7CfDWtjBVNb40PtUmgNiOjfFk31KOJJeynHoqSdl1cvV_r-Atj6SxVEnrYbnl5nALtmOywGuw/s640/IMG_1144.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">First ever fish on a flyrod....and a big one at that!</td></tr>
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The next pool presented a challenge. A big smallie was under a logjam, and would come out and nip the very end of his fly every time, but never grab the hook. After finally hooking up, I went to snap a picture of him fighting the fish - but right before I took the picture the fish got off and I caught his reaction just in time.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR39X6MZROUnscdqL9DJKwAbQw4E6eyDdpr9Pyq_fYyfa_s-Np6CL-_4NNK3vL4RRD6poFoe3miklTwI0yN5dqMPvzuSTKl1l8a-FNji9JZ8NvbKHFp-5H7XZ8qL3LzP1xPd131Wtt6Q/s1600/IMG_1145.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR39X6MZROUnscdqL9DJKwAbQw4E6eyDdpr9Pyq_fYyfa_s-Np6CL-_4NNK3vL4RRD6poFoe3miklTwI0yN5dqMPvzuSTKl1l8a-FNji9JZ8NvbKHFp-5H7XZ8qL3LzP1xPd131Wtt6Q/s640/IMG_1145.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"No way! Are you serious!!?"</td></tr>
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We kept on moving and found some more fish in pools. Some were aggressive, others spooked away when we got close. He was having a hard time getting the fly placed in the right spot, so I took over to show him how it was done real quick. A few seconds later, I was pulling in a smallie of my own with a grin on my face. I handed him back the rod and we kept moving. He got a few small ones that weren't worthy of a picture, but were good practice for the big boys coming up!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKD42gBgdGD1SiGx-47bXwJwOp9epFtxIVEawJPF8GmDurLM70ttfdzv-aWMK8mm-fM5SXIzRpAf8552M4Fgddl0LIzj3lNfuQ0Vnrwwy9SjMo6r4PwXc50VJ8YIw7RGOJzn0t3V3b8g/s640/IMG_1148.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="640" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Took a while to net this big one...feisty!</td></tr>
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As time was running out, we headed back upriver to make our way to the trails back to the car. He wanted redemption for earlier, so he tried again at the fish under the log. He was doing everything right, and just as the fish seemed like it was going to inhale his fly - a smaller one came over and sucked it in! Fish on!</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ8vehdnSHjASohHfkj8N53871WCm5VMmj6U65P1tJ3_xMmlWxtBbCvxEQ1KJDgO9iduMpYb7CM-2kKeQmgx-Y7Ec15o_SX1ulTNNkXNkrccjWwPtGrhoCoUIyOSmiHiGiV53XZtNtCg/s1600/IMG_1147.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ8vehdnSHjASohHfkj8N53871WCm5VMmj6U65P1tJ3_xMmlWxtBbCvxEQ1KJDgO9iduMpYb7CM-2kKeQmgx-Y7Ec15o_SX1ulTNNkXNkrccjWwPtGrhoCoUIyOSmiHiGiV53XZtNtCg/s640/IMG_1147.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Got the picture this time! Look at that determination!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI7Zdp8a8q8biI62LwyeO8QJhlv3alk8WJdOFwpQ_5YzJx0L1TYrjmm1k7T-MzZOZl5JLUSutXDNA3PyO9BtcPPF-8NYlH9Rmb4oViXbcCL3ZLb3M5Jf4CHnNyMUxZWfnYXzWgw42b0w/s1600/IMG_1151.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI7Zdp8a8q8biI62LwyeO8QJhlv3alk8WJdOFwpQ_5YzJx0L1TYrjmm1k7T-MzZOZl5JLUSutXDNA3PyO9BtcPPF-8NYlH9Rmb4oViXbcCL3ZLb3M5Jf4CHnNyMUxZWfnYXzWgw42b0w/s640/IMG_1151.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Not the big one he was fishing for, but hey - we'll take it!</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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Nate was all smiles when we got back to the car, and he had fun. I was happy to have put him on some nice fish on the fly. I think the fly seed has been sewn if you can't tell by the smiles in the pictures!</div>
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<br />Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15589332333017654436noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35095915384410654.post-48813770742371581182015-06-29T23:19:00.000-04:002015-06-29T23:19:03.862-04:00Catching dinnerI got a text from my friend Drew about targeting walleye in the Winooski River, which along with a few other Champlain tributaries, gets a spring run of spawning walleye. He was interested in getting a Master Class walleye (25" or better). We picked a section of the Winooski that I knew were holding fish, and went after work one day and launched his canoe from the bank. The water was high and a little stained, but easily fishable. <br />
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I had a great feeling! After catching up and exchanging fishing stories from the days prior (he had landed a giant of his own around the same time as my steelhead) We started upriver from where we launched and quickly found out the current was a bit too fast for us, even dragging an anchor. We moved downstream where the river widened and the current slowed. We targeted some deeper runs that I've caught fish in before. The setup was simple, and I showed him the technique used for jigging walleye with minnows. Before long, he had a fish on! He pulled it up close enough to the canoe so we could see what it was, and sure enough it was a walleye!<br />
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I netted the fish and he eagerly took it out and measured it.....BINGO! 26"! This was his Master Class walleye!<br />
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I was glad he was able to get his walleye out of the way, and I knew it was only a matter of time before I hooked up into one myself. The current made for tough fishing, and being in a canoe with high water and strong current is difficult to stay in the area you want. We spent most of the time on the water paddling upstream, or positioning the canoe to where we wanted. I got my turn at a fish a little while after, but it didn't stay on long. I hooked up shortly after though, into a nice 28" slabber! It was getting dark out and we had a ways to paddle back, so we gave it about 15 more minutes before heading in. We didn't have long to begin with, and being in a canoe without a motor made things difficult, but I think we did well considering. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggmjRRJTIWGnhTdNWDfZjMU811PsPnl9fPms5xjdkox0XXHlSIywJkCJmG_fyHgIpDN58-jY8w3opRqsZeZgNDKyinX-j29DHTOpihSc8wA9t3TH08NWYRwax3ATjZU3UPR99fona5qg/s1600/IMG_1100%255B1%255D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggmjRRJTIWGnhTdNWDfZjMU811PsPnl9fPms5xjdkox0XXHlSIywJkCJmG_fyHgIpDN58-jY8w3opRqsZeZgNDKyinX-j29DHTOpihSc8wA9t3TH08NWYRwax3ATjZU3UPR99fona5qg/s640/IMG_1100%255B1%255D.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">28" of marble eye!</td></tr>
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Targeting walleye is something I'll be getting more into once my boat is ready to roll. I've had luck catching them from the bank, but I know that a boat with a motor makes it 100 times easier, and that night only proved it!Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15589332333017654436noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35095915384410654.post-33013697772692242882015-06-28T09:56:00.004-04:002015-07-27T06:36:38.358-04:00Hendrickson buffetFinally, the rain stopped and the sun came out during the work week. I watched the LC trib levels closely. It was the beginning of the end of the steelhead run for Champlain. The smallies would soon enter the rivers, and the steelies would drop back into the Lake.<br />
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I had some free time after work to check the water clarity for the weekend, so I packed up the RAV and took off after work. It was crowded at the usual spots, which I expected. The water level and clarity was picture-perfect. I knew fish would not be in the usual spots, so I began walking. I ended up on a section of river that gets mostly ignored due to shallow and swift water. I saw a few Hendricksons on the river when I pulled in to park, but they had tapered off by the time I was geared up and trekking into the woods. I started off throwing eggs through the swift pools without even a bump. I switched over and swung some big streamers in hopes of an aggressive take. I had this aching feeling that I was drifting and swinging by fish, so I decided to go with a nondescript Hendrickson nymph. High-sticking to a swing is the way to go during the Hendrickson hatch, which is what my plan was. <br />
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Before I could even start the slow swing, my line went tight. No, not bottom....unless the bottom was moving?<br />
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What happened next was pure mayhem. After tying on a Hendrickson, I had 3 fish in my net in 3 drifts. What?!<br />
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Well, that was a pleasant surprise! I decided to book it downstream to a few more runs before it got dark out. I went as far down as I could without running out of light before getting back to the car. I couldn't believe what had unfolded...I landed 6 steelies and hooked into 11. I had a few steelies actually chasing my flies in shallow water during the swing. I was loving it!!!<br />
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I was catching fish in water that people wouldn't even considering fishing, it was just amazing. If only I had more time!<br />
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After landing and fumbling the 6th fish back into the water, it was pretty dark out. I was still still on the other side of the river, and needed to cross. I made my way up to some safer looking water. I happened to look just upstream of me and saw a nice little pocket in front of a big boulder. I tossed above it and drifted through it. On the swing out of the water, I could see a big shape follow and swipe at it as I pulled it out of the water. He ran himself into a foot of water, and I could hear his tail trashing in the shallows, "tsh tsh tsh tsh" as he swam back into his pool. It was a hog! I collected myself and waited a few minutes. I knew he had to cool down before I could try to trick him again. I threw in the same spot, expecting him to smash the nymph. After a dozen drifts, I was left scratching my head. I didn't have time or even the daylight to switch flies, so it was back to the car I went. <br />
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I don't think I've ever had such hot steelhead action in such a short time-frame. Thank you, Mr. Hendrickson. Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15589332333017654436noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35095915384410654.post-5999497004498827092015-06-28T09:20:00.000-04:002015-06-29T00:37:34.161-04:00Wouldn't it be funny?The rain was swelling up LC tribs, so I had big browns on my mind. I knew where at least 2 were hanging on account of hooking into them opening day. I asked Chris if he wanted to tag along, and he was reluctant. He hadn't done well yet on this particular river. I assured him the big browns would be out and about with the high flows. With not many other options in terms of trout, we hit the river early. The clarity and flow was perfect, I was all giggly when pulling into the first spot.<br />
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Chris brought his spin gear with lures and we covered water quickly. One of the bigger pools that I've never done well in was on fire . I'd had 2 short grabs and Chris landed a beautiful 16" brown and had another grab right after releasing it. While fishing upriver, we came across one of the pools that I'd had a big boy break me off. As we stood there looking into the water, I grinned and said, "Wouldn't it be funny if we caught the fish that broke me off and it had my fly in it's mouth?" I started swinging big streamers at the top of the pool, and Chris worked the the lower section. I just happened to look over and watch as he had a big brown grab his Rapala less than 5' from his feet. It started to flail around and do gator rolls in the shallow water. He was dumbfounded and didn't even know what to say. I ran over and scooped him up before he got his bearings in the deeper water. We were ecstatic! I was unhooking the Rapala from its lip when I saw some rabbit strip in the net. I grabbed it and tried pulling it out, thinking it was a fly that fell off my foam patch into the net (which happens often) but when I pulled, the fish moved with it. I flipped the fish over and my eyes went wide. My slumpbuster was in this fishes mouth!! This was THE brown that broke me off a few weeks prior!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfR8VTZyBai2L45DHtbAEZUFYB5DWYpg0FpPdIIiHIDdshy59CQESm1h86bTRFQ4sfY0hWV8EfSkSymoswRe8yJtyXZE0whyJ4LqbKLIzMhnhW4ZwiTP-Ce5pnnZwMLa7qaxDIlXnspQ/s1600/IMG_1037.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfR8VTZyBai2L45DHtbAEZUFYB5DWYpg0FpPdIIiHIDdshy59CQESm1h86bTRFQ4sfY0hWV8EfSkSymoswRe8yJtyXZE0whyJ4LqbKLIzMhnhW4ZwiTP-Ce5pnnZwMLa7qaxDIlXnspQ/s640/IMG_1037.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The 23" Master Class brown that broke me off on opening day.</td></tr>
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After he released the fish, I felt a little better knowing it wouldn't have a big streamer stuck in its face. We soon took off to head back because Chris had some errands to run. Watching a friend get into and land big fish is just as satisfying as doing it myself, so I was very happy without even landing a fish myself!Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15589332333017654436noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35095915384410654.post-76540263746777549182015-06-17T23:20:00.002-04:002015-06-17T23:20:22.436-04:00Spring steelheadAfter playing tug'o'war with a couple of big browns on opening day, Chris and I made plans for some early steelhead the next weekend. The water was about average for the time of the year - high and stained. Still, we showed up before sunrise and fished in almost complete darkness to start off the day. We ran big and bright egg patterns to help counter the poor water clarity, which paid off quickly. High sticking the seam paid off, and I was hooked up in no time.<br />
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Fighting a fish with minimal light is an awesome experience. When fighting a fish in the daylight, an angler has many things he can rely on visually. Where the fish is running to, where his line and leader are, and what kind of obstacles are in and above the water. The only thing I could go on was the faint silhouette of my fly rod and the direction of the pull. Come to find out, it was just a big white sucker!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A 25" Master Class white sucker. </td></tr>
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While it wasn't what we were targeting, I was still happy to catch a nice sized fish. In the high, swollen water, it was quite the fight! We both hooked into a few hot fish that didn't stay on long enough for us to gauge the size, but they definitely felt like steel. We switched flies and presentations before I finally landed a small steelie just as it was getting light out.<br />
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We knew we were in the right spot at the right time, and it was only a matter of fooling one of the big boys into eating. Finally, a drag screamer was on the end of my line. Besides the fact that it flew out of the water, I could tell it was a bigger fish than the first. It did what I was hoping it wouldn't - ran downstream. I remember hearing the ticking sound of my nail knot connecting my fly line to backing zip through my guides before I decided I'd chase it down. It hugged the opposide side of the river, and I made the decision to wade towards it while Chris would be my net guy. It ran from pool to pool...upstream....downstream...I was getting antsy, but this is exactly the kind of excitement we were there for!<br />
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Chris scooped the fish up, we high fived and then headed to the bank. It wasn't the huge 10 pounder that I was hoping for, but a 24" buck had me smiling from ear to ear.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Notice the gil plate - it is a birth defect. Something I've seen quite a few times. </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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I took a few to soak in the good morning of fishing I was having while Chris did his best to hookup, but no dice. Once the sun was out, the cars and anglers started to pile on the river. It was crowded before 10 AM, and we decided to head to a river with less pressure.<br />
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We got there and was pleasantly surprised to see only one angler - an old timer fishing worms under a bobber. We chatted, and he'd told us there was not much going on all morning. We figured we'd give it a try anyway. Boy, are we glad we did! We both hooked up in a short time, but couldn't stay connected. Shortly after, I reeled in a beautiful chromer!<br />
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Chris broke off a slab of a steelie later on that left us holding our heads in shame. Broke 3X fluoro like it was a strand of hair....NOT a happy fish!<br />
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We took our time and explored a bunch of water above a waterfall that the fish MAY be able to pass, but we struck out after walking almost a mile of river. No signs at all, which was surprising to me considering how high the water was just a week prior.<br />
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I got a few nice fish to the net while Chris was the long distance C&R type. Overall a great start to Spring steelie fishing!Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15589332333017654436noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35095915384410654.post-40451370281243974412015-05-18T21:40:00.001-04:002015-05-18T21:40:15.803-04:00Finding the grooveAfter my last day on the ice, I had a few weeks of downtime to wait for the rivers to open and drop. It was a good opportunity to replenish my steelhead boxes, along with some big meaty brown streamers for the opening day of trout season. <br />
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After monitoring the water levels of a few Champlain tribs, I decided it was worth it to take a quick trip after work to one of them. The water was high, and off-color. The temps were nearly below freezing and a light drizzle turned into a whiteout by the time I was back in the car - I loved it. I knew fish would be out of the main flow and more towards the banks, so I focused on getting a good drift by high-sticking the slower sides of the confluences. A subtle, "bump" followed by a thrashing fish had proved my point. He dug down for the first minute before turning and running downstream. If he went too far down, he was a lost cause because of the high flows. I put the side pressure on him and pointed his nose to the bank and swooped him up in some shallow water. A nice heavy-bodied steelie! <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Don't let the water clarity fool you in this picture. There was only about 7" of visibility.</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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One other fish later on decided he would gator roll his way off my line. Still, landing one fish brought me plenty of joy - especially high sticking in high and dirty water. Having brushed the skunk off, I started to prepare for the trout opener the following weekend.<br />
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I decided to chase big browns on opening day and was on the road before light. While I rarely see anybody fish this particular river, it always pays to be there first regardless of where you go. I had a box full of big, meaty streamers and a few different sink-tips to go along with them. The flows were high, and very hard to wade, but the clarity wasn't too bad. I stuck to fishing some of the, "safer" water and was bummed that I couldn't get to a few honey holes I knew were holding fish. I managed to cover some water, and it didn't take long for a grab from a hungry, broad shouldered brown. I had the fish right in front of me, (21-23" fish) and right as I pulled my net off my sling to net him, he rolled a few times and swam away - leaving my streamer on the bank. Well........OK....<br />
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I smiled it off, knowing I was on the right track. After changing spots via car, I bushwhacked my way into a run and kept at it. Just a few casts later, I thought I was hung on since I hadn't even started to strip my fly in yet. Come to find out, my snag was moving away from me! Wide headshakes and a long run lead to heartache. He ran me right into a snag in the deep pool. I could feel my line wrapping around something right before the gut-wrenching feel of a, "weightless" fly line slinging back at me. Cut me off, that tricky bugger..<br />
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I tried hard to get another take for the rest of the day, but couldn't make it happen with what water I could access. I took a mental note of where these fish were hanging, and already had a game plan for the next time I would visit this river! It was only a matter of time.<br />
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<br />Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15589332333017654436noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35095915384410654.post-29859004101071510942015-05-13T22:28:00.004-04:002015-05-13T22:33:37.228-04:00Hard water 2015While many fly anglers spend the Winter filling up fly boxes and chasing the elusive Winter trout and salmon, I take advantage of the hard water! Admittedly, I did hit my local river a few times without anything to show for it. <br />
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After getting a new Ice Armor floating suit and a flasher(LX-7) I was eager to test them on the ice. The first few trips out on the ice like most trips (for me anyway) didn't yield much of a catch. A few fish here and there, but nothing to brag about. <br />
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My good friend Drew decided it was time to target fish through the ice the year prior and we targeted early walleye to try to get his Master Class entry. While we didn't find one 25" or bigger, I did jig up a 20"er that I decided to take home for the dinner table!<br />
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A small pike, some jumbo yellows and one walleye later and we decided to call it a night. He decided a Master Class walleye will be a Spring thing, and we called it quits for eyes through the ice.<br />
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While he was searching for the very rare whitefish out on the Lake, he ran into one of my favorite species to target through the ice - white perch! I was home on a brutally cold Saturday when he shot me a text of a white perch and said he's marking a bunch of them. I loaded the car and met him on the ice less than 45 minutes later. They were suspended in DEEP water and my LX-7 came in handy. For white perch, the fishing was slow, but I managed almost a full bucket of nice sized fish.<br />
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The perch were on the move, but my friends and I stuck with them for almost a month. It wasn't a steady bite like late 2014, but some of the fish were BIG! They were also super fun reeling up in 40-60' of water.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiug00M4lUHgyFKTUJQE4GC1BxSgLYVx7XdWiBBnEyCZDRHMcjrrcK3dZCLy9DJfcyOjOtngNoOZvAihSfvcbvggIU5wMwJyeumE8c38hkVLvz9qMr3bJnIVSXrnvbf19CJalXPn5cHPw/s1600/IMG_0904.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiug00M4lUHgyFKTUJQE4GC1BxSgLYVx7XdWiBBnEyCZDRHMcjrrcK3dZCLy9DJfcyOjOtngNoOZvAihSfvcbvggIU5wMwJyeumE8c38hkVLvz9qMr3bJnIVSXrnvbf19CJalXPn5cHPw/s640/IMG_0904.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A hog that was over 14"</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
We were raking in 1-2 buckets of whites per day when we could get out(the temps were dangerously low on some days along with 20+ MPH winds) Eventually the bite tapered off, and it was time to covering water elsewhere in search of some big yellows and/or whites. <br />
<br />
I took my brother Nate out for a day on the weekend in search of jumbo whites and yellows in some water that produced early last year. We seemed to have covered almost 2 miles of water before eventually finding fish. Most of the fish were decent sized yellows with some whites mixed in. Nate was hooting and hollering after pulling up a hog of a yellow that was just over 13"<br />
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<br />
We didn't quite fill our buckets, but the action was steady and it was a blast! We ended up leaving that spot with a few hours of daylight left to try to find bigger schools, but we struck out. Overall, an awesome day out with my brother.<br />
<br />
The next day I decided would be a good day to check out my local river for some steelhead action. Little did I know, the ice was covering much more water than I thought.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlZ4WXSTeDSxHwPCQRXgPNkJszKLPoI8hA-_UfN225vxE1p5q0Wg3ovHnJWkiuEZCU_o0EycOtQaPx77WsM38DBo9qPZ_cy7fEl9n8f3Zb8l8haQ1zhwB6-9GnpS7EyJtm440ykjy3bA/s1600/IMG_0922.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlZ4WXSTeDSxHwPCQRXgPNkJszKLPoI8hA-_UfN225vxE1p5q0Wg3ovHnJWkiuEZCU_o0EycOtQaPx77WsM38DBo9qPZ_cy7fEl9n8f3Zb8l8haQ1zhwB6-9GnpS7EyJtm440ykjy3bA/s640/IMG_0922.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
Still, I fished what water I could and enjoyed being on my favorite river. <br />
<br />
I got a text from Drew saying he'd been whacking lakers through the ice for a week straight and I immediately wanted in. Catching lakers through the ice is something I've always wanted to do but never put any effort into learning for some reason. We headed out that following weekend and he showed me where he'd been getting them, how and on what. Having a flasher made things 100 times easier, and I was addicted after reeling up the first laker.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGa04M_PClgC57P_J0Btallp8xfZ-l4_IzkjAABvLZt7WaNE4U40gtWg3GcvtGn2drcmPFhzD0MxW6uLST02OYGW7da2xhdjkOEBn8Q9iFwBaiVCWfx5kkwpT6zHbOf6ppUoDSurb3rQ/s1600/IMG_0947.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGa04M_PClgC57P_J0Btallp8xfZ-l4_IzkjAABvLZt7WaNE4U40gtWg3GcvtGn2drcmPFhzD0MxW6uLST02OYGW7da2xhdjkOEBn8Q9iFwBaiVCWfx5kkwpT6zHbOf6ppUoDSurb3rQ/s640/IMG_0947.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
It was such a blast reeling up the fish on 4 lb line and a light rod. Watching it flail around 15' below the clear, black ice was unforgettable! Drew and I both got into more fish, but the first one was the biggest of the day.<br />
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<br />
Over the next few weekends, I got the OK from Drew to take my girlfriend and a few others out for lakers to enjoy the fun.<br />
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Katlyn and I took a day off of work and were joined by Chris for some laker action. We walked out to the area we'd been getting them and after showing Katlyn what to do, I started to drill a bunch of holes in the area. After finishing the second hole, I could hear Katlyn yelling - holding the rod high in the air and reeling. She was already hooked up! After a lengthy fight, I pulled the laker out through the ice and we all celebrated. I was so happy for her!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7ig2n7w5dZQZ1iokoDr2r-1PXSBdEF4GUlA7bX0dwqJ6ejX_O6xLIln5U-KnP-M7V6-kl41kzB5jAGrqk7tJyLG34aEcfDPGgyQuMvoiY_W8t0pZEgy19yfelqSWmuAmZXJSgYqU4sA/s1600/Untitled.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="418" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7ig2n7w5dZQZ1iokoDr2r-1PXSBdEF4GUlA7bX0dwqJ6ejX_O6xLIln5U-KnP-M7V6-kl41kzB5jAGrqk7tJyLG34aEcfDPGgyQuMvoiY_W8t0pZEgy19yfelqSWmuAmZXJSgYqU4sA/s640/Untitled.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A 28" laker that she decided was going on the dinner plate, hence the blood</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The action continued throughout the day, being mostly sporadic. We were marking a bunch of fish, but only a few would eventually hit. Chris had his limit by the end of the day, and all of them were over 25" Katlyn and I had to leave early and I'd only landed a few smaller ones before then. Still, even the 20" lakers put up a great fight in deep water. We all had a blast, and I had given Chris the laker bug. <br />
<br />
The following week I took a day off of work again was joined by Chris and Nate. It was a beautiful day, and the action was HOT! Nate started the day off right by landing his first laker through the ice, ever!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiydyDhFI1XDgqDGi_1SfHZvK1rSkDeiIwrWU_O5w6w4wI0Q6siGGyTdfuaZSrCBfUzwjh7JVyCn4hJi0gUiE1lGqhS9_JU833XPFynk87NbjNLNsXZ2DySLEzm7t8v987qxd1D4znAyQ/s1600/IMG_0962.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiydyDhFI1XDgqDGi_1SfHZvK1rSkDeiIwrWU_O5w6w4wI0Q6siGGyTdfuaZSrCBfUzwjh7JVyCn4hJi0gUiE1lGqhS9_JU833XPFynk87NbjNLNsXZ2DySLEzm7t8v987qxd1D4znAyQ/s640/IMG_0962.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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The action stayed hot throughout the day, and we all ended up using the same lure and presentation for the rest of the day (even for the rest of the year!)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSdTdm1Tc3hUotehZO6zLZTeylWBrY-NT7qJxY4GrqUyAzzdWdgW092V7kSBWtm1B7SrpX8kadTozJzUdjR2HkqFKA-c02fGlJ576PpqbEe50AEtvyWSitTTaXm2F8Qvw6xsunAaHh5g/s1600/IMG_0964.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSdTdm1Tc3hUotehZO6zLZTeylWBrY-NT7qJxY4GrqUyAzzdWdgW092V7kSBWtm1B7SrpX8kadTozJzUdjR2HkqFKA-c02fGlJ576PpqbEe50AEtvyWSitTTaXm2F8Qvw6xsunAaHh5g/s640/IMG_0964.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<br />
Chris had landed the biggest fish, which were around 30". We even had some fish that were whacking our jigs right below the ice in 70' of water....we couldn't believe it! We ended up icing 9 out of about 18 lakers we hooked into while jigging. I set up half a dozen tipups very close to where we were jigging and didn't get a single flag all day - go figure! <br />
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Chris wanted his friend Erik to get a laker through the ice, and since I didn't want to keep blowing up a spot that wasn't mine to begin with, I did some research and looked at navionics on Champlain for a while. Eventually, I had a spot picked out that looked like it would be a great place for lakers to hang. The only problem was that access to the ice was very difficult and required a LONG walk......We all met up and dragged our sleds almost 2 miles on the ice to the spot. After pinpointing where I wanted to be on my Navionics, I drilled a few holes. After finishing the 5th hole I dropped my jig down the first and all of a sudden had 3 fish show up on my screen, wow! I started jigging and got hit immediately but missed the hookset. Two of the fish took off but the one left wasn't going to leave my jig alone. He chased it up and down for about 10 seconds before whacking it. We'd been there less than 3 minutes and I was already reeling up a fish, we were mind blown!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDWLWqwCbBrMASzYh9QhBPYBj0bPkFsw8Y2kLa9A0ixqM0ohmeRZIV79Zc3-iqR-dVz75dEsoloyRIz1hVIY9Gi1dE-35yDZEv02drfUQBxrm__-neOWqxVWbz-TGqakyGGhjtOx7org/s1600/IMG_0970.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDWLWqwCbBrMASzYh9QhBPYBj0bPkFsw8Y2kLa9A0ixqM0ohmeRZIV79Zc3-iqR-dVz75dEsoloyRIz1hVIY9Gi1dE-35yDZEv02drfUQBxrm__-neOWqxVWbz-TGqakyGGhjtOx7org/s640/IMG_0970.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A smaller laker, but a very good sign!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
After landing that fish, we were all giddy. We cut holes zealously and couldn't wait to start jigging. It didn't take long for us to ice about 7 fish in a few hours with many follows and many others getting off the hook. The action was the best we'd seen so far all year, but it seemed to have died off by Noon. We struggled to stay on the fish, and were forced to spread out to hook up. The fish definitely moved out somewhere, we just didn't know where. We all walked off the ice with smiles on our faces that day. We'd hooked into about 15 lakers and iced 7 or 8. It was a great feeling after picking the spot myself and then doing a 2-mile walk without knowing what was in store for us. We all took a chance and it paid off big time!<br />
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Chris and Erik went back the next day in some crazy wind, but managed to catch some nice lakers, one being over 30" in just a few hours. They were blown off the lake quickly, but they still had fun.<br />
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I decided I would take a drive on the ice to a honey hole for late season yellows. My buddy Wes and I had fished it a few weeks prior and almost filled out buckets with some nice yellows and a few whites. They all group up during pre-spawn in deeper water in the bays that time of the year. The wind was brutal and the cold was just as bad. Even with my full suit on with handwarmers, I fished out of the side of my car with the heat on almost the entire time - limiting my ability to cover much water. Still, I found some nice yellows.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Some of the bigger yellows. 13.5", 13.25" and a 13" were the biggest. Plenty of 12"ers!</td></tr>
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<br />
I topped off my bucket with jumbos and decided to call it a day. I was freezing and the wind was relentless. Never thought I'd be, "glad" to leave a hot hole of yellows.....but the weather was just THAT bad. <br />
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I'd planned on returning to the yellows the following weekend, but I got a text from Wes saying the white perch had moved into the same spot they were in last year. He took the day off from work and pounded them for an entire day. A few pictures later, and we were making plans to hit it together for the weekend. The fish were in 12-18' of water and were constantly on the move with big schools sometimes staying under us for hours. We sat in his shanty with the heat blaring - living the good life. The action only slowed a few times throughout the day, and we were filling bucket after bucket...<br />
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Chris and his friends joined us later in the day and decided to take a walk over to the even shallower water to see if they were in there as well. Wes had to call it a day a few hours before sunset, so I decided to haul everything over to see what they were up to. Erik and his girlfriend Kelly were just leaving. Chris and his friends were hammering the whites pretty steadily - and they were BIG! I decided I couldn't pass up the hot action and started fishing with them. The fish were not only bigger than where I'd come from, but way more aggressive. I'd filled two buckets up in less than an hour. I even had to borrow an extra bucket from Chris by the end of the day! I was packed full....I had no more room for fish! I walked off the ice, dragging over 150 lbs of fish with a big smile on my face.<br />
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Chris and I went back the following weekend after meeting up with someone who'd driven over 7 hours to get into these huge schools of whites we'd been hitting. The bite was slower and the fish had moved quite a ways but we did end up finding them. At the end of the day, I had about 4 buckets worth.<br />
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The sun was doing quite a number on the ice, and the shores were starting to flood with water. 6" holes were turning into 10" by the end of the day, and my time on the ice was almost over. Wes took a weekday off a few days later and got his biggest haul ever - over 270 lbs by himself! I couldn't believe it and took the day off to hit it the next day as my final day on the ice. I took as many buckets as I possibly could - along with my old Jet Sled Jr in case things got sketchy getting off the ice. <br />
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The action was the hottest I'd ever seen. I only changed holes half a dozen times until I left. I had to leave by 2 PM because I was COMPLETELY full! Every bucket I had was packed full, even the Jet Sled Jr was full of fish. I was in disbelief. Definitely the most fish I've ever caught through the ice in one day. I ended up losing count of fish that were over 12". They were in 9-11' of water, throughout the entire water column. At one point I was sight-fishing them 1' under the ice, picking only the biggest. I didn't even have a need for the flasher because the fish were in so thick. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBBpEeJYe_9d6OeBwWkU_JmgY0GMOVnoeusCVXbIDTLyaX_IIxrpctuV9q1I5SENVZqEQvRo4t2DH4lCE8gt_pNdh23AFXG9Wg-GSNb5lRPlsyyq3EfhQFnwssUaLoMDdHH56xfSmqkA/s1600/IMG_1003.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBBpEeJYe_9d6OeBwWkU_JmgY0GMOVnoeusCVXbIDTLyaX_IIxrpctuV9q1I5SENVZqEQvRo4t2DH4lCE8gt_pNdh23AFXG9Wg-GSNb5lRPlsyyq3EfhQFnwssUaLoMDdHH56xfSmqkA/s640/IMG_1003.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I'd filled another bucket after taking this before before being completely packed full. </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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Couldn't have had a better last day on the ice....it was truly amazing and I loved every second of it. I'd caught over 250 lbs of fish from 7:30 AM to 2 PM! While I could have gone out a few more times, I decided not to take a chance and packed away all of my ice gear and prepared my river gear. 2015 will be one of my favorite years on the ice for so many reasons!Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15589332333017654436noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35095915384410654.post-60146026274728507802015-02-18T21:54:00.004-05:002015-02-18T21:58:11.050-05:00Pre-ice steelheadWith ice on Chamlain quickly approaching, it was about time I started to unpack all of my ice fishing gear. Some fly anglers take a break from fishing during the Winter and tie flies, but I take to the ice when the rivers are locked up.<br />
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I had just told my buddy Jerry about the two explosive weekends I'd had fishing for salmon, and he wanted in. I only had one day to fish that weekend, so we hit the spot early. We were greeted with 30-40 mph winds, and muddy water. The water was blown out from rain, and even I could barely throw a line in the wind. I was bummed, but we had other options. Jerry wanted to catch a salmon on a fly, and I had just the spot. While it's a popular spot that gets heavy fishing pressure, I knew Jerry would have a shot if we had the spot to ourselves. We got there to find a few anglers wading in the water - usually where the salmon are holding. We were bummed, but didn't have many other options because of a time restriction. I geared him up and we walked down to the water. I showed him the basics of where the salmon hold, which direction, etc. He stood and practiced casting while I waded out deep in the water and threw some long casts with a streamer on, not expecting much since there was another guy 30 yards from me doing the same. Surprisingly, my line stopped dead and I set the hook...a fish? Head shakes confirmed! A beat-up old male that deserved an underwater release, he'd been through enough. After that fish, the other anglers that were there packed up and left. I got out of the water and had Jerry do the same for a little while. I knew the fish would go back to their original holding spots once the water was left undisturbed. After 10 minutes, I lead Jerry to the edge of the water and pointed out which seam to fish. It took a few casts, but he got the flies where they needed to be. We were both surprised when the 4th or 5th cast had a salmon on the end of his line! I was standing there and watching him cast - the fish grabbed the fly almost immediately after it hit the water! Not a big salmon, but fun on a flyrod for a beginner!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikKCXlX-9OI6wonfyV1GqpdhIkmJ0MEJ0AAUIa1bFtexbqWYmQ1CEhbdMAe8ilwsP98BujJoK27Ri8Ew2KEmtaWsRkhPL06uRoCByUTS8oPZd4ncfBXDFu6j-AcxYJKJDedwv7my6fyQ/s1600/IMG_0827%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikKCXlX-9OI6wonfyV1GqpdhIkmJ0MEJ0AAUIa1bFtexbqWYmQ1CEhbdMAe8ilwsP98BujJoK27Ri8Ew2KEmtaWsRkhPL06uRoCByUTS8oPZd4ncfBXDFu6j-AcxYJKJDedwv7my6fyQ/s1600/IMG_0827%5B1%5D.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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After this fish, our time limit was up....and that weekends fishing had come to a close. It wasn't the action or destination we expected, but he avoided the skunk!<br />
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With cold weather in the forecast, I put my time in on the Winooski the weekend after for steelhead after the salmon fishing had dwindled. Rarely have I seen much of a Winter steelhead crowd on the Winooski, which makes picking and choosing spots a breeze. This year was no exception.<br />
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Needless to say, I had the whole area to myself on the first morning. It was already cold, and snow was on the ground. The rivers edges were already lined with ice and it wasn't even December yet! As I walked up to my usual run, there was some slower, shallower water I usually overlook. I figured since I had most of the day, why not take my time?<br />
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It was an easy high-stick and my hunch paid off immediately. I'd hooked up on the second drift into chrome!<br />
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Second and third drift after that fish...no luck<br />
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Fourth drift, whammo!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS-WBJcVbu7GDyi5JzKffEpd-jH_9PCjV2XeSr5JMw_vBj0FjUQMrQSLFoURlJ7W7e7LKwibVGpFf-TXVOrs28Exn3xOVeOM4euxI8kZDzEDjBHYKZni52_v_crAXuJfpNqdFlOEZl4A/s1600/IMG_0831%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS-WBJcVbu7GDyi5JzKffEpd-jH_9PCjV2XeSr5JMw_vBj0FjUQMrQSLFoURlJ7W7e7LKwibVGpFf-TXVOrs28Exn3xOVeOM4euxI8kZDzEDjBHYKZni52_v_crAXuJfpNqdFlOEZl4A/s1600/IMG_0831%5B1%5D.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
Fifth, sixth, seventh...nada<br />
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Eight drift, whammo! Followed by tail dancing before throwing the hook...damn!<br />
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Talk about hot action! I fished for the rest of the afternoon before hooking into and landing the final fish of the day.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYAMzW7YnZytVptEdqSh-30Wn4qPCUWibIjAGOq8XVFYW35D9OCzcwURWPAhm14F8BFeh8fkACV5p_zvEdA4KBbOaQ3FYF3M9QoS8DgAvpY1CVtloo67I3LSjJfbINDfc5MlNGozM7fQ/s1600/IMG_0833%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYAMzW7YnZytVptEdqSh-30Wn4qPCUWibIjAGOq8XVFYW35D9OCzcwURWPAhm14F8BFeh8fkACV5p_zvEdA4KBbOaQ3FYF3M9QoS8DgAvpY1CVtloo67I3LSjJfbINDfc5MlNGozM7fQ/s1600/IMG_0833%5B1%5D.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This fish had been through a lot already</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I walked back to my place with a smile on my face, that's for sure!<br />
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The following day, after checking flows on other tribs, I chose to make the drive to a smaller, less-known steelhead river. It was that day that was full of frustration. The water was fairly cloudy, but not too bad to go home. The water level however, was perfect! I knew a few holding spots in this river and focused on them. I don't know how, but for the 6 or so hours I fished the river, I'd managed to hook into 6 steelhead and lose every single one of them. It got to the point where I was checking my hook points before every drift! What sucks even more is that at least 2 of the 6 were well above 22" I never did run into another angler though, which was pretty relaxing in itself.<br />
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The next weekend it was back to my home water. The ice was getting worse, and the slack water was freezing already. I had the same game plan as before - but this time the water was a bit higher. I started off plucking out 2 steelies right off. Great start!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLbiz1y3vnmjjmrr_qERadcLJ9eJD5jUzhF8hKCKzNerncTQ2qZgvuaftXQukETX5a1X9dea9xhkH8lkOo8_xWhSzB_c7Pr6LLCuKXcbe0mEzbtfWQDxQFBp9yCNknDuG2D1dCMiCQpg/s1600/IMG_0843%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLbiz1y3vnmjjmrr_qERadcLJ9eJD5jUzhF8hKCKzNerncTQ2qZgvuaftXQukETX5a1X9dea9xhkH8lkOo8_xWhSzB_c7Pr6LLCuKXcbe0mEzbtfWQDxQFBp9yCNknDuG2D1dCMiCQpg/s1600/IMG_0843%5B1%5D.JPG" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A tagged fish that I forgot to write down.</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjllxPU3Lj3HZWrGBlzH-CxR1BR9aPpCoZYcRKt2FeYR9uksNuZahOs6r2mxbCMI5stb5pE9LITicyamXAkNEuJkKpuAazyzrPnm4QTqtfCUBPwvEHijhqMdNz70Zdwmo-i2eNYKRedfA/s1600/IMG_0847%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjllxPU3Lj3HZWrGBlzH-CxR1BR9aPpCoZYcRKt2FeYR9uksNuZahOs6r2mxbCMI5stb5pE9LITicyamXAkNEuJkKpuAazyzrPnm4QTqtfCUBPwvEHijhqMdNz70Zdwmo-i2eNYKRedfA/s1600/IMG_0847%5B1%5D.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The hot-headed fly was a huge producer for me</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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After a few hours, it was time to switch it up. I walked around to the other side of the river and began fishing a huge whirlpool-like pool. Drifts were tough, and streamers were even tougher. All of the conflicting currents made it difficult to tell exactly where my flies were. I ended up finding a, "sweet spot" by drifting with an indicator in 7-9 FOW. If I kept enough line off the water, the drift was endlessly circling the big pool. I remember thinking to myself, "this is friggin cool!" before watching my indicator go under. I set the hook, lost about 20 yards of line from a hot fish and then slack - it was off.<br />
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Good news though! It meant that there were indeed fish in this big pool. I continued to fish the same way, almost zoning out while doing the, "endless drift". It took about 15 minutes before another take, this time the fish wasn't as lucky. <br />
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A great way to end the day! The next day I was back at it, this time hopping from spot to spot which eventually paid off! </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoNHCWy8Ee68YiIunEwA6HV1W188VqJ1NJC74zYsMoX6lf3hPapi1J6qPZyffPN4Mi54w2g4yY8ug102k2CXG0eIIbf8zr5HIyOOYOgf_mr2ONCmI7rqRwSoca5NQRpF6WP4IQg7bMiw/s1600/IMG_0849%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoNHCWy8Ee68YiIunEwA6HV1W188VqJ1NJC74zYsMoX6lf3hPapi1J6qPZyffPN4Mi54w2g4yY8ug102k2CXG0eIIbf8zr5HIyOOYOgf_mr2ONCmI7rqRwSoca5NQRpF6WP4IQg7bMiw/s1600/IMG_0849%5B1%5D.JPG" height="640" width="480" />A </a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRGr8R1Sz8Zf0r2Yqb-aA9s6xcHtlaPWg3j31UjBc6SaOLnGIUq2R8M6r9y5WVovQQL43PN3oXfvN-QRhzBXGrTT5xiI0G2oNEtpjjHddTzZnm378_gu6DWcK3HEkWpDE9102jGXugAA/s1600/IMG_0853%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRGr8R1Sz8Zf0r2Yqb-aA9s6xcHtlaPWg3j31UjBc6SaOLnGIUq2R8M6r9y5WVovQQL43PN3oXfvN-QRhzBXGrTT5xiI0G2oNEtpjjHddTzZnm378_gu6DWcK3HEkWpDE9102jGXugAA/s1600/IMG_0853%5B1%5D.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bank fishing with jeans on in December for steel!</td></tr>
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The following week was frigid, and the smaller Champlain tribs were just getting over being blown out. I drove to another trib the following weekend to find very difficult conditions. The water was stained, a little high, and the loose ice chunks made it nearly impossible to drift anywhere. Still, I'd made the drive and I figured why not give it a shot? I started with the well-known spots first without even a bump. It wasn't until I moved downstream to a "rock" I like to fish that I finally hooked up! It took me by surprise, and it was actually very tight to the bank when the fish hit. It was one of those, "might as well try here" kind of drifts.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3SFMO05ikoPLd6bv8PbxA_LFlnTaLsxlDF-9a9ChPb4A3PBASxGIHgbIx6CVlQ6YIXO4ES9iJm9getdMkJwe1CfeX_jjhSmvxmwx9LnWvSJlKx6IgTbomiVTpzCm6_4fyLTVIcUsPaw/s1600/IMG_0885%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3SFMO05ikoPLd6bv8PbxA_LFlnTaLsxlDF-9a9ChPb4A3PBASxGIHgbIx6CVlQ6YIXO4ES9iJm9getdMkJwe1CfeX_jjhSmvxmwx9LnWvSJlKx6IgTbomiVTpzCm6_4fyLTVIcUsPaw/s1600/IMG_0885%5B1%5D.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Good way to test a new reel!</td></tr>
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The next day I decided to make a last trip for salmon of the year, and somehow found a salmon that was still aggressive!<br />
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That turned out to be the last productive trip of 2014 for me! I'm already itching to get back on the rivers soon! Looks like the hard water fishing will hold me over until then though. Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15589332333017654436noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35095915384410654.post-46442766975634908742015-02-15T19:57:00.001-05:002015-02-15T19:59:08.396-05:00Back at itAfter catching so many fish in NY, you think most people would take a break from fishing....well not me. <br />
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I was back at it the next weekend after arriving home in November. The salmon were all duking it out for spawning rights, the steelies were putting feed bags on for the Winter and the hunting season put less pressure on the rivers.<br />
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Since I don't hunt, I took full advantage of the lack of pressure on the rivers. I don't know why, but I felt the urge to get a fish to hit a swung streamer. I had a ton of extra flies from weeks of tying in preparation for NY. I had a dozen big, heavily weighted orange slump busters that looked very fishy.<br />
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The water was still pretty low, but I knew there were steelies roaming around - a friend of mine had landed a few and lost a large one a few days prior. I don't think I was more than 5 minutes into swinging this big, ugly slumpbuster before it got whacked by a feisty steelie. One of my favorite takes is from swinging, whether it be mid-swing, or at the end of it. <br />
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While it wasn't a big fish, it put up a great fight, and it fulfilled my need for a fish on the swing!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLdJ44sXJwS5U1owHE-UHdiy56dM79OHOzFd_EDkTyy1Tvw_u0NRUTa01f5dwfc9cF1jMhUVHnDqP_3ssj3gETOrUwDo7lsK7EdXt3yqneMy9USQ8BN4M-2bzS76KQNYoAoKyJsG29SA/s1600/IMG_0783.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLdJ44sXJwS5U1owHE-UHdiy56dM79OHOzFd_EDkTyy1Tvw_u0NRUTa01f5dwfc9cF1jMhUVHnDqP_3ssj3gETOrUwDo7lsK7EdXt3yqneMy9USQ8BN4M-2bzS76KQNYoAoKyJsG29SA/s1600/IMG_0783.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Went in for the kill but ended up with a mouth full of metal!</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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Not long after landing this fish, I was in the mood for hitting some different water. I know they say don't leave fish to find fish, but I just had a feeling. The spot I ended up I've known about since I started spin-fishing, but have only fished a few times. Just hard to fish new spots when I was so close to such good water!<br />
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I had no clue what was about to unfold - it was pure mayhem. There was nobody there, which is about normal for this spot. It's known by many, but it doesn't get much pressure because it's relatively close to another spot on Champlain where the salmon stack up in front of a hatchery brook. Anyone that knows anything about salmon fishing will know where I am talking about of course. This is another spot I've known about for a while but really have no urge to fish it for more than one reason. I geared up and walked down to the water to find it was very low and clear. The fishing was phenomenal to say the least. I was able to sight fish many salmon, a few of which were close to or over 7 lbs. The first fish came in minutes. It chased down and inhaled a white slumpbuster - the same fly as the steelie grabbed earlier in the morning but a different color.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFxDuFvhyphenhyphenXMymX7X8PMnWKolMVEx3PjJFhosX7IMCe-V3MPDnaG_ei-8RK2WMhehbbJAlboo38Ry46WI0JsrArhG5wIhhnIitlSw0yhhyXiir0Y4Dw1M6FE-Qmk0ekclAcz0AkFFgFfQ/s1600/IMG_0785.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFxDuFvhyphenhyphenXMymX7X8PMnWKolMVEx3PjJFhosX7IMCe-V3MPDnaG_ei-8RK2WMhehbbJAlboo38Ry46WI0JsrArhG5wIhhnIitlSw0yhhyXiir0Y4Dw1M6FE-Qmk0ekclAcz0AkFFgFfQ/s1600/IMG_0785.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Off to a great start!</td></tr>
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In the next few hours, I'd landed another 10, yes TEN salmon and losing another 3. I couldn't believe what was going on. These fish were going nuts for a simple black bugger with a generic orange bead-headed nymph. The current made for perfect high-sticks through the slot I was fishing. I was lucky enough to watch fish react to my flies, and even witness them grab my flies. For some reason, they were all over the two flies I had on. I don't even think I changed them all day!<br />
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A few hours into the fishing, I had to call my buddy Chris and let him in on the action. He was eager to catch salmon, which he hadn't had a ton of luck doing so far in the year. It was a tough year for a lot of people. I kept catching fish while he came to meet me, but as he got there, I set him up and showed him how to drift the flies through to get the fish to take. Funny thing is, why I was giving him a quick demo with his own rod, I had a fish take and handed him the rod to land it. We both got a kick out of that. For the rest of the day, we both continued fishing, and Chris had hooked into and landed a few fish which I was very happy to see. <br />
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I had no idea I'd be landing so many salmon in one day....it was just insane!<br />
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After the hot action on Saturday, I went back on Sunday morning and got into even more fish! One thing that I was noticing was that these fish did NOT want to be handled at all. I had half a dozen fish that slipped away before I could snap a quick picture, and even some of the ones I got pictures of turned out pretty bad. No worries, I've got the memories of the ones that got away! <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A big, 26" hen!</td></tr>
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Hands down the most salmon I'd ever landed in one weekend in VT!Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15589332333017654436noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35095915384410654.post-32207282760476582402015-02-14T10:11:00.000-05:002015-02-14T10:11:03.358-05:00Western NYAfter the close of trout season, the salmon fishing had slowed, but not by much. November is usually a month when salmon search out gravel bars, suitable for spawning. But this also means the males and even females are very very aggressive towards almost anything, even a tiny nymph!<br />
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Since the days are shorter in the Fall, I wasn't able to get out after work anymore, so my fishing was limited to weekends. Kenny and I had made plans to go to NY for the middle of November, just for a weekend. I fished for salmon for a total of 3 days before Kenny and I took off to NY to chase some truly monstrous browns, and then steelhead. <br />
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The fish were much harder to find than usual, but I found a few that were willing to play, including one of the biggest for the year, and probably the fattest salmon for its length I've ever landed. <br />
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It was around 27", a very respectable fish for Champlain, but the girth on it was ridiculous as you can see. <br />
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Over the few days I fished, I'd seemed to have lost more fish than landed, but was happy with the outcome!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A perfect example of a salmon in disguise. It looks very similar to a brown trout!</td></tr>
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After getting into more salmon, I was ready to rumble for NY! I met Kenny at his house in NH after work on a Friday, and we spent the night driving over 8 hours to NY. When we got there, we met up with his friend, "Steelhead Steve" and a friend of his. Steve was an awesome guy, and very easy to get along with. He lived just as far away from the rivers out there as we did, but probably spent more time on them than most! He really knew his stuff, and I'm very grateful he could share his valuable information with us. Huge browns and steelhead are not uncommon for Great Lakes tributaries, and that's what we were after!<br />
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Kenny and I had an incredible experience, and while the weather wasn't very cooperative for mid-November (it was below freezing for two of the mornings) we landed a TON of fish! We started at sunrise, and I immediately hooked up into a huge resident rainbow on a small tributary of Ontario. On the first day, we fished this particular river pretty hard, walking upstream quite a ways. We found fish at almost every pool and slot. The best thing? Compared to the Salmon River in Pulaski, this river was getting barely any pressure. Sure, there were guys out there fishing, but we ended up stopping at a stretch of river where we barely even saw anyone. We caught fish after fish, and it was just amazing. I don't know how many times Steve caught a fish in water that I would walk by! <br />
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The second day, we hopped around all of the place, trying to find BIG steelhead. We probably visited over a dozen rivers, fishing almost all of them. It seemed like the big Fall run of steelies hadn't quite come in yet, and we struck out. Kenny did hook into a big steelie on an Erie trib, but it quickly popped off. We were on the move constantly, trying to find which river had the most fish. Towards the end of the day, however....it was clear that the steelhead fishing was very slow, and we actually headed back to the Ontario trib where we'd caught all of the browns, resident bows and steelhead on the first day. While we didn't find any 12+ lbers that we were looking for, the numbers easily made up for that! I have no clue how many fish all of us landed, probably well over 50! We fished until sunset, changed clothes and grabbed a bite to eat before making the 8 hour journey back home. <br />
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One thing is for sure, Kenny and I are definitely planning for a Spring trip out there, along with a week-long Fall trip next year. The fishing was amazing, and I can't wait to feel the pull of a 20 lb steelie. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fish on within the first 5 minutes! A fat resident rainbow!</td></tr>
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<br />Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15589332333017654436noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35095915384410654.post-36698408105000381832015-02-13T21:04:00.001-05:002015-02-14T09:41:34.716-05:00A week off (end to 2014's trout season)The end of October is the end of Vermonts trout season on many rivers and tributaries to those rivers (unless specified otherwise by the State) This means all fishing is prohibited from Oct 31st to the second Saturday in April. <br />
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I took the last week of October off to do as much fishing as I could. To say I fished hard for the whole week would be a huge understatement. I was free to do what I absolutely love, and I enjoyed every minute of it.<br />
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This time of the year, big browns migrate to proper spawning habitat just like salmon. If you're lucky, you can time it right and run into BIG browns in BIG numbers. While they might not cooperate, it is very exciting to see.<br />
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I spent one day on a Winooski trib and spotted 8-10 browns over 20". I moved half of them, and spooked the other half. My stealth could use some work I suppose. I managed to get a few to grab metal, but I couldn't get a good hookset. <br />
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A good buddy of mine, Drew, who guides both cold and warmwater species in Vermont wanted to take a trip out to some tribs on another big river in Vermont. He'd taken time off as well, and we planned for an early start, and late return. It was time to find some hogs - and find them we did.<br />
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Drew is probably the best sight fishermen I know. He knows exactly what he's doing, and can spot a fish from a mile away that I couldn't see from a foot away. It takes experience to spot a camouflaged fish, and he has it. I always like to pick his brain when we fish, and I always seem to learn something new, so it was great fishing and great conversation. Long story short, we BOTH broke personal bests, with mine being a 26" prehistoric looking male in full spawning color. After the day was done, I took a friend two days later after making him swear to secrecy. Not as experienced, he had trouble casting in the tough conditions, but did manage an 18" brown. I landed a thick 25" brown towards the end of the day followed by a few smaller ones. The fishing was much harder than a few days before. Still, a 25" brown is an awesome fish and I was super psyched. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yup, I could fit my hand in his mouth....my current personal best VT brown!</td></tr>
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I told myself I would put more time in chasing trout in October, and I did just that! It was hard to leave the salmon for a few days, but absolutely worth it!<br />
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I spent a few days looking for salmon on the upper stretches of the Winooski River and its tributaries. I struck out the first day on two tributaries and a few sections of the main river, but the second day I was in luck. While on a tributary on Halloween(last day of trout season), I was taking my time, going from pool to pool when I happened to spot a suspended fish. I remained motionless, and watched the fish for 5 minutes. It moved a few feet leisurely while I watched, but wasn't feeding. I could tell right away it was a salmon. It was just resting in a pool. It must have been migrating up this tributary to spawn, but there were no redds in sight. Had I stumbled upon a salmon on a redd, I would have moved on. The State moved these fish to spawning water so they can spawn, I'd hate to bother or see someone else bother a fish that will most likely naturally reproduce if left alone. With rod in hand, I went with a stealthy approach - two small nymphs, a 16 and an 18. The drifts were dead on, and the fish showed no interest. I changed nymphs, colors, sizes, presentation types, depths....no reaction from this fish at all. What the heck? "Alright" I said to myself, let's see what it does for this. I tied on a big and heavy white bunny leech. I got the fly wet first (rabbit hair is annoying like that) and proceeded to cast upstream of the fish. Once I saw the fly was at the same depth as the fish, I began to strip. Long, steady strips. I was hoping for the fish to show interest, and was surprised when the fish turned and bolted towards the fly. It didn't just charge the fly, it destroyed it. The fly disappeared in its mouth, and as I set the hook, I could feel a solid hookset on the fish. It started to shake its head and tail-dance to rid itself of the white fluff in its mouth. No dice, she was in my net in 5 minutes.<br />
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A beautiful, silvery-blue female. Once I had her in the net for sure, I dropped to my knees, threw my rod on the bank, clenched my fists and threw them up in the air in excitement. Yes, I even shouted like a happy little kid. At that moment in time, the world stopped. I could have been the first person in a decade to catch a salmon in this tributary, and it felt utterly amazing. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp1e9dYMyOpjC5nYeoAXd_zym8WUqX4jO2VzqWfQGWrV7ZYZNirt0H9k5Wzr0KrilpJsV4UfTtwwQT9Bw2gvCiQS7wiWyiXMfvtn8p4gfekHQ4tRs-ZHrmH49u_LaDYTa5GNFma0_Vbw/s1600/IMG_0684.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp1e9dYMyOpjC5nYeoAXd_zym8WUqX4jO2VzqWfQGWrV7ZYZNirt0H9k5Wzr0KrilpJsV4UfTtwwQT9Bw2gvCiQS7wiWyiXMfvtn8p4gfekHQ4tRs-ZHrmH49u_LaDYTa5GNFma0_Vbw/s1600/IMG_0684.JPG" height="640" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stunning color on this beautiful female Atlantic. She was tagged and transported upstream almost two weeks prior to me catching her. </td></tr>
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I spent most of the day on this tributary, searching for more salmon. Unfortunately, I didn't find or spook any. I even disturbed some of the deeper pools on purpose just to see if I could spook any (after I'd fished it already) The further upstream I got, the more dangerous it was. Since I was alone, I just couldn't risk going beyond a certain point, and I headed home. On the walk back to the car, I got a call from my girlfriends father about a 10 lb salmon he'd just landed from the Winooski. I didn't believe him at first until the picture went through to my phone, and wow.....<br />
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I got in my car and drove to one of my favorite spots on the river where he'd just landed the fish and started fishing. It didn't take long to hookup, and this time it was a male that contrasted the bright silvery female I'd landed earlier in the day.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVKGO3fmoOb1A_0YPluRRUgr_CaKekLLSdHSJRQMkx60ppb6SW52dSFiWuK1TUm-vKTzN0NniWaO5m_WpAk2f9dmq0UEiOZGRhQTMRBYnUTQzIVtDkzsTv3Qgbx2cexBdqylRfzyhRKA/s1600/IMG_0695.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVKGO3fmoOb1A_0YPluRRUgr_CaKekLLSdHSJRQMkx60ppb6SW52dSFiWuK1TUm-vKTzN0NniWaO5m_WpAk2f9dmq0UEiOZGRhQTMRBYnUTQzIVtDkzsTv3Qgbx2cexBdqylRfzyhRKA/s1600/IMG_0695.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Often mistaken for brown trout, the male salmon get a kype, followed by a darker, butter-like color and even orange spots like brown trout. </td></tr>
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A few ways to tell apart spawning salmon from brown trout are the tails, the teeth and the mouth. The tails on salmon are slightly forked, but not always. Browns almost always have a square tail. The caudal peduncle (where you'd grab a fish right near its tail) is generally thinner in a salmon than a brown. The end of the jaw is usually in line with the back of the eye on a salmon, whereas on a brown trout, the end of the jaw(maxillary) goes beyond the back of the eye. Hence why big male browns have huge mouths. The final the most definitive thing to look at is the teeth on the roof of the fishes mouth. A salmon has a single line of "vomerine" teeth on the roof of its mouth, where a brown has a zig-zag pattern instead of a straight line.<br />
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Upon landing this fish, I didn't have much time before having to head home. It was Halloween, after all. I couldn't have asked for a better week off, and I loved every second of it. I may even have to take two weeks off next year! I love October!Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15589332333017654436noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35095915384410654.post-65004951966457211172015-02-13T20:00:00.006-05:002015-02-14T09:42:07.980-05:00Steady actionFinally, the Winooski was back at a fishable temp! It was early September, the days were still long, the sun high, and the fish...well....aggressive!<br />
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Since I live so close to the river, I was able to put in a few hours after work every other weekday. For about 3 weeks straight, the action was steady. I even took some beginners out on the weekends - one that hadn't fly fished in over a decade! He ended up landing 3 salmon in one morning on some of my streamers right below the surface. We both got to see all of the takes too. Lots of hooting, hollering, and cheering! They weren't the biggest salmon around, maybe 20", but the excitement was palpable when we got to see the fish follow the streamer for a good 10-20 yards before hitting. There were many, many last minute bails from fish (probably from over 15 different fish)<br />
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I learned in August that the State had decided to transport out Atlantic salmon upstream this year, utilizing the fish ladder at the Salmon Hole and then putting them in a large holding tank and then bringing them over 20 miles upstream to water that is more suited for spawning. I was happy, but at the same time, I knew the fishing might be slower. Luckily for me, that wasn't the case!<br />
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My jaw dropped when I heard of and saw a picture of Jon(who operates the Hydro One Dam) holding up a 14, yes FOURTEEN pound male salmon! Shattering the current record of 12 pounds, 10 ounces. The fish was moved upstream the same day, where he had access to over 20 miles of river, and tributaries of the Winooski. I'm sure he ruled with an iron kype in that area. <br />
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I continued fishing the lower Winooski, in hopes of another monster migrating from Champlain. While I didn't find any fish over 8 lbs, I found many, many salmon(and even a few nice steelies) that were more than willing to tango. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8pvBHOsfTTuN_lJs6WVVa9qJUNJj8IysvI2PGWsc_NQe_5X0RkPIYzdhAhTG26ZePswTkP2QVhfVOkZDQ0Y_yn0KtPI1gFJfqYo7nz6HaZjnazdmSwTn-aYNo88INebHM5P9bHdqlmA/s1600/IMG_0560%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8pvBHOsfTTuN_lJs6WVVa9qJUNJj8IysvI2PGWsc_NQe_5X0RkPIYzdhAhTG26ZePswTkP2QVhfVOkZDQ0Y_yn0KtPI1gFJfqYo7nz6HaZjnazdmSwTn-aYNo88INebHM5P9bHdqlmA/s1600/IMG_0560%5B1%5D.JPG" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Funny story about this little steelie. I was messing around in some very fast water and he nabbed my dropper and took off straight downstream. I honestly thought it was a huge salmon by the weight and speed of it at first. Turns out...a 15" steelie. </td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2IYgjXlyyPZAypvz5zc7jtej6L6pPkMSiF-En2OglQT0wVq7t-WCONsA5AlwxJl7KKHJu0oLge4tBtlVIu8JluNdlrEQ94Mm2hF8THAY2LKMcTFbB7iGmd6uwNtUjp9GA84MpUnV-dQ/s1600/IMG_0636%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2IYgjXlyyPZAypvz5zc7jtej6L6pPkMSiF-En2OglQT0wVq7t-WCONsA5AlwxJl7KKHJu0oLge4tBtlVIu8JluNdlrEQ94Mm2hF8THAY2LKMcTFbB7iGmd6uwNtUjp9GA84MpUnV-dQ/s1600/IMG_0636%5B1%5D.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOxPk__FSWtYvJRbkkZUepko51T7PbKKQKOCC24ODh9fgsBtcnyItEB-247VtPkEtW1JedKJISLIPasRNq4uJVQl38P1jX6Nd1Xji4Lo1Mu0YyysEb31NNDRZSVnpbwhyJKUv0aJ2a1A/s1600/IMG_0637%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOxPk__FSWtYvJRbkkZUepko51T7PbKKQKOCC24ODh9fgsBtcnyItEB-247VtPkEtW1JedKJISLIPasRNq4uJVQl38P1jX6Nd1Xji4Lo1Mu0YyysEb31NNDRZSVnpbwhyJKUv0aJ2a1A/s1600/IMG_0637%5B1%5D.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVhONzqS1eArMCMk_Q8cclfd_MEPbMR1QCgNE2Wm6xXR6jsP5ZZgNV_xBtb1gFJU2JZAgTjbbyfHwJdk_LyoU1VqFkcjE8WaIZ9MM9zlx94Wq5tnJCRpGpCngbEf1FkOPXn6MG8O6utw/s1600/IMG_0562.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVhONzqS1eArMCMk_Q8cclfd_MEPbMR1QCgNE2Wm6xXR6jsP5ZZgNV_xBtb1gFJU2JZAgTjbbyfHwJdk_LyoU1VqFkcjE8WaIZ9MM9zlx94Wq5tnJCRpGpCngbEf1FkOPXn6MG8O6utw/s1600/IMG_0562.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Behind this blur is actually a thick steelie!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL9ZwABhAVAcWoutRydWHuNNVFMaYmN46OzRIemSGtR5MOtta-IUNNZqtWHf0bWabIOP5lRQv51quW2_iej22Vp_5M4A5htcR3SXkucHjBhZyxKxuNn9PYZjY0oHZ8yLWX8FRkXbWFjQ/s1600/IMG_0565.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL9ZwABhAVAcWoutRydWHuNNVFMaYmN46OzRIemSGtR5MOtta-IUNNZqtWHf0bWabIOP5lRQv51quW2_iej22Vp_5M4A5htcR3SXkucHjBhZyxKxuNn9PYZjY0oHZ8yLWX8FRkXbWFjQ/s1600/IMG_0565.JPG" height="640" width="478" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I call these minis. Still a great fight. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4lmN-gzu1lgS-fmNr8qJKyfUF-1RaSJqosD8TltR2DOgCIrfT2-YHho9jsBsfC4y5VERouWuv1t2nXyvfnouvXF0SHWg5QiwxEawlicEk-6-pgdU4VRjUG6ct0y9sGVGVcKIUW1a6Bw/s1600/IMG_0595.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4lmN-gzu1lgS-fmNr8qJKyfUF-1RaSJqosD8TltR2DOgCIrfT2-YHho9jsBsfC4y5VERouWuv1t2nXyvfnouvXF0SHWg5QiwxEawlicEk-6-pgdU4VRjUG6ct0y9sGVGVcKIUW1a6Bw/s1600/IMG_0595.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Some of the big producers. Royal Coachman, and marabou Black Ghosts. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTqTonYZeySeCCnszL0Me7gJMclwqep2winSoSof7wD9uort95gGAWU5fOYgQrN8oDIy-PjnqLC9uAAwv80l2nDZFLSpi-RUTgM-HG3DeEZGHDkKx82RsaFP9HfR0sWFdnVw3l9LhCvg/s1600/IMG_0608.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTqTonYZeySeCCnszL0Me7gJMclwqep2winSoSof7wD9uort95gGAWU5fOYgQrN8oDIy-PjnqLC9uAAwv80l2nDZFLSpi-RUTgM-HG3DeEZGHDkKx82RsaFP9HfR0sWFdnVw3l9LhCvg/s1600/IMG_0608.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Luring the fish to the, "landing side" </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRILSU63bo7ns2POI_UHgUUJQMLbxAeB0K82A66DJOvTDAWe7fZpzXNTNIKwQeQ76WiGEFvq62mSTIAnm1h5y0KIaAAMOllx6pVBgO311dSLO92EPmXDexZp6nZINwAHXEAZcjXI2XIA/s1600/IMG_0613.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRILSU63bo7ns2POI_UHgUUJQMLbxAeB0K82A66DJOvTDAWe7fZpzXNTNIKwQeQ76WiGEFvq62mSTIAnm1h5y0KIaAAMOllx6pVBgO311dSLO92EPmXDexZp6nZINwAHXEAZcjXI2XIA/s1600/IMG_0613.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Two fish in 5 minutes after work...nothing better!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Having a chat with a fellow angler...lazily drifting a tiny little pheasant tail and all of a sudden this guy flies out of the water. "WOAH!" Oh, hes got my fly in his mouth! Ha! I had to chase this big guy down quite a ways. Very exciting!<br />
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Proof that it really does pay to put your time in on a body of water, and get to know it like the back of your hand. When I close my eyes, I can picture every single slot, boulder and holding spot in the area....I just love it! I can't that that about many bodies of water, but I'm proud to say it about the Salmon Hole. </div>
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Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15589332333017654436noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35095915384410654.post-56057434679843153912015-02-08T19:17:00.001-05:002015-02-08T19:17:28.380-05:00Jerrys successWhile waiting for the water temp in the lower sections of my home river to cool off for salmon fishing, I took Jerry out for a day of fishing on a tributary of the Winooski River. He wanted to fly fish, so I rigged up a spare setup for him and we were on our way. The water was low, which makes things difficult for trout fishing, especially when they're all wild. <br />
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As per usual with this particular river, I moved a few big browns, but couldn't connect. Jerry, however, was a fish magnet! I had him setup with a big olive streamer, which has produced before. <br />
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I spent a lot of time showing him the ropes, and once he got into the groove, he'd landed 3 small wild bows in a row. We were ready for the big boys....<br />
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One pool that I often visist usually holds 4-5 large fish, but they rarely take. It's an impossible spot to sneak up to unless you're with another person. I guided Jerry on where to walk and where to cast...and things just came together beautifully.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRNRiOcGLQshZ9sNatxBi9eNpOXbu8HDT5MDLz4gG7y5jn8kstcKmYMfV-zmK45vGUGTnJ3o2Dv5o2gahbXL-5bxE1CJzhqNHzecFevrNrVwue-vHXq2SsiZzpewbtFeAmeWHLh7dmUw/s1600/IMG_0580%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRNRiOcGLQshZ9sNatxBi9eNpOXbu8HDT5MDLz4gG7y5jn8kstcKmYMfV-zmK45vGUGTnJ3o2Dv5o2gahbXL-5bxE1CJzhqNHzecFevrNrVwue-vHXq2SsiZzpewbtFeAmeWHLh7dmUw/s1600/IMG_0580%5B1%5D.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gorgeous brown!</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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We spent time exploring more of the river I haven't yet seen, and also spooked a few big fish in total frog water...I'm talking 10" deep over mud. Spots you'd never imagine a trout would be! I definitely learned something about this river system and will be taking it into consideration next time I'm on it.<br />
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I did a little more fishing, and had one grab myself, but couldn't seal the deal. I let Jerry fish for the most part, it was his goal to catch fish on a flyrod after all. We approached some water that was slow, but looked perfect. I could see it producing a big fish. It was a long, deep pool with a large tree on the bottom. There was tons of cover, tons of big boulders, and plenty of cover from up top. I had Jerry get in the water and slowly approach the pool from below it. When he got within his casting range, his very first cast landed directly upstream of where the downed tree was. The water was so clear, I could see the Krystal Flash on the tail sparkle as it dropped. Once it got deep enough, and he started to strip, all hell broke loose. Two fish, one twice as big as the other - started to chase the streamer down. I could barely contain my excitement, and from where Jerry was, he couldn't see what was going on. Both fish competed for the fly for a good 30-40 feet before the smaller of the two grabbed it. The big one, which I am sure was a brown, decided to stick around for a few more seconds while the rainbow struggled. I almost thought he was going to take a bite out of him. He ended up spooking while Jerry was fighting the rainbow. Defeinitely a memory I won't soon forget!<br />
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J<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi-VTSNFSRSYWxSXzB6fd58zMziyn7W0S_9mm4xM4QoZfO84jC12YuzEwl96buOIXfUohHc6iC4EP4i2yRnqPrtKHq6dlsaHoQEoT8qBjWpi39kiduixhdTcWIxu7bCUwo8WjsdXulnQ/s1600/IMG_0587%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi-VTSNFSRSYWxSXzB6fd58zMziyn7W0S_9mm4xM4QoZfO84jC12YuzEwl96buOIXfUohHc6iC4EP4i2yRnqPrtKHq6dlsaHoQEoT8qBjWpi39kiduixhdTcWIxu7bCUwo8WjsdXulnQ/s1600/IMG_0587%5B1%5D.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Not a bad fish for a beginner!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVmIJV6bMSNw3Bp0Yxxo9ssBSlJiji2VIrWESri5gwdS-22JLGnKrF_Rfi9IkAWf_4KEk0iQcTpZWFqmpiWTTgI8brIwh5whpWCfXYrrdYrJizg1uc57yutdEg10PRK6iOuK_Yuulbuw/s1600/IMG_0585%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVmIJV6bMSNw3Bp0Yxxo9ssBSlJiji2VIrWESri5gwdS-22JLGnKrF_Rfi9IkAWf_4KEk0iQcTpZWFqmpiWTTgI8brIwh5whpWCfXYrrdYrJizg1uc57yutdEg10PRK6iOuK_Yuulbuw/s1600/IMG_0585%5B1%5D.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jerry mid-fight with the larger rainbow.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2uNkSxL2BuIP4Ue0apiEevvYAv2Ey1L5voZO_O4tYdVSE_40oYFb60FJdhJ0et0pGA0xxiuUXPdfW5fl3A5i4fh00q6oOYIRsHggFWReGR0eAsgnKOIKpumskt5It-ExVTFHx1oTZfw/s1600/IMG_0584%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2uNkSxL2BuIP4Ue0apiEevvYAv2Ey1L5voZO_O4tYdVSE_40oYFb60FJdhJ0et0pGA0xxiuUXPdfW5fl3A5i4fh00q6oOYIRsHggFWReGR0eAsgnKOIKpumskt5It-ExVTFHx1oTZfw/s1600/IMG_0584%5B1%5D.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Another logjam ambusher he landed just after the bigger one.</td></tr>
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We tried to get the big brown to come back out, but he was too smart for that. Shortly after, we had to head out. Another great trip, and Jerry is really starting to love fly-fishing. <br />
<br />Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15589332333017654436noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35095915384410654.post-7732785322056542902015-02-08T18:55:00.001-05:002015-02-08T18:55:44.500-05:00Early startMy Fall salmon fishing actually started early. While I normally don't bother fishing the lower section of my favorite river until about September, cold nights and mild weather pushed the water temps below 70 towards the end of August. I kept a close eye on the water temps, and once it dropped below 65 overnight, I headed down at sunrise to my favorite run. I'd cranked out a bunch of streamers the weeks before, and was ready to go. For me, early salmon usually means a tight, dry-line presentation with an unweighted streamer. The streamer will stay just below the surface film with the right speed, and this can mean devastatingly aggressive hits from fresh Atlantics that usually break the surface when they take. I tied a marabou ghost on with excitement - I think I was shaking a little. I was so excited to be doing what I love to do. The time had finally come to start my Fall fishing extravaganza, and it couldn't have come any sooner. <br />
I started out doing the traditional 45 degree cast downstream, followed by a swing, and then a pause at the end before stripping line in. My first cast, I paused for a few extra seconds to soak in the joys of being on the water. The very next cast, right as the fly started to straighten out after the swing, a boil followed by a tug. GAME ON!! The fish hit fast and hard, and barely even needed a hookset. I tightened up on it and got it to the reel quickly. Jump after jump, my excitement turned into nervousness.....this was my first Atlantic of the year, after all. Luckily, I managed to net the fish.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhri5I7tA7yj_165axcXK9ash8erTlZQ2reUKiYxR1OmCiwfW7pRHm3E6VierfRQYw6d76nMcHE9JI3EdQo3AzZhVTTeSV7eVhZiM7ows2w0jiOvK3ftMvIBKl6RYuadrjLXSVDHBfMkg/s1600/IMG_0528%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhri5I7tA7yj_165axcXK9ash8erTlZQ2reUKiYxR1OmCiwfW7pRHm3E6VierfRQYw6d76nMcHE9JI3EdQo3AzZhVTTeSV7eVhZiM7ows2w0jiOvK3ftMvIBKl6RYuadrjLXSVDHBfMkg/s1600/IMG_0528%5B1%5D.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fresh from Champlain!</td></tr>
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The date was August 25th, the earliest I've landed a Fall salmon on my home water, pretty sweet! On top of that,I had the whole river to myself(or at least as far as I could see)<br />
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After changing streamers and various other things like line angles, speed and depth, I decided to nymph a deeper slot in front of me that has been very good to me in the past. I grabbed my 5 wt which was already rigged with nymphs. The water was low and clear, so instead of an indicator I opted to just go by feel. After a couple of well-placed slow drifts, I noticed my line stop for a just a moment. Usually this turns out to be bottom, but a hookset always confirms. This time though, NOT bottom! The normal steady hard pull of bottom was replaced with violent headshakes by a big salmon. It didn't take long for it to take to the air and start somersaulting. A long and fun fight it was, but I had won. I netted the beauty, snapped a picture and sent it back on its way. A Master Class salmon my first time out...not bad!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikNq1kN5_cGbPMq6NP-m-OGA25jDp8oW-RxcmqvT4PDRZztoFW4KDlkNw9XJI9vFiUpZdA7lmgIEUfIt_YVWAkd-ri2u1A48bnAGkZo_akGmv-b8qFCr9OsGCrpUVbedhrVn05k0E5hQ/s1600/IMG_0530%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikNq1kN5_cGbPMq6NP-m-OGA25jDp8oW-RxcmqvT4PDRZztoFW4KDlkNw9XJI9vFiUpZdA7lmgIEUfIt_YVWAkd-ri2u1A48bnAGkZo_akGmv-b8qFCr9OsGCrpUVbedhrVn05k0E5hQ/s1600/IMG_0530%5B1%5D.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A fresh, 25" Atlantic</td></tr>
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By 9 A.M, the sun was out and the water was already approaching 68. I decided to leave the fish be until the cooler weather came. Unfortunately, things only got hotter! The water didn't drop below 70 for a few weeks, but in between then, I got out to the NEK and fished with my buddy Kenny, who knows the area probably better than anyone. They'd gotten a run of fish after rain, and they were ready and willing. <br />
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We almost had the river to ourselves besides a few other anglers. I spent the weekend at his place, and we put a ton of time in on the water. We ended up finding a pool of salmon with some true beasts roaming around. A few males were already kyped out, and the females were FAT! I started things off with a bang and had one chase down and inhale a white bunny!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3JtoyNK1IidWSr4qbbr-4aeANKQdn-m1CZEp3wOhOntaNFP0f4RqTDhONYSifmJLVEv3RIZ9C-lTWjv5gpzDo7L9usX1Ess7VYnmdM4NXhCB1vMIKaxPo4YY61zYXLqed5wzP8Omx2Q/s1600/IMG_0547%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3JtoyNK1IidWSr4qbbr-4aeANKQdn-m1CZEp3wOhOntaNFP0f4RqTDhONYSifmJLVEv3RIZ9C-lTWjv5gpzDo7L9usX1Ess7VYnmdM4NXhCB1vMIKaxPo4YY61zYXLqed5wzP8Omx2Q/s1600/IMG_0547%5B1%5D.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Not the biggest in the pool, but definitely the most aggressive!</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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Kenny and I were constantly switching it up, trying to figure out the most productive flies. The fish were both line shy, and splitshot shy! It got to the point where I was watching the fish spook from a BB sized splitshot, or a gold bead-headed nymph. We had to go micro shots with flies 16 and smaller to get takes. I remember having one big female move about 5 feet to suck in an emerger. She took off like a rocket and popped off before I could say a word!<br />
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We landed many fish that weekend, but none of the monsters that were patrolling the pools. They don't get that big for being stupid!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk01T6AcloJS03MZ68Q17zGv4BH5zbDW_2i4DMQyqR_363cckgs8jyJNn-JhCKpJXXhjgspOiSyTVcjU8MstjD5Y-EsWXrFmcSQeSFYBpGlqNScesaXBaPiyMeZNPxoJRjwBhAVuRhnw/s1600/IMG_0540%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk01T6AcloJS03MZ68Q17zGv4BH5zbDW_2i4DMQyqR_363cckgs8jyJNn-JhCKpJXXhjgspOiSyTVcjU8MstjD5Y-EsWXrFmcSQeSFYBpGlqNScesaXBaPiyMeZNPxoJRjwBhAVuRhnw/s1600/IMG_0540%5B1%5D.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of many that Kenny landed, but this one in particular took a size 20 midge!</td></tr>
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It was an awesome weekend, and I couldn't have asked for any better. I can't wait to do it again next year!<br />
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<br />Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15589332333017654436noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35095915384410654.post-73426828510628753092014-08-19T10:43:00.002-04:002014-08-19T11:07:54.916-04:00Here a brown, there a brown, everywhere a big brown.We got a few days of rain last week, and I watched the water levels closely on some of my rivers I knew had big, but spooky browns. The water level spiked, and then started to drop quickly. I knew it wouldn't be as high as I wanted it to be, but also knew the rain and cold nights were going to get the water temps where they needed to be.<br />
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Since my buddy Jerry was going to be in town, I asked if he wanted to join for a Saturday trip to explore some new water and he was pumped to go. It had been a while since we went out on some trout water together, and he said he wanted to try fly fishing. I remember the only time he'd tried fly fishing. It was with me, casting to a salmon in shallow water, trying to get the fly to swing near it to provoke an aggressive reaction. He just couldn't get the right swing, and handed the rod to me to have me show him what to do. After he tried for 20 minutes to cast to this fish, I made one cast, let the line swing...and watched the salmon move a few feet and grab my fly. He was dumbfounded, and I think it put him off fly fishing because of it. Many people are overwhelmed by everything that goes into fly fishing, but I think Jerry knew he was in good hands, so I set him up with an extra 5 wt rod and reed I have.<br />
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We left early Sat, and got to a spot on the river where I'd spotted some seriously big browns before. The water was back to being quite low, and very clear. I was worried. It was an overcast day, and was supposed to rain off and on, so I had high hopes of active fish.<br />
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Sure enough, the first pool we stopped at was holding more than one big brown. Jerry couldn't believe it. This river was all wild fish, no stocking whatsoever. We stopped at the pool and watched 2 browns lazily feeding in the middle of the water column. When it comes to big browns, my go-to flies are streamers, especially for ones in this river system. I tied on a large, tungsten cone-headed crystal bugger and made a cast in some fast water above the deep pool the fish were cruising around in. It was a deep, undercut rock structure that we couldn't see into. I had a feeling something was lurking in the depths. Sure enough, after the bugger began to swing in the current, and I stripped it...I could see a fish following it. Jerry was speechless. He was on the top of a bank looking in the water and had no idea where the fish came from. I did the same thing, this time letting the fly get deeper, and travel further downstream, right by a huge undercut. Jerry went ballistic, "OH MY GOD!!" Right as he said that, I felt a small tug. I set the hook, but no dice. He was panicking, saying it was a monster, almost twice as big as the already big browns we spotted when we first got there (And these were 18-20" browns) My heart sank...and I knew that big guy had felt my hook. He was now a lost cause, at least for now....<br />
<br />
We headed downstream to some nice looking, deep water. I made the mistake of only drifting by a log jam a few times, and when I got closer, spooked a 20" brown out from underneath it. Yep, figures.<br />
<br />
I began to help Jerry with his cast, showing and telling him the basics. How to hold the rod, what to do with his hands, wrist, elbow, and other hand. He picked up quickly, but struggled with keeping his wrist straight, causing some pretty nasty loops and tangles. His problem was he was completely extending his arm out from his body for just a 25' cast. He had the form and stance to do a 75' cast, so I told him to tuck his elbow and arm closer in to himself, and use his elbow as his pivot point, and to keep his elbow moving in a parallel line to the ground. Immediately, his loops looked much better, and he was able to get out 35' of line easily. I set him up with a streamer like mine, just a different color. I showed him what to do to swing a fly through a run, and when to start retrieving it. His second cast, he let it swing to a dead stop, and then started to retrieve. This was followed by a "woah!!" A nice healthy rainbow had grabbed the bugger. This was his very first fish on a fly rod, how awesome is that? We somehow both left our phones in my car, which was a bummer. He continued to fish the same run, getting another rainbow of the same size, and then losing something that seemed to be a bit bigger. I worked a slower pool while he practiced his casting, swinging and stripping. He was hooked on it, and would have done it for hours if I hadn't said we should move. Since the water ahead of us wasn't too great (I was familiar with this stretch) I thought it best we pack up, drive elsewhere and then just explore. We did that, a few times throughout the day, and it was just amazing.<br />
<br />
Jerry was just blown away by the clarity and beauty of this river. We were walking by and fishing holes that were over 10 deep where we could see the bottom.<br />
<br />
We found some amazing log jams, and pockets of water that were holding BIG fish. I had a few grabs from big browns hiding under log jams, but couldn't seem to get a proper hookset.<br />
<br />
Something funny I noticed was that we even saw fish in slow-moving, shallow water....where were they?<br />
<br />
They were stationed on top of big piles of leaves, completely camouflaged. I thought it was awesome to see a 14-16" trout just appear out of nowhere next to a pile of leaves to chase our streamers. We even spooked a couple BIG fish that were in seemingly motionless water. It was a learning experience for both of us. We explored quite a bit of the river, spotting or getting a take from a big wild brown every now and then. We were just absolutely blown away by the numbers and size of fish we were seeing. One of our last stops were below a waterfall, which had some scary deep water, probably over 15' in some spots. But the water was so clear, we could see a few 12-14" rainbows in the middle of the water, alongside a rock feeding. Jerry had a few takes on his bugger, but couldn't get them to stay on. I chose to add a ton of weight and stand right near the waterfall and throw out my streamer until I thought it was close to bottom. The first time doing this, I hooked up and landed one of the most beautiful brookies I've ever caught..<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-SLwERuWRoDSqprL4Qir0Ae2Ukn2zvCD52a6ODcSxtJt2dGAPe3J421HLz7Q4aJK-yebwzQbefFnuhz7u3xmYsSvAty6o7L2YmuBDyGPnjArAdTT6founGKCRdB05Jdf_uMb8-RieSA/s1600/IMG_0509%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-SLwERuWRoDSqprL4Qir0Ae2Ukn2zvCD52a6ODcSxtJt2dGAPe3J421HLz7Q4aJK-yebwzQbefFnuhz7u3xmYsSvAty6o7L2YmuBDyGPnjArAdTT6founGKCRdB05Jdf_uMb8-RieSA/s1600/IMG_0509%5B1%5D.JPG" height="478" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Amazing contrast!</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<br />
After a while, the pool seemed pretty spooked, and we wanted to cover more water, so we headed back to the car, fishing our way to it. We chose to head downstream to see what it was like, but stopped at the first hole where Jerry saw the monster grab my streamer. It had been a few hours, so we hoped the fish weren't as spooked. I let Jerry give it a go, and told him where to cast, etc. He made perfect casts, and I was able to follow his fly as it sank and began to drift downstream. I spotted a brown working his way upstream near bottom, and told jerry to cast upstream from him and let it dead drift. His cast couldn't have been any better. The fly drifted downsream, right until it hit bottom. I told Jerry to twitch it a few times and then tighten his line so it started to swing. Sure enough, the fly was twitched and swung right in front of the brown. He turned around, chased the fly down and grabbed it. I told Jerry to set the hook, and I watched as the fish shook his head - the hook was in. Jerry did a great job at playing the fish, and lead him right into my net. A stunning brown with amazing color. Jerry couldn't believe it!<br />
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<br />
We were so pumped, and I was so happy for him! Of course, after that fish, the other fish in the same area were spooked, so we took off.<br />
<br />
We picked a spot a few miles downstream to try and bushwhacked our way to the river. We fished some great looking runs, but couldn't produce anything, or even see a follow. Finally, a smaller fish, appearing to be a brown, grabbed my streamer but shook off. It was starting to rain, and get dark, so we decided only a few more holes. Not too long after, we came upon a huge, wide and infinitely deep pool that looked very promising. We both stood upstream from it, casting at 45 degree angles, letting our streamers swing down and then strip them back. After a few minutes, I felt my line stop dead, so I set the hook and felt the head shakes of something big...followed by slack line. UGH! This was probably the 4th fish of the day over 18" that I'd gotten to take but had shake off. Of course, I'm not complaining...now I know where they live.<br />
<br />
We fished til' dark, in the rain (left our rain jackets in the car, smart right?) but couldn't land another big beastly brown. It made me super happy that Jerry had landed such a great fish earlier in the day, and the fact that we'd spotted and/or had action from about 8 fish over 18" just blew me away.<br />
<br />
Needless to say, we plan on going back next weekend, and will be exploring even more new water. <br />
<br />Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15589332333017654436noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35095915384410654.post-51209424819183197122014-08-19T09:56:00.000-04:002014-08-19T09:57:03.868-04:00New small water, big fish!Katlyn and I booked a camping spot about an hour from home, and of course, I'd checked Google Maps for possible fishing spots before we left. We already knew where to go for a ton of smaller brookies, but I wanted to check out new water!<br />
<br />
We arrived, set everything up, cooked over the campfire, then headed out in the morning to the water. We drove until we could see some of the water. We kept driving until we found a decent parking spot. This time, I'd brought my 3 wt for Katlyn to use, and got her all setup with a big Madame X dry fly. Not wanting to be redundant, I opted for a small, weighted bugger.<br />
<br />
We found out way to the water, and it was just beautiful. It was pretty small, and barely looked over 20 cfs. I took a temp and got 58, wow! Perfect!<br />
<br />
I had no idea what to expect until Katlyns Madam X was engulfed by a beautiful, wild 10" brookie. This was a great sign, and I was pumped!<br />
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We found pool after pool, just deep and fast enough to hold a decent sized fish. Katlyn and I both took turns fishing pools, catching plenty of beautiful brookies, and even a little brown.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3e474TF-Fu8rV3AOV65ib6jAnCTYa4ufEz57mGhi3iul0bbyJDL1pHP6xK92k97SMVmfSpuznyDvuJo3FgBNWRYyBTiCsQ0ShdjxF-c45XuoPCqYwqugdCRWlqV0QTWRBXv-toB5M_w/s1600/IMG_0494%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3e474TF-Fu8rV3AOV65ib6jAnCTYa4ufEz57mGhi3iul0bbyJDL1pHP6xK92k97SMVmfSpuznyDvuJo3FgBNWRYyBTiCsQ0ShdjxF-c45XuoPCqYwqugdCRWlqV0QTWRBXv-toB5M_w/s1600/IMG_0494%5B1%5D.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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As we worked our way up, I had Katlyn fish the pools before me, to give her a chance at some dry fly fun.<br />
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While soaking up the beautiful scenery, I happened to look over at Katlyns fly, right as she was about to lift it off the water, a swimming log came to check it out, wait what?<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg772AVqeo0MDHi2ZN79Zj2aD3egUgbqQJkTIBfNMz2rshuTePbyaa7Nh7UuOurh8zsEwqxiWSTUEY4YFF8y0I6nyn00ShLW8Nv3LoxW9O9KaYQmZq6w26KE2ViBQZB8mBXTTZDVYSkIQ/s1600/IMG_0490%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg772AVqeo0MDHi2ZN79Zj2aD3egUgbqQJkTIBfNMz2rshuTePbyaa7Nh7UuOurh8zsEwqxiWSTUEY4YFF8y0I6nyn00ShLW8Nv3LoxW9O9KaYQmZq6w26KE2ViBQZB8mBXTTZDVYSkIQ/s1600/IMG_0490%5B1%5D.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A perfect pool for a large predator</td></tr>
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<br />
The fish was BIG! I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Katlyn missed it, and probably thought I was nuts. I was freaking out over seeing this huge fish chase her dry before she pulled it off the water. I collected myself and had her wait a few minutes before casting again, but nothing...<br />
<br />
My heart sank, I hope he didn't get spooked! She drifted quite a few times, and we gave it a rest before I decided to give the olive bugger a drift. I casted at the top of the pool, and followed my bugger as it drifted down, right by the large rock the fish was obviously hiding besides. After the bugger passed the rock, the big shape came out from besides it, chased down the bugger and swiped at it. It was a complete miss, but my heart was about to explode.<br />
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I was so estatic to see such a big fish in this small water that I'd never even fished before. All of the brookies seemed to be wild, and after checking the States website, this water did not get any stocked fish, meaning whatever we'd caught would be wild.<br />
<br />
After the swipe, I let the pool calm for a while, hoping to get another chance. After throwing the bugger through all the water and not seeing any signs of movement, I wasn't ready to give up. I was seeing black and golden stones on the rocks all around me. I added a black, rubber-legged stone dropper to my bugger and began high sticking the fast water at the top of the pool (Katlyn said she saw it head into the white-water) Sure enough, a few drifts later, I watched my leader stop dead in place. I set the hook, and this big guy took off downstream. Woo!!!! He was on! My click & pawl reel was screaming - ahhhh what a beautiful sound. I was ecstatic, and couldn't believe it. I finally netted him to discover it a was a beautiful brown. Not as big as I originally thought, but an awesome sized brown for the size of the water it was in.<br />
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Well, within an hour of fishing we'd gotten into a 17" brown...good start!<br />
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Katlyn continued to fish dries before I fished below the surface, missing and landing quite a few more brookies. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-mIgHDS9RGAeNE_I_AUqYx60Ye4rJvPf9qQXBT447bSLp_R-yjllCYZacptpNgzyDJIzGQE5eAq6bgY64htWcOV2EZH90xIMq8tdj91gSIpf9l3qxXuASCGk563yMtP64mPvqIUJiHQ/s1600/IMG_0492%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-mIgHDS9RGAeNE_I_AUqYx60Ye4rJvPf9qQXBT447bSLp_R-yjllCYZacptpNgzyDJIzGQE5eAq6bgY64htWcOV2EZH90xIMq8tdj91gSIpf9l3qxXuASCGk563yMtP64mPvqIUJiHQ/s1600/IMG_0492%5B1%5D.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Katlyn working a great section of water. She landed two brookies about 5 feet downstream of this, and another just after this picture was taken. I pinched the barbs on the dries of course, so we opted to not stress these little gems by taking pictures. </td></tr>
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We called it a morning, and were off the water before noon to enjoy the rest of the day camping in the woods.<br />
<br />
I was surprised when Katlyn asked when we were going fishing again in the morning. Naturally, we slept in and woke up to the birds chirping, and the chipmunks fighting. I checked Google Maps to see where we should park to start where we left off the day prior. I asked a store owner if we could park in their lot, they obliged and were excited to see we were fly-fishing. We trekked through a field, and then woods to the river. We had the same setup, her with a dry, me with a streamer and/or nymph. We got into more brookies right off. I opted to fish the harder water first because of either log jams or overhanging trees. I decided to get in on the dry fly fun, so we switched rods and I got a few nice brookies of my own on dries. I even missed a few bigger fish that appeared to be 12-14" browns.<br />
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We worked our way up, and I was very pleased with the water we were seeing. It was all great holding water with plenty of cover and undercut banks. We worked on up and found a run that was a bit hard for her to fish with a dry because of the overhanging trees. I gave it a shot with a dead-drifted bugger. I couldn't see my fly, but noticed my leader stopped moving downstream - so I set the hook. A few head shakes later, and a big brown began flailing around the pool. WOW, another nice brown! We were hooting and hollaring! This guy tried to run me in between two large boulders 3 times, luckily I could stick my rod tip in the water to turn him. I was running 6X, so I knew if he ran in between the sharp rocks, it was over. I managed to keep his head pointed away from the sharp rocks, but he started to run downstream. I put the brakes on just enough so I could get behind him to have him run back up into safer netting water. After a failed net attempt, he gave me another chance, and I found myself throwing my hands up in the air in excitement.<br />
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Another healthy, beautiful & wild brown.....wow! I couldn't believe it.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihHODaeUb4IghKku0PMXgsnckkbsNxpg-pZgmF0_PxzfsxOt5D30mjyA3SiET4Sf9DP76LzUA7fUGTzZeLPHY4HQJ6VTZ98UgbeCznSlNDLLjG9ozi4vhnqVuPVksIfD_P-vyGftMwSA/s1600/IMG_0500%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihHODaeUb4IghKku0PMXgsnckkbsNxpg-pZgmF0_PxzfsxOt5D30mjyA3SiET4Sf9DP76LzUA7fUGTzZeLPHY4HQJ6VTZ98UgbeCznSlNDLLjG9ozi4vhnqVuPVksIfD_P-vyGftMwSA/s1600/IMG_0500%5B1%5D.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Another healthy brown, almost 17"</td></tr>
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<br />
I released this guy and just sat for a few minutes, soaking it all in. I was so happy, wow!<br />
<br />
We continued upstream, catching the usual brookie or two every other hole, and we came across an absolutely beautiful log jam. It appeared to be very deep along the downed tree, so I grabbed Katlyns rod, and added a bead-head PT dropper about 18" from her dry fly. I showed her where to stand, and pointed to where she should try to get the fly to land .<br />
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It was picture-perfect. She made a cast, the dry fly landed right at the top part of the pool, directly in the "feeding lane" of the pool. I knew if something was lurking under that log it would see her flies. That's when it happened.....<br />
<br />
This big brown comes flying out from underneath the log jam and grabs her dropper. At the time, she didn't realize he had grabbed her dropper, so she instinctively set the hook after she thought he went for her fly. She turned to me in disappointment and excitement at the same time, thinking he missed her dry.<br />
<br />
"He's on! You got him, you got him!!!!"<br />
<br />
"Huh?" "Oh my god!"<br />
<br />
She started to freak out. Having only really used a fly rod for less than 10 hours, she had no idea what to do with such a big fish. I could tell by her left hand holding the fly line she was doing the "death grip". Something beginners do with big fish without even knowing it. They'll hold the fly line in one hand so tight that when a fish runs it usually breaks the tippet. I walked her through what to do, and to let the fly line slip through her hands until all of the slack line was gone and the line leading to the reel was tight. She did great, and had the fish on the reel in seconds.<br />
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I was super nervous.... There were about 4 trees downed underwater, and it was heading right to them. I told her to put the rod tip right in the water whenever he went towards the log to disorient him, and it worked perfectly. I managed to slip the net under the fish while it was disoriented from being spun around.<br />
<br />
I was so proud, wow!!! It's not every day you hook into and LAND a big wild brown on a fly the third day fly fishing (a dry-dropper setup at that!) <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRcp_0-a_UuO-2gLK_Bb4ckqzcICAOecR7d1c19HDAr8wtIxUp56mHVctx3hk8zBZeVw_21tgrJ3j9a2dZA2P8XIKl4CQgFKpLmfPCiXI0mbR33dW_2wQBswPIeiDB9I8wVdtyGMZIBg/s1600/IMG_0501%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRcp_0-a_UuO-2gLK_Bb4ckqzcICAOecR7d1c19HDAr8wtIxUp56mHVctx3hk8zBZeVw_21tgrJ3j9a2dZA2P8XIKl4CQgFKpLmfPCiXI0mbR33dW_2wQBswPIeiDB9I8wVdtyGMZIBg/s1600/IMG_0501%5B1%5D.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">All 3 browns have a blue spot on the cheek, but this one was very prominent. So pretty!</td></tr>
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<br />
She was scared of hurting the fish by doing the grip'n'grin so this was the best shot we got. It was just a little bigger than the 2 other fish, coming in at 18" I was unbelievably proud, and she was so stoked! We had just an amazing fishing experience so far, and it couldn't have gotten any better. <br />
<br />
We fished for a few more hours before calling it. We continued to catch brookies, but couldn't find any more deep holding water for big browns. We started the trek back to the car with smiles on our faces, and rightfully so. <br />
<br />
The last day of our camping trip, we decided to fish a little on our way back home. We fished the same water, but a few miles lower. The temp was 63 at about 10 A.M. which wasn't too bad at all.<br />
<br />
Since it was a short trip, we didn't fish more than 3/4 of a mile, but I noticed how much wider and flatter the river was in this area. I wasn't really impressed with the water, but we did find a few holes that held fish. There was quite a few section that had no shade, and it was a sunny day. We noticed a lot of minnow life though. There were thousands of creek chubs swimming around in the warmer, shallower water. After a dozen or so fish and/or takes, we decided to call it and head home to unpack.<br />
<br />
All in all, it was an incredible fishing trip, and I'll never forget it. Watching Katlyn cast a dry-dropper setup perfectly on a run, and then watching this nearly 18" brown come out from underneath the log jam and grab her fly...just...wow!<br />
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Needless to say, I will be back to explore more of this river before trout season closes. <br />
<br />
<br />Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15589332333017654436noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35095915384410654.post-11447465419377878922014-08-19T08:44:00.003-04:002014-08-19T08:48:20.127-04:00NostalgiaEvery year, I like to visit a few honey-holes that I've only showed a few people, and have never seen anyone fish. It is a small stream with big pools that holds a variety of wild fish. A few weeks back, after we'd just got a few days of light rain, I figured it would be a good chance to check out the stream to see how it's doing.<br />
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I got a later start than I wanted, but arrived just before the fog lifted, which was a great sight. <br />
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I rigged up my 4 wt and started the walk to the stream. There is something to be said about heading out to fish early in the morning while it's still chilly and foggy...I just love it. It reminds me of some of the best fishing I've ever had.<br />
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The stream was surprisingly low, even though we'd gotten quite a bit of rain over the last week. Not unusual to see after a long dry spell though. I started off nymphing a golden stone with a small pt dropper without much to show for it. It wasn't until that I switched to a size 8 olive crystal bugger that I started to see fish on the move. I could see a few fish in a large pool, one looking to be over 16" I was stoked, but after landing a gorgeous 10" brookie, knew that I had no chance of landing the bigger fish(he found a spot to hide and refused to budge). From my experience, these wild trout are very spooky and get lock jaw when spooked(more-so than say, a salmon that is just aggressive and will hit the same fly more than once). It can be very frustrating, but humbling at the same time. <br />
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I took my leave and worked my way upstream. I decided to fish higher up than I usually do, which is difficult because of the private property surrounding the water. I knew if I stayed on the side of the stream the whole way up, I'd be fine. After missing a few nicer fish swinging the bugger, I arrived at a hole I hadn't fished in a few years because of the hard access. It was much different than last time, but still looked great.<br />
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A large pool with a smaller, much deeper pool was above it (and I mean DEEP, 10+ feet..) made the fishing difficult because of the swirling current, so I started by stripping the bugger in the top of the water column for fish looking up. It worked just as I thought, and I had two fish in hand within 5 minutes.<br />
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I switched tactics to try to reach fish closer to bottom and ended up with a 14' leader with quite a bit of weight that really wasn't easy to toss, but I made it work. I added a golden stone dropper to the same bugger that had been producing and began to find the right spot to cast to get that good drift without the swirl pulling my line. It was evident that I found the sweep spot when I felt a hard tug on my line, followed by a spunky 14" rainbow flying out of the water. So much fun on a click & pawl reel! I was running 6 and 7x tippet, so this guy ended up taking me down a few pools before I could lead him into the net.<br />
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I was psyched! I let the pool rest for 5 minutes and gave it another go by high-sticking with the very long leader. Within minutes, my line stopped dead in place...fish on! I had another bigger fish on. When it got close to the surface, it looked like a nice brown. It wasn't until it turned on its side that I could see it was a big brookie! An obvious male with a huge snout and wicked vibrant color. I'm always a bit more cautious about handling brookies for some reason, and he got the better of me before I could snap a quick pic in the net. He flopped out and went on his way. Judging by when he was stretched out in the net, he could have hit the 13" mark!<br />
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After that, the pool was pretty well spooked and I headed back to the car to drive downstream. I drove down a few miles and parked on the side of the road and walked to the water. It's 100 times easier to fish upstream than downstream, so I stayed away from the water while walking downstream, until I spotted some water I liked. I hit the water and picked up a small brown on the bugger, but ended up hitting a wide, flat section of the stream with no holding water. After a while, I hit a section of water near an open field, with a couple of nice log jams with very promising pools. Surprisingly, I got no love until I was near the end of my adventure. <br />
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To me, this looked like brownie heaven. I stood behind the jam, to the left and tossed the bugger upstream to the right of the picture. When the fly sank and drifted almost underneath the log jam, I gave it a twitch and started retrieving it. Right as it got to the surface, this spunky little brown took it upon himself to make it his lifes work to destroy this bugger. He came out and hit so fast, he nearly flew out of the water!<br />
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What a great way to end my morning jaunt!Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15589332333017654436noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35095915384410654.post-37830627080814286372014-07-27T20:51:00.003-04:002014-07-27T20:51:33.808-04:00Brookies and bowfinKatlyn and I spent the afternoon a few weeks back scoping out the Smuggs campground for our upcoming camping trip, and I figured it'd be a great opportunity to check out some brookie water nearby. We packed a lunch in our bags and headed out Sat morning. I picked one of the "easier" to get to streams(thanks, Google Maps!), so after checking out the campsites, we headed towards it, parked the car on the road and trekked into the woods to the stream. The simplicity of brookie fishing can be the most relaxing thing on a hot Summer day. It was mid-80's back in Town, but barely over 70 in the mountains. The thermometer barely hit 57, and the fish were as active as could be. The stream was beautiful, and had plenty of cover. A sign of a great brookie stream. <br />
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Within minutes of getting on the stream, I could just sense how fishy this stream was. As we approached the first fishy looking water, it took no more than 2 drifts of a dry before a little wild brookie zealously chased the fly down, splashing twice while attempting to eat it. <br />
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After the 20th brookie, I offered the fly rod to Katlyn, showing her how simple it was to high-stick a dry through this small of water.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The look of determination!</td></tr>
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She really enjoyed watching these brookies chase down and hit these dries! I know I'll be bringing another rod and reel next time! She managed to trick half a dozen brookies, and loved it. After a while, we found a spot to eat lunch, fished for another hour or so and then bushwhacked our way back to the road and then back to the car. It was an awesome day, and couldn't have been any better (well, a 15" brookie would have been nice)<br />
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The next day, I talked her into checking out what fishing for bowfin on flies was all about. We arrived at where I'd landed my biggest bowfin to date, and immediately spotted a small male bowfin (still in spawning color) actively cruising around, chasing the panfish that were still guarding their nests. She was amazed to see a fish of that size in very low, and crystal clear water. Not too long after, I noticed a large bowfin laying on bottom with her head lodged underneath a log. The male was too busy chasing panfish, so I had Katlyn stand at a higher vantage point to let me know where my casts needed to go. My casts were accurate, dropping right in front of its nose, but it showed no interest whatsoever. I quickly changed flies, and put the bright orange crayfish pattern with foam claws back in the box and tied on an olive rubber legged large carp fly that has great action. She made quick work of this fly, doing a 180 after it was stripped past her line of vision. Even at a bad angle, I could see the wake behind her as she chased the fly down and grabbed it. I straight-set it and she missed the hook, bummer....! It didn't take long before she was back near her log, and chasing the fly again. This time, the hook connected, and she exploded! She headed right for a downed log, that crafty fish<br />
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She didnt hang me up on the log, but did a good job of changing the direction of the line pull by going under the log. Shortly after, she was off, bummer...she was one of the biggest bowfin I'd tangled with too, probably 7-8 lbs, twice as big as the smaller male cruising around. <br />
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Since we were on a time limit, we had to leave right after, so I didn't get a third chance (she went and hid in the weeds about 40 yards away anyway) but Katlyn thought it was the coolest thing that such big fish were right out in the open. Next, it'll be her turn to get one on a fly!Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15589332333017654436noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35095915384410654.post-28781894817050027142014-07-27T20:16:00.001-04:002015-02-08T18:56:45.198-05:00Dry Fly funWhen the Summer heat is on, it pays to seek out colder, mountain-fed streams, which is exactly what Chris and I did on a beautiful Saturday morning.<br />
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We started things off with a bang, fishing a Winooski trib that held an abundance of fish. We both ventured into water we'd never fished before, and were rewarded.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This 11-12" brookie slammed a bright pink and purple foam hopper</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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We had a blast for half of the day, climbing up the rocky terrain, fishing pool to pool, catching dozens of brookies, some almost 13"! Chris even tricked a few beautiful wild rainbows about 14" on a spinning rod. Almost all of my fish were on dries too, which made the trip even better!Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15589332333017654436noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35095915384410654.post-14592809128930483172014-07-01T10:23:00.001-04:002014-07-01T10:26:49.788-04:00Other side of the spectrumI told myself this would be the year I start targeting warmwater species, mainly carp, bowfin, and gar. I consider myself a very observant angler, and always seem to remember key factors when fishing for certain species. For carp, it was determining which fish to target. They are broken up into different categories, which vary from person to person. Off the top of my head, my first carp experience showed me sunbathing carp, spawning carp, cruising carp, and tailing(feeding off the bottom, tail pointed up). The spawning behavior was obvious. A few male carp were harassing a large female, knocking her around. I later learned their motives for being so aggressive - it was so the female would drop her eggs.<br />
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I remember casting flies to a couple of sunbathing carp, they were stationary, and could care less about anything around them, food wise. I wasted hours trying to get them to eat before realizing it just wasn't going to happen. Cruising carp were just like they sound, they were constantly moving. Was it because they were spooked, or was it spawning behavior? Honestly, I'm not sure. All I know is that they rarely stopped, and rarely ate. <br />
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Tailing carp, of course were the most fun. I remember seeing a small group close to eachother that were sifting through the bottom with their telescopic mouths. Small puffs of mud was a dead giveaway in water that was too deep to spot the carp in. A friend of mine told me this behavior was called, "mudding" which is probably the result of a tailing carps muddy puff clouds from feeding.<br />
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I learned quickly that casting on top of a carp, regardless of what it's doing (besides spawning, they're pretty thick headed to the point where I've gotten hit by a pod chasing a big hen) will most likely spook them, especially with a weighted fly. I learned that casting 10-20' beyond a fish and then stripping the fly so it drops in front of them was a great way to get them to take. The tailing carp I targeted didn't seem to want to move more than a few feet for the fly, so a close proximity was necessary in my case.<br />
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All of this info was learned in just one carp outting, so it defeinitely pays to be an observant angler.<br />
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Now, let's fast-forward to the LCI weekend. My friend Jerry who I regularly fish with and my Brother, Nate wanted to go catch some big fish. The rivers weren't looking too great, they were pretty high on the Winooski, and very dirty. None of us were competing in the LCI, so it was just an exploratory journey to have some fun. <br />
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A coworker of mine told me about where he fishes for warmwater species in the Vergennes area, around Otter Creek. Having limited experience with that river, I hit Google maps and plotted out some warmwater fishing for the 3 of us. <br />
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We got up, packed the jeep and left early that next morning. Our first location was packed with anglers that had tents, and a gazeebo setup. We moved on and found open water that looked promising and fishy. Before we even parked the jeep, I could see two fish just below the surface cruising around. I couldn't make out what they were, but they looked long (30"+) We were pumped, and geared up to fish.<br />
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Since Nate and Jerry have no fly fishing experience, it was going to be a spin fishing day for them, and of course I brought my 7 wt for when the opportunity to sight fish presented itself.<br />
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We were seeing a ton of commotion a few 100 yards away in the swampy area. It looked as if the carp were still spawning. They were running into thick sections of grass, almost beaching themselves.<br />
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It didn't take long for us to get a bite on bait, and in the next few hours, we had a ball catching almost a dozen bowfin, some of which were huge! I couldn't get over how the males were a beautiful emerald green color for spawning.<br />
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While standing next to the water, my Brother spotted a bowfin almost poking his nose out of the water, looking right at us. This was the type of behavior I remember seeing when I caught my first bowfin on a fly. I told my Brother to do the same as I did when I witnessed this behavior - drop your bait right in front of his face and wiggle it. Sure enough, a second after it hit the water and wiggled, the bowfin inhaled it. When I knew the hook was far enough in, I told Nate to set it, and wham! The fish exploded and took off. Nate won the battle, and the bowfin was soon in the net. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLgVdl3gmQDXAcnlgnkwl1l-DqKRocmYqO0E6L69WbD_6ybXVKCUidDA2hTD1FUNMSRrXkZlXr_4veQ4haAI5c6YGY-wFGK6OnUneosLTPoxdb_MRU0ZIwdkISRjQEh-2Dq79nWKulRw/s1600/IMG_0428%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLgVdl3gmQDXAcnlgnkwl1l-DqKRocmYqO0E6L69WbD_6ybXVKCUidDA2hTD1FUNMSRrXkZlXr_4veQ4haAI5c6YGY-wFGK6OnUneosLTPoxdb_MRU0ZIwdkISRjQEh-2Dq79nWKulRw/s1600/IMG_0428%5B1%5D.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nates first bowfin in a very long time, and a huge female at that. I'd say almost 30"</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixkCJMbVINgByodxNFP8Uto8fGHY0aImn-bnAbVJ5auItvEtopQDf4LYzhjFu1S9M9hih2mzSc5XfZjZe33KE2TZPkQdVa3VR4Dbz-7NTDVe_skv-eKyrgGMvKuTpxmx9Jr65r-oboxg/s1600/IMG_0426%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixkCJMbVINgByodxNFP8Uto8fGHY0aImn-bnAbVJ5auItvEtopQDf4LYzhjFu1S9M9hih2mzSc5XfZjZe33KE2TZPkQdVa3VR4Dbz-7NTDVe_skv-eKyrgGMvKuTpxmx9Jr65r-oboxg/s1600/IMG_0426%5B1%5D.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jerrys smaller male - check out the coloration of the fins!</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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The first action we had was actually doubles. My bait rod went off while I was tossing a fly to some commotion in the water and as Nate grabbed my rod, Jerry set the hook on this fish. The fish that was on my rod was huge, and bolted toward the grass like a hippo. Shortly after, the hook came out. Not sure what it was, but whatever it was, was massive!<br />
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After a few hours, we decided to head back to the first spot that had more open water. The group was still there, so we decided to fish out of their way, in a spot about 50 yards away. We could see fish rolling everywhere, which got us pumped!<br />
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Unfortunately, the little catfish and bullhead had other plans for our bait. Every fish we were catching was one of them, which was concerning. I was starting to wonder if the carp even had a chance to get to our bait. I looked over in some shallower water and saw bubbles coming to the surface, "Maybe the result of a tailing carp?" I thought to myself. I casted beyond the bubbles and reeled up so my bait fell on top of it. Within minutes, something was showing interest. I let it grab it for a few seconds before setting the hook. I could tell right away it was no small catfish. Soon after the hookset, I let the guys know it was something big, and to be ready with the net. After a tough time steering the fish away from the sharp rocks near us, the fish showed us its power. Without even seeing what the fish was, its tail was creating quite the commotion on the top of the water - what power! Finally, it was in the net!<br />
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I took the hook out, got a quick weight in the net, did a grip'n'grin and sent the fish back on its way. Mission accomplished!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqG9Nkq39W4jv4sBTlyEgKnKsQCQ5K2A9aD6T2uGVddHal350bRIrccs3riIr1KxC_hHFxW2jRCd4_1Ji1dhmlvRnK21r12VFS7YEJqqjie2UzJFZhy0r4Alhsz_uOlgk6EnEDSnflPA/s1600/IMG_0429%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqG9Nkq39W4jv4sBTlyEgKnKsQCQ5K2A9aD6T2uGVddHal350bRIrccs3riIr1KxC_hHFxW2jRCd4_1Ji1dhmlvRnK21r12VFS7YEJqqjie2UzJFZhy0r4Alhsz_uOlgk6EnEDSnflPA/s1600/IMG_0429%5B1%5D.JPG" height="478" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An almost 20 lb carp, not bad!</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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After that, we went back to catching the small bullhead and catfish until we decided it was time to go explore a few other spots. Before we left, we did manage to see a big gar skim the surface right in front of us, which was awesome!<br />
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We ended up in a common spot which was insanely dense with anglers. All of the LCI participants setup camp all along the side of Otter Creek. I hadn't seen fishing pressure like this since the Salmon River. They were there for good reason though, and seemed to be regularly catching sheepshead.<br />
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We couldn't manage to fit in with the other anglers, so we opted to fish the opposide side of the road, where the backwater was. It took a while, but Nate finally had something big on, and it gave him a run for his money. It started to make a big run underneath a bridge, which would make it nearly impossible to get the fish from. Unfortunately, he had a gear malfunction, and his drag almost crapped out, leaving too much slack in the line. The fish got off, and we were all bummed...judging by the power and speed, it had to of been a big carp or sheepshead.<br />
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A little while later, we had to pack it up and head home. Jerry had to be back in town for something, so we left. Overall it was a great day, especially since we'd never fished any of that water before. Now I understand why it gets so much pressure. We will definitely be back!!Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15589332333017654436noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35095915384410654.post-14604246597768611292014-06-30T15:39:00.000-04:002014-06-30T23:24:32.230-04:00Finally (Salmon Hole opener)Most people that know me know that I love to practice catch and release for almost every species of fish besides the occasional panfish, and on rare occasion I'm able to target river walleye, and this year was no exception. The annual Salmon Hole opening was looking very promising. After a long, and quite chilly Spring, I was really looking forward to fishing the Salmon Hole. Since it legally opens June 1st, I made plans to get to my favorite spot just before midnight on Saturday. After talking to a family friend, and long time Salmon Hole fisherman, Walt, he surprised me by telling me he'd also be down there around Midnight as well.<br />
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After a quick phone call to my girlfriends father, a long-time angler and walleye pro who's been going through shoulder injury issues, he said he'd be willing to go as well.<br />
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My plan was to walleye fish with bait and lures until a little after sunrise, and then switch to flies for salmon and steelhead. The water levels were above average, but very fishable.<br />
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Midnight came quick, and after the quick 2 minute walk down to the Hole, I was surprised to see the old timer Walt was already there. Unfortunately, the water was just high enough so that he couldn't get to the, "hot spot" so I opted to sit and chat with him and fish the spot he setup in while I waited for Randy. 45 minutes and no bites later, Randy showed up and we climbed over a downed tree and a rock to reach where we wanted to fish. Walt didn't feel safe enough climbing over in the middle of the night, and I don't blame him. We parted ways and headed off into walleye town.<br />
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Randy and I began drifting crawlers, and 20 minutes in I had a fish on the end of my line. Fighting a fish in the middle of the dark was pretty fun, especially having no idea what it was until I got it close enough to shine our headlamps on it. To our surprise, it was a huge white sucker, a solid 5 lb fish. I was blown away for the next hour. We both were catching massive white suckers, all over 5 lbs.<br />
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Around 1:30 A.M, two headlamps made their way down to the water and just sat for a few minutes, lights gleaming at us. We knew where they wanted to be, and apparently it made no difference that Randy and I were already there. They climbed over the rocks, strolled on up to us and dropped their gear and setup to fish right in between us. My mind was blown! Not even a, "Hi, do you mind if we fish here?". They just strolled on over without saying a single word and just started fishing within arms reach of us, casting their lines over ours. In the back of my mind, I really wanted to ask how the drive was from Pulaski, but I kept my cool. I could tell Randy was thinking the same, but we didn't let these knuckleheads ruin our night. An hour went by before either one of the two guys said anything, which was "fish on!!!!!!!!!!!!!". Randy and I, not lacking fishing etiquette, reeled our lines in and got out of the way. As he cursed out the white sucker he just released, Randy and I couldn't help but to chuckle. The mood finally lightened up after the two guys got a small walleye, confirming that there were still in fact walleye in the area. We all got our hopes up, and for good reason. Around 3 A.M. I hooked up and finally felt a different kind of fight besides a sucker. Luckily, Randy was ready with the net and slid it under a nice 25" male walleye. Success! Gotta love it when a plan comes together!<br />
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We were fired up, and ready to drop the hammer on a few more fish. It was extremely difficult to fish around the two guys that nudged their way in, as we were all trying to fish the same section of water. After a few more big suckers, Randy was headed home around 4 A.M. I stayed, hoping to get at least one more fish before the sun came up. As it started to get light out, I was hit with heavy eyes and a headache. Maybe from the headlamps being on all night, who knows. <br />
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I had landed my fish, so I strolled up to the apartment and knocked to have Katlyn let me through the side door. Her eyes opened wide when I flashed the 6 lb walleye in front of her with a smile.<br />
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I put the fish on ice, showered and got into bed. 6 hours later, Katlyn was off to run errands and I was gearing up again to go back down for steelhead and salmon. I grabbed my gear and headed down. To my surprise there was only one person where I was headed. It happened to be a coworker who had been there for a few hours. He informed me that when he got there, there were 4 people fishing in the spot when he got there, and they had something like 9 walleye and one big steelhead! I wanted to kick myself for leaving during sunrise. It must be the fish turned on right after I left. Either way, it was good news! There were plenty of fish left, and steelhead were in for sure. <br />
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I did my usual streamer setup first, with about 10' of 7 ips poly-leader and 3' of fluoro. I was getting deep enough, and changed flies a dozen times, but no love. There were suckers rolling all over the shallow side of the river, so I switched rigs and nymphed the shallower water, about 70' out. I was hoping there were steelhead hanging out with the suckers, gobbling up their spawn. It didn't take long before I hooked up. Unfortunately, it was just a big redhorse. Not what I wanted, but I'll take it! Redhorse are especially hard to get to eat since they're bottom feeders, and are not quick as trout or salmon for the take. Things just have to be that much better when nymphing. It was good news to me, it meant I was in the right depth and zone. A few hours later and a few more redhorse, I was sunburned and exhausted! I headed home to relax before heading out yet again before it got dark. My co-worker, Hakija, didn't manage to get much either, so he headed as well.<br />
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After telling Katlyn about how many walleye my coworker saw some people catch, she wanted to go herself! <br />
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We headed down around 5 P.M., but couldn't get where I wanted to fish, 3 people were already occupying it. We waited our turn since they didn't seem like they were staying long. Sure enough, an hour later they took off. We hopped out to the spot and began fishing. I showed Katlyn where to cast, and when to reel up to avoid getting snagged. She got the hang of it quick, and had a few hits that she missed. Things were looking promising since suckers usually always get hooked when they bite. I had a feeling they were walleye hitting her crawler. The way I set the rig up, when hooked, the octopus hooks I use are almost always in the lip instead of the throat of the fish. This avoids line breaks from teeth, but is a bit tricky when setting the hook after a bite.<br />
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Finally, I got a hit. I paused and counted to 3 before setting the hook. I knew right away it was a walleye. Katlyn went to grab the net, and that's when we realized we had forgotten it at the apartment.....ugh! Luckily someone in a kayak was closeby and saw me fighting the fish. He came over to where we were and insisted he netted my fish. I politely asked if I could do it myself, that way if it came off it was nobodys fault but my own. He almost felt insulted, stating he'd netted plenty of fish, "man". After barely fitting the walleye in his little trout net, I was happy as could be, another 25" male walleye! I was all smiles, and so was Katlyn. She was eager to get her own now. We continued to fish and less than 20 minutes later I hooked up into another walleye of the same size. This time, I opted to grab the fish without a net. I brought it into calmer water and slid my finger until its gil plate and lifted it out of the water. We were both hooting and celebrating, it was another male, this time 24.5". That meant I was at my limit for walleye, so I stopped fishing and let Katlyn continue, hoping she'd get one of her own.<br />
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A few suckers and an hour later, she was fighting something she knew was "big". I was giddy, because I could tell it was a walleye. Her eyes grew big when she could see what it was. She did an awesome job and lured the fish into calmer water so I could reach it and grab it. Right as I grabbed it and pulled it out of the water, the hook popped out - wow she was lucky!!<br />
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She was ecstatic! It was like someone had cloned all of these fish, because hers was yet another 25" male. Must be all the big hens had already spawned and started to drop back into the Lake.<br />
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Shortly after, it started getting dark, and we called it a night. I was exhausted!<br />
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The tally for a days fishing was 4 walleye, all males, 3 25" and 1 24.5". For not being a walleye angler whatsoever, it was a great day to say the least. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Walleye bites....delicious!</td></tr>
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<br />Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15589332333017654436noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35095915384410654.post-63013103665053172562014-06-30T00:30:00.001-04:002014-06-30T00:32:33.680-04:00Why not?Since I take up residence less than 100 yards from the Salmon Hole now, it was a real pain having to wait until it opened on June 1st to fish it, especially since I knew just how many big fish were lurking in the water.<br />
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On a side note, I did do my part to keep the waters protected during the closed season. Although there are signs everywhere letting people know the waters are closed to fishing from March 16th to June 1st, people intentionally ignore it and still fish the water. Since it's a quick walk to overlook the Hole, I often walked down just to look at the water, and the plethora of fishing rolling and porpoising. Mostly suckers, but the occasional sturgeon. The first time I went down for a visit, there were 2 poachers fishing on the opposite side of the river, and even had a fire blazing. A quick call to the Warden and 20 minutes later I watched as he went down and caught the two poachers. Justice served. Surprisingly, almost half the time I went down there, people were fishing! I ended up having to call the Warden 4 times, and let a group of kids know the waters were closed(they seemed genuinely surprised to know the water was closed). It's amazing how ignorant people can be though.<br />
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Not many people are aware, but the water directly above the falls above the Hole actually have quite a wide variety of species that live in the short section of water above the Hydro One dam and below the next dam a few miles upriver. Including the most common species - fallfish, there are pike, suckers, smallmouth bass, trout, salmon(stocked smolts turned parr that are dropping back into the Lake from the Huntington River, these fish are uncommon, but should NOT be targeted on purpose) and even carp!<br />
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A few weeks before the Salmon Hole opened, I decided to go explore the water above the Dam. Easily accessible, it was a short walk to fishy looking water. It didn't take long before this huge fallfish slammed an olive crystal bugger, which made for a great fight.<br />
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After losing one of similar size, I moved spots without much to show for it. The trees made it difficult to reach where I wanted, and roll/switch casts just couldn't cut it.<br />
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Having always eyed the fast, ladder-type water above the dam, I decided it was time to finally fish it. I sat and figured out a plan of attack to get where I wanted to without endangering myself, and took off on foot and maneuvered around the rocks and through the water until I was where I wanted to be.<br />
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While the view was spectacular, the fishing - not so much. I did manage to land half a dozen smallies, but they were 12-15". Not any big slobs like I was hoping for, but they may have all been upriver spawning still, which is why these little guys were so willing. The deep run in the bottom picture looked most promising, but all my fish came from the shallows on the far right. Since I ended up standing in deep water.<br />
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What I wouldn't give to see salmon making their way up this water back in the old days. I still wonder how things would be if it weren't for all these impassable barriers that mankind has placed on our rivers. <br />
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After a few hours, I worked my way back. I didn't want people thinking I was just another crazy guy out in the middle of the river. Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15589332333017654436noreply@blogger.com0