largest trout to date...

[mauser06]

yesterday my buddy and i went down to a delayed harvest area to do some early trout fishing.....it was recently stocked...plus the fly shop stocks their own trout every year behind the shop and buys REAL trout....get there and theres guys behind the fly shop...looks like opening day but theres hungry fish there....everyone is nymph fishing....and i see fish rising....looks like blue bugs with white wings.....i tied on a 16 or 18 blue dun....not sure if thats the right bug or not...but i caught one right off the bat....i ran in the flyshop and bought some floatant for dry flys..mine broke and leaked last year...put it on my fly....theres like 10 guys all around me...cast...a monster missed my fly....then 2 more times missed it.....casted again....BAM! fight was on!!! keep in mind i fly fish about once a year.....and have trouble loosing smaller 10-12 inch trout let alone a hog...i got a look at him as did everyone else and i about died....by far my biggest trout...i kept my head on straight and got him in on 3 or 4lb tippet after a 15 min battle....he jumped a foot and a half out of the water...and made a few crazy runs stripping line like no other fish ive ever fought......heres some pics....they kinda dont do his size justice...he wasnt REALLY long.....but fatter then any fish ive ever caught....he was a good 20-24 inches long...and i couldnt get my hand around the tail.....any guess to the weight?? he was an easy 4-6lbs id say...youd have to see the girth and thickness....it was awesome...my biggest trout to date...and on a dry fly infront of like 10 guys that live to flyfish!!! i was so excited! heres some pics...

[m.t.hands]

thats a beauty, good pics also, never fished for trout but i have heard its a blast

[Escopeton]

Nice fish. My biggest was a 26 monster from the San Juan in N. NM. I have come close to bettering it. But, one day it will happen.

[hillbillyhunter1]

good 20-24 inches long...

20-24 inches?????

That's great. You've got the makings of a true fisherman. It would have been even better if you had said 20-28 inches.

Looks like a beautiful female rainbow you got there and very nicely colored. I bet you did drive those other fly fisherman CRAZY when you hooked that big momma on a dry. Always fish to the risers if possible I say. What the heck were those nymphers thinking???

Sound like you definately picked the right fly as well. Risers should not be that particular this early in the year although it does sound like there was already a good bit of pressure there (just the wrong kind)

I hope your continue to pursue fly-fishin. It's great.

Showinthose others guys how to do it adds just a little icing on the cake

Way to go.

[Guss]

Sweet fish, way to go.


As far as thelbs I would say maybe 4 but looksmore like 3, but it is hard to say because I dont know how dig of a guy you are. A good way to get a quick measure is by using your rod. I know thatthe"S" on my rod is a 12 in andhave other marks out to19 (I dont get many trout over that , plus any fish over 19 is just considered a monste anyway), worksfast and you dont have to keep the fish out of the water to long.

As faras size goes who caresthat is a great fish, and sounds like it gave one heck of a fight.

Thanks for the pics and way to go, keep it up and all those guyswill be asking whatfly to use.

[mauser06]

im actually a good sized guy...5' 10'' or so...210-220 depending on what i ate that day ...them pics truely doesnt do the shear thickness and football girth of that thing justice....it wasnt the longest fish in the world...but a beauty and a fatty...youd have to be from PA to TRUELY appriciate that....the normal stocked trout is 7-12 inches long....14 inchers used to be my bigguns for the year.....i could really careless on the size..just wondering....its a trophy to me....and on a fly rod....i really dont know why them guys were nymphing while there were bugs falling on the water and fish rising and eating them like they are starving...i dont know much about flyfishing but ill take risers any time....im curious as to know what exzactly WAS rising...the blue dun matched it pretty good...but i think they may have been little black stone flys...but i dont think they were coming OFF the water...seemed like when the breeze blew they fell INTO the water...and when it got sunny more appeared....neat...im hooked..cant wait for tomarrow..think im heading back...the creek is hit HARD...daily....its well known and open all year because its delayed harvest artifical lures only.....and its been nice...so more guys are getting the itch..and its one of the only places to fish till the season opens......just made me proud as heck to catch fish when noone else was...and to hear some of these guys been all over the country...all over the state fly fishing ect...figured they could keep up with a 19yr old that fly fishes once a year with a 40$ rod and reel combo!! lol

[Guss]

For the most part the first flies to come off will be small stones and as the water warms the get bigger and bigger. The best way to tell a stone in the air is that they have 4 wings and look like one or them old biplanes. From a distance a stone looks alot like a cadis, but it seems to early for them, butyour area may be different. On a side note I sawsome small stoneshatch abot 2 weeks ago,we still had feetof snow on the ground and the river was still iced up, tuff little guys.

At first I would have said Blue wing Olives (small may flies), but that is just a guess.Next time get a pic of the bugs and I can help you more.

[mauser06]

thanks guss....i wanted to get a pic but cold water....in the hip boots..i had to move and warm up and the excitement got to me and i forgot...i think they did have 4 wings......i dont think they were BWO...they were pretty decint sized bugs...i think a size 12 or 14 would matched their size...but my size 16 or 18 blue dun seemed to match them well...and they have a bigger bulkier wing then anything else i had...although my friend did catch one on a BWO i gave him...looked like the next best thing because of the dark body..tomarrows supposed to be 66 and sunny...something should be hatching...if it aint somethin i got you can see the orvis fly shop in the background of my pic! lol...kinda expensive there...like 2 bucks a fly....but if thats what it takes i dont care lol....and they are all hand tied good quality flies...i think dry fly fishing is a good teacher...you can see your fly...and the line..and i am already learning to mend ect to get a better drift...i hate to say it...but we need some dang RAIN!!!!!! im sure we will get it soon enough....but everything is low and gin clear right now...i love this fly fishing stuff...i plan to get better and more proficient at it....i think if i buy better line i should beable to cast better....though my rod is crap too....i can pick that up down the road....my friend had a reel almost 400 bucks...and a reel that was almost 200....and GOOD line...that thing casted with EASE...but i think the line made all the diffrence...his is more of a hard plasitic silky smooth line....mine is like...rubber on the outside..i think that keeps my line from shooting freely....if nothings hatching tomarrow ill try nymphing and streamer fishing......i have yet to catch fish on those...but i havent really tried.....i had a fish swim at my BH pheasant tail yesterday till i was the smart one to switch to a dry....man i love dry fly fishing.....that wasnt my first time dry fly fishing....late may theres a hatch on a sewer creek that gets stocked...and fish rise like crazy in one hole...i pound them on adams....they wont take anything else..i tried....not even a misquito..which i thought looked almost like an adams....them are smart fish for being stockers...cant wait to catch some more...im spoiled now....my normal little fish are going to seem so....little to me now lol....but i rather catch a bunch of small ones then hunt BIG fish and be dissappointed all the time....this state doesnt have much to offer in the way of big trout fishing.....they stock 2million pounds a year or so across the state......but they are 7-12 inchers with the exception of golden rainbows and a few breeders and the occasional hold over.....that fish i caught yesterday was a fresh stock i believe..though the colors are good it had cut on its nose......man that was awsome..i cant get over it!!

[hillbillyhunter1]

Guss makes some good points caddis and stone flies look a lot a like. I'd almost guarantee that you saw either black, or even better, brown stoneflies.

The reason you don't see them "emerging" is because stoneflies unlike some of the other flies (mays, caddis, midges) crawl out of the water and up the bank to emerge. The returning adults are the only "dry" flies there is when it comes to stones. That's why when the wind blew you saw activity as the bugs had taken shelter in nearby foliage and got blown into the water, ands when it got nice and sunny they proceeded in their mating business.........I could talk this stuff for hours.

I have a great little stream is SW PA that should be cooking right now because of these stones--It's THE best fishing of the year on that creek.

Remember that when you catch one(natural fly) in your hand. Stone flies will hold their wing flat against their back/ caddis wings will look like a tent (generally).




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[mauser06]

thats what they were!!! i had one on my neck somehow father downstream!!! i need to learn this stuff.....for future refrence...(ive seen them suckers many times before) what dry fly is the adults look alike??? how far off was i fishing a blue dun!?!? ahaha i aint complaining.....im going out on a limb and saying for a newbie i did dang good and kinda matched the hatch.....i know theres black stone fly nymphs..im going to pick some up to fish that creek now...when do they typically emerge?? are the nymphs around all year round and a good searching nymph since i know they are in that creek?? thanx....sorry for all the questions....this fly fishing stuff is kinda sorta complicated to learn........any good internet reads go ahead and post if you know of some that will help.....thanx guys