2023 Fish-Pic-O-Rama

[John_B]

tryin to get them

still not very good at the getting part but i'm getting better or at least getting stoned while tryin

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Dude! You're supposed to hold the fish towards the camera to make it look larger rather than put it behind you! Nice looking fishes. The last one looks a bit funny for a trout but must have pulled hard.

[plugboots]

This is so fucked up.

[Underoos]

[QUOTE=plugboots;6860274]This is so fucked up.

But you can’t deny the colored up buck was the perfect accompaniment.

[::: :::]

First day out yesterday. Last year I didn’t get out much so I had a box of flies that were itching to see water.
We went from stormy late winter to full on summer in a week or so
Local shop has declared the salmonfly hatch upon us so how could i not join the weekend city lemmings bumrushing the banks?
High 80s, might have touched 90; I was wet wading on my first day out [crazy!]— i usually get a month of spring temps before it gets hot enough to consider shorts and sunscreen and wading socks. Shins are scraped up today from the thorns and brush.
Water was super high & fast since we’ve basically gone from cold to hellacious hot. Between the runoff & the dam purges, it’s swole out there. Saw salmonflies but not in abundance and def not flying at the heat of the day. So euronymphing it was with a big fat double bead stonefly at the point…and the day basically went like this:

It was a good day out with a friend. Looking forward to more!

I need more experience playing fish. I think I tried to just wrestle him in and promptly overplayed my hand.
I’m not nearly as accomplished as the rest of you lot on here, but i do enjoy the time on the water.

[Rasputin]

I’m not nearly as accomplished as the rest of you lot on here, but i do enjoy the time on the water.

Unpossible! My ineptitude is dazzling, and if I was filmed on the river, the spectacle, of the revealed clown show, would lead all to puzzle at how I ever caught any fish at all, and whether my sole purpose was to cut the air to ribbons with the fruitless thrashing of my rod and line. No one can eclipse my capacity for losing my fly/nymph/streamer on the first cast (often before it ever hits the water), no one!

[I've seen black diamonds!]

[QUOTE]] So euronymphing it was with a big fat double bead stonefly at the point…and the day basically went like this:[QUOTE]

I also have a tendency to muscle fish. As a kid I mostly went after largmouth, stripers and bluefish and old habits die hard. I broke off a nice trout (by the humble standards of my local water) last week trying to drag it away from cover with a dopey amount of force.

It's tough to land fish in the setting in your video once they get below you. There just isn't much you can do in that scenario unless you have a clear path to sprint down stream below the fish (it looks like you did not have room). I think your best bet is to cast upstream more and across less, which makes line management a bit tougher, and likely forces you to wade into some heavy current, but will give you more opportunity to turn the fish toward the bank before it's too late.

[::: :::]

Yeah, no sprinting along this river, much less at this flow — thanks for thoughts concentrating on working the water above (eliminate the swing). I am still working on the front end of getting the nymph to depth in the front of my presentation. But I’m still getting a tight line towards 3oclock and fishing 3-6 more often than not.

[plugboots]

I am still working on the front end of getting the nymph to depth in the front of my presentation.

Cast, quartering upstream, or however much distance you can get, and then, as the belly of the line starts forming between you and the indicator, do a big roll cast mend with the indicator acting as the pseudo-anchor. Pile as much line as you can above the indicator.
Of course, this is in the typical situation where the current is faster away from you than near you, and if a fish takes right away, you basically have to do the Statue of Liberty set.

[::: :::]

(euro, no indicator, but I do appreciate the advice)

[plugboots]

I was guessing. But sometimes and in some streams euro nymphing, (which I learned as high stick nymphing), doesn’t work. Or at least doesn’t work as well.


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[tgapp]

Yeah, no sprinting along this river, much less at this flow — thanks for thoughts concentrating on working the water above (eliminate the swing). I am still working on the front end of getting the nymph to depth in the front of my presentation. But I’m still getting a tight line towards 3oclock and fishing 3-6 more often than not.

I struggle with the same thing. I'm new to fly fishing and find nymphing to be fairly frustrating - challenging and fun, but frustrating. Any resources to help me get better at it? It's very different in a boat - all I need to do is mend a ton to get my indicator leading the charge - but when wade fishing it feels a lot more active.

this last trip on the green i broke TWO fish off while nymphing - both on 5x (which to me indicates that it's a question of technique), both when the fish took me right into the current. i assume i'm just pressuring them too hard?

also on the subject of things that broke (and needing advice from the collective), my lovely girlfriend managed to break my lovely winston while rowing me down the green. problem is... like a lot of dirt bags, i'm not the original owner. what's the best way to handle this? any chance they'll honor the warranty still? tell 'em a sob story?



she ended up having fun & i did too, so that part was a success, at least

[plugboots]

They may repair it

https://winstonrods.com/company/warr...pair/warranty/


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[neckdeep]

this last trip on the green i broke TWO fish off while nymphing - both on 5x (which to me indicates that it's a question of technique), both when the fish took me right into the current. i assume i'm just pressuring them too hard.

There's no reason to use 5x for nymphs unless you are fishing a size 18 or smaller in slow
and crystal clear water.

I was using 2x mono last week. When the water clears, I'll go down to 3x Rio fluoroflex for large nymphs in pocket water and 4x fluoroflex for smaller nymphs.

Double extruded fluoro is worth every penny. It's one of the few significant technological advances that fishing has seen in the last 20 years.

[tgapp]

There's no reason to use 5x for nymphs unless you are fishing a size 18 or smaller in slow
and crystal clear water.

I was using 2x mono last week. When the water clears, I'll go down to 3x Rio fluoroflex for large nymphs in pocket water and 4x fluoroflex for smaller nymphs.

Double extruded fluoro is worth every penny.

yeah, size 18 or smaller (to the bottom nymph), and crystal clear water pretty much sums it up. they don't call the upper green "the aquarium" for nothing.

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[neckdeep]

yeah, size 18 or smaller (to the bottom nymph), and crystal clear water pretty much sums it up. they don't call the upper green "the aquarium" for nothing.

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Looking at the water color in your pic, I'd be confident using 3x fluoroflex. Fish can't see it in that jade colored water. With water that color, you can use mono. Save the 5x for drys.

[tgapp]

Looking at the water color in your pic, I'd be confident using 3x fluoroflex. Fish can't see it in that jade colored water. With water that color, you can use mono. Save the 5x for drys.

Thanks, okay, I can use heavier fluoro. I have a ton of flouro but I was trying to use up older spools of mono, and people were talking about nymphing with 6x which sounded fucking crazy to me.

Any insight into the rod question? Should I just fess up and be honest? Their warranty policy says "only for the original buyer" etc etc

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[neckdeep]

Any insight into the rod question? Should I just fess up and be honest? Their warranty policy says "only for the original buyer" etc etc

Seems pretty straightforward to me. The rod was broken by negligence and you aren't the original purchaser so you didn't buy into the no-fault insurance program. If it had broken due to defect, then maybe you'd have a reason to want Winston to cover the costs but that's not the case here.

Paying $175 for a new section is reasonable given that Winston rods sell for $1000 and it's your fault it got broken.

If you want good rods covered by a no-fault policy, try G. Loomis. They'll send you a new rod in 3 days, no questions asked and you just pay the manufacturing cost, $100-200. IMHO, that's a fair price to replace a rod broken by misadventure.

[lifelinksplit]

Just a heads up that a buddy talked to Winston repair person and they said they were having family issues and have been in and out a lot. Said probably 100 rods backed up. Maybe SUF can comment unless he's busy guide-boying.

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[jpcm]

Any insight into the rod question? Should I just fess up and be honest? Their warranty policy says "only for the original buyer" etc etc

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Bummer about the rod. Is there a serial number on there? I’ve had luck getting some older second hand sages replaced saying they were “received as a gift” on the warranty form.

[::: :::]

The reason to use the thinner fluoro tippet with nymphs is the tippet itself has far less drag and cuts past the current allowing the fly to get to depth, and it’s more invisible. Just gotta balance that with whether you’ve got enough strength to hold when needed

[Underoos]

My springtime of bass has closed out with a solid trip to…Oklahoma.
Only fell out of the boat one time.

[I've seen black diamonds!]

^^^^ Dang. That looks fun.

[plugboots]

Did you say “bait” instead of “fly”?
Also, snakeskin “bait”?:

[tgapp]

my first carp ever!!!

lost two wipers and got one other smallie. i don't understand the shade that trout fisherman throw on other warm water species, that was a TON of fun!

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[I've seen black diamonds!]

Drove over to a local pond after my kids went to bed. The plan was to fish topwater for either stocked rainbows or largemouth. Trout were rising when I arrived. I started by breaking my 5 weight while I was rigging it up. Sweet. So I switched to my 7 weight and tied on a beetle and a light colored mole fly with a white wing that vaguely resembled the yellowish midges flying around me. A trout hammered the mole on the first cast, but I broke it off. It wasn't a big fish, so it was probably a bad knot. Nice work. The rest of my moles were dark with grey wings, but I tied one on anyway. The trout were not interested. I tried 7-8 different small emergers and dries. Nope. Made a bunch of shitty casts trying to throw small flies with a rig set up for big bass bugs. Got tangled. Again. Tied on a big caddis pattern that resembled the moths that have inundated this area. Uh uh. They were all over the midges.

10 minutes after he sun set the bass started to rise. Every 30 seconds or so I'd hear the big "thunk" of a largemouth sucking in a meal off the surface. But they were all around some structure about 120' off shore... in a pond where wading and boats aren't allowed... with limited backcasting room. I tied on a chartreuse gurgler and chucked it as far as I could. I could only shoot it about half way there. Roll cast? Same result. Trying to over-cast, I had another nasty tangle. The gurgler was so thoroughly cocooned by my leader that it resembled a half-mummified frog. I cut it free, fixed my leader, and walked to a spot with more room for a back cast, but now I was farther from the rising fish. I was fishing on a prayer. I tried fishing a spot closer to shore where the bass sometime feed in the evening. Nope. Nothing.

Now it was fully dark. Tied on a couple streamers and chucked them around half-heartedly. It's hard to fish well when you are convinced you won't be successful. Thought about going back to targeting trout, but they weren't rising much and casting midges at night with a 7 weight isn't that great. So I went home and had a beer, ordered a new section for my busted 5 weight, and tied up some yellow mole flies with white wings.