2023 Fish-Pic-O-Rama

[MarsB]

Stuck one skinny meat eater for Thanksgiving break before the water dropped out. One of my biggest pet peeves with Utah is there is no rhyme, reason or warning when the dam operators decide to shut down flows to a trickle or turn on the firehose.

[Hopeless Sinner]

South Carolina pond bass, a brief respite on Thanksgiving. Topwater in late November!

[AmmergauerTele]

the other type of trout.

[Percy Rideout]

South Carolina pond bass, a brief respite on Thanksgiving. Topwater in late November!

I use the same Zara Spook Jr on lake powell with great success. Walk the dog!

[tgapp]

i was promised huge, colored up browns

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[Phall]

tgapp, you have a smoker? start bonking those whities. gut, rinse, brine, smoke, make whitefish dip, die fat and happy.

[Rasputin]

[tgapp]

tgapp, you have a smoker? start bonking those whities. gut, rinse, brine, smoke, make whitefish dip, die fat and happy.

aren't the bones a PITA though? And a hot smoker will work, yeah?

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[Phall]

They can be, but when you smoke em to fall off the bone its pretty easy to pick out. I usually smoke em at 225.
A few years ago I caught a few whities, brined them in this:
3/4 cup kosher salt
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup honey
8 cups lukewarm water

Then smoked them, picked the meat off, made homemade empanada dough, mixed the whitefish with some cream cheese and red salsa, stuffed the empanadas, then froze them in packs of 2-4 to cook from frozen at a later date.

[Hopeless Sinner]

I use the same Zara Spook Jr on lake powell with great success. Walk the dog!

On a boat I'll always have a spook and a Lucky Craft Sammy 115 tied on and bounce back and forth btwn the 2. I have a rod dedicated to each bait. They sometimes want the slightly more subtle walking movement of the Sammy.

[Self Jupiter]

Striper on the middle spook from earlier this month, they love them. My favorite way to fish for them during the day.

[Brock Landers]

^^^that rebel jumpin is the tittays early morning spring, flat calm estuary, knocking out schoolies.

I actually just loaded one this weekend for a smaller profile glider. One day I burned my minnow in fast and it got caught underwater, great action. Little wobble.

I’ll let ya know how it goes…in 5-6 months.

[Rasputin]

Along with yesterday's snow, came warmer temps in Missoula; I thought it would make for less ice floes in the river, and it did.





The fishing was slow, but I caught two and a half fish, one midsized trout which came off as he bumped the edge of my net, one whitefish, and one 18 inch rainbow (pictured Neckdeep style). I also hooked another big trout, it was directly downstream in heavy current, and when I tried to move it sideways into soft water, the hook straightened out, and the fish came off. The outing was absolutely worth standing in freezing water with a leak in my hip boot for a few hours.

[Rasputin]

It was very much warmer today, which did nothing for the trout fishing, but the whitefish saved the day, several of them, most taking a worm.

[John_B]

Along with yesterday's snow, came warmer temps in Missoula; I thought it would make for less ice floes in the river, and it did.





The fishing was slow, but I caught two and a half fish, one midsized trout which came off as he bumped the edge of my net, one whitefish, and one 18 inch rainbow (pictured Neckdeep style). I also hooked another big trout, it was directly downstream in heavy current, and when I tried to move it sideways into soft water, the hook straightened out, and the fish came off. The outing was absolutely worth standing in freezing water with a leak in my hip boot for a few hours.

Nice fish Rasputin. If you are really doing all of this with hip boots let me know and I can likely scrounge up a pair of stockingfoot chest waders and boots for you. They'd be used and may take me a month but let me know your wader and boot size if you are interested.

[tgapp]

Whoa Rasputin you don't got waders? I can also hook a brother up, especially with all the stoke you share. Let me know if I can help too. Got quite a few pairs + some boots, too (mostly size 11m), etc

thanks for the stoke

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[Rasputin]

Wow guys, that would be awesome, my right hip boot has cracked across the toes where it flexes, even with layers of Flex Seal on it. Yesterday it went from a slow leak, to an up-to-the-ankle sock soaker. So today I need to reseal it again. I really don't have money to put into replacing them, just getting the can of flex seal was a splurge I couldn't afford.

When I started fishing last year, I bought boot-in hip boots because they were cheap, didn't require getting wading boots also, and I had need for frugality. My current hip boots are 11s, but a bit small, and I would get the 12s next time (though they were a bit big).

I'm glad people like my posting, from this side it seems sort of obsessive, but also I like the idea that someone might see it and go have an adventure; a day standing out in the elements is better than a day wallowing in the comfort of shelter, and even a novice can manage to land a big one occasionally.

[tgapp]

Wow guys, that would be awesome, my right hip boot has cracked across the toes where it flexes, even with layers of Flex Seal on it. Yesterday it went from a slow leak, to an up-to-the-ankle sock soaker. So today I need to reseal it again. I really don't have money to put into replacing them, just getting the can of flex seal was a splurge I couldn't afford.

When I started fishing last year, I bought boot-in hip boots because they were cheap, didn't require getting wading boots also, and I had need for frugality. My current hip boots are 11s, but a bit small, and I would get the 12s next time (though they were a bit big).

I'm glad people like my posting, from this side it seems sort of obsessive, but also I like the idea that someone might see it and go have an adventure; a day standing out in the elements is better than a day wallowing in the comfort of shelter, and even a novice can manage to land a big one occasionally.

wat size waders (hip/pants size)

feel free to DM

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[I've seen black diamonds!]

I also enjoy your posts, Rasputin. Your stoke is genuine, humble and joyous- pretty much the opposite of what we typically see on social media.

I just had foot surgery and as soon it is comfortable for me to sit in a chair I'll be going on a fly tying tear because... what else can I do for the next 3 weeks? I'd like to send you some flies as a thank you. PM me your address and I'll get a little package out to you in the next few weeks.

[The Suit]

I brought my camera along on a fishing trip for the first time in years. This was in the eastern Pacific - Chiapas, Mexico.

Day one I got some artsy (for me) shots on the way out:





I had to figure out all over again how to get decent photos, so despite catching a bunch of sailfish and a blue marlin, all I got was one decent sailfish shot:



Day two was slow, but I got a couple decent pictures





In the next three days we had a few cooperative sailfish that put on a show while I had the camera out









We mostly try not to catch dorado (mahi mahi), but we made an exception when this this big bull showed up in the spread



And lastly, you don't see this very often - a sailfish just cruising around with his sail erect. We dragged baits in front of him for at least five minutes but never got any interest.

[Norseman]

dude, amazing

[John_B]

wat size waders (hip/pants size)

feel free to DM

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Don't muscle in on my generosity tgapp!!

But seriously if you've got some new stuff that would likely be better for R than what I can offer. Want me to see what I've got available for boots in size 12?

[tgapp]

Don't muscle in on my generosity tgapp!!

But seriously if you've got some new stuff that would likely be better for R than what I can offer. Want me to see what I've got available for boots in size 12?

all u bb

but we can also team work this shit

happy to throw in whatever else Rasputin might need, got a few lines and a few rods and a few of a few different things that might make his time on the water more pleasant

'spose some of those belong in the trip report trip report thread but i digress...

ISBD - that's super generous of you man. I would love to come together to hook Rasputin up, dude is super positive and fishes all the time and is psyched on all of it, happy to help enable and encourage that sorta vibe in this community wherever i can

---


The Suit, that looks absa-fucking-lutely amazing. Holy shit man.



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[Rasputin]

The Suit pwns the thread!

[Rasputin]

Having taken yesterday off from fishing, attempting to effectively seal my leaky hip boot, I went out to test the effectiveness of my efforts at the usual place. However this time, confident that my foot would stay dry, I waded to fish a hole that requires standing knee deep, and which I had been avoiding because of said leaky boot. I caught a small trout on the first cast, then caught a whitefish and another trout in the next ten minutes. Satisfied at the start, I fished my way down to the confluence, which was actually pretty slow today. The clouds parted for while, the sun lit up the naked trees, and the water sparkled with many colors, beauty eh?








After yielding only a couple takes in too long a time, the confluence produced, and I landed a fifteen inch whitefish that I snagged on the bridge of the nose with a #16 hare's ear.





Heading up the Bitterroot a ways, I caught four more fish, including the smallest whitefish I've ever seen, and the day's biggest troutfish.





While the wind was brutally cold at times, other times were pleasant, I caught eight fish in four hours, four trout, four whitefish, and saw beautiful sights, it was a good day.