2024 Fish Pic Thread

[plugboots]

Anyone know a good source for polarized, low light, prescription, bifocal sunglasses?

Costa, among others, but the bifocal part is the tricky thing. Just add a bifocal sticker like hydrotac or StickTite. I just hang cheaters around my neck and pull them on when I need them.

[mikebob]

Bajio. Switched from good sunnies and readers around the neck to built in cheaters last season. Best upgrade I’ve made.

[I've seen black diamonds!]

^^^Thanks fellas. The Bajios are what I'm looking for. I need to see if my insurance can cut the price a bit because I don't trust myself with $700 glasses.

My local glasses shop made me some polarized amber lens bifocal that are excellent. I'm done switching to readers. But they can't do a lighter polarized tint. They also made me some photochromatic glasses that are fine, but not nearly as good as they low light Smith glasses.

I didn't know that stick on bifocals were a thing. That definitely opens up options. Has anyone used them? Do they suck?

[I've seen black diamonds!]

Also, I managed to find some good fishing today, for a bit anyway, in a canyon section during a lull between the howling morning and afternoon winds.





The key today was looooong tippet, which is a pain in the ass on a creek this size full of rocks and lined with overhanging trees, but with the water down I couldn't get close enough to high stick or keep my line and leader in the same current. So I tried making longer casts over rocks and across currents but with a whole bunch of slack in my leader. Then it was on, with aggressive little rainbows wapping at my midge in every deepish pocket I could manage a good drift in. I spent as much time waiting for wind to die down and picking my fly out of bushes and off of rocks as I did fishing, but it was well worth it.

At the end of this stretch there is a nice little pool where I figured I would catch a few fish if I was careful to work the edges first. I started out kneeling behind a rock that splits the tailout, and casting to a slower depression to my right. I saw a flash and felt a deep tug. A nice fish. But I had too much slack in my line and didn't get a solid hookset. The trout shook free and bolted into the center of the pool. I could see fish shadows scattering in panic. Oh well. Game over. Still a fun hour and half.

[Rasputin]

Strong work!

[Underoos]

Went to Chile for a couple weeks.

[romeo tango]

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who's the guy with the knife?
.

[GiantManta]

Nice work Underoos. Was this the same place you went last year? So nice to see big bugs after a frustrating day at Deckers with tiny flies and too many people (a reminder why I have not been to deckers in 5+ years).

[::: :::]

That looks downright epic, underoos!
My first comment to myself was “holy shit, that’s awesome!”


(…about that portrait mode…)

[Underoos]

Was this the same place you went last year?

Yeah, same place. Next year's dates are already booked.

[Rasputin]

Looks like a perfect getaway, clear streams, lunker fish. gorgeous surroundings. Makes me feel like going fishing.

[neckdeep]

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who's the guy with the knife?
.

Dang, that lamb would cost you about $1000 at a lodge in the Rockies. And, the fishing wouldn't be as good either.

[MarsB]

Looks like I need to get back to Chile in non-ski season. Amazing!

[Rasputin]

Shortly after arriving at the honey hole late this morning, a fellow fisher whom I know, came walking up the bank. He said he'd been fishing all morning and got nothing. I allowed myself a moment of an internal smirk, as I had caught a small trout as he was walking up. He had caught a very large rainbow on one of the days I'd been out and got no bites at all, so I felt a small triumph in my child ego self. Then I told him exactly where I'd caught big fish the week before, on the north channel. He knew the area, and said he was going to try it out. I think it created good fishing karma, as the day went quite well for me, I caught another modest sized trout soon afterwards.





After I'd tried for a third fish for a while, I decided to head down to the confluence, where my friend had been fishing earlier, and started catching whitefish.





Bigger whitefish!





I worked some water up the Bitterroot a bit, but having caught only one whitefish, decided to back track and fish through the places I'd been, on the way back to the truck. The weather was beautiful and constantly changing today.











While fishing back down through the confluence, my good fishing karma continued......





.....as it also did, when I got back up to the honey hole, where I caught two more trout. This was the bigger of them (I fumbled the other one):





All told, I caught six whitefish and five trout, the majority of them with the pink pearl bead head nymph that ISBDs sent me, though I caught fish on other nymphs as well. It was a really good day on the river.

[Rasputin]

It was another gloriously pretty day today, and one which did not produce any trout.





On the other hand, some feisty whitefish bit (all on the legendary Northshore Stonefly nymph), and that wasn't bad.











I also had a strike from what felt like a quite large fish, but it pulled loose quickly, probably because as is to often the case, my hook set was a frantic explosion of panic action. It happenes especially when the fishing is really slow, and my mind wanders.....DOH, where's that bubble!
SWOOOSHHH

[The Reverend Floater]

Got out for a little over an hour today for the first time since October. Had one bite and landed one fish, which happened to be a really nice 16" rainbow--on the larger side for our local freestone river. Sorta weird to not have any other action, but such is winter fishing.

Also, if you're not using tippet rings during nymphing season, you're doing it wrong. I am always surprised by how helpful they are.

Sent from my SM-S928U1 using Tapatalk

[Rasputin]

Also, if you're not using tippet rings during nymphing season, you're doing it wrong. I am always surprised by how helpful they are.

Well I'm always doing things wrong, fortunately I still catch fish in spite of not using tippet rings. However, if you offer such pronouncements of the wrongness of not using them, perhaps also proffer illumination of the ways they are so helpful, for the stumbling oafs among us that rely on divine intervention to succeed at fly fishing.

Oh, and, nice fish!

[stealurface831]

i experimented with tippet rings and micro swivels on bangey and dredge rigs for clients last season. definitely makes adjusting tag lengths easier vs double knots. also lets you interchange pre-rigged stuff super easily. but the larger connection point vs a knot means they accumulate a bunch of shit when there is grass. also more of a bitch to re-configure if the whole rig gets broken off but thats why i would keep a few pre-rigged.

[Rasputin]

I have a pack of them, but only got them to use it as a terminal off my sinking poly leader, because I saw it in a video by the Orvis guy. I found that tying onto a tippet ring is something my hands have trouble with (don't get me started on 6X tippets!), so I keep it as simple as clinch knots, and a bunch of pre-rigged big/little nymph combo rigs that I keep in my streamer box (and which very rarely get badly tangled in each other).

[I've seen black diamonds!]

Tippet ring benefits: easier to adjust your leader/rig

Tippet ring negatives: tangles can be worse and they can collect crap if there is crap around

[The Reverend Floater]

Well I'm always doing things wrong, fortunately I still catch fish in spite of not using tippet rings. However, if you offer such pronouncements of the wrongness of not using them, perhaps also proffer illumination of the ways they are so helpful, for the stumbling oafs among us that rely on divine intervention to succeed at fly fishing.

Oh, and, nice fish!

Sorry, I was kidding. I do like them, I think they can help the angle of the dangle and make rerigging a bit easier but they aren't necessary by any stretch. Per SYF, they do have draw backs.

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[stealurface831]

well i didn't get on the fish today but i did spin up a few fake fish. six hours of bucktail blending, schlappen ironing, stacking, brushing, wrapping, and a little bit of tying, produced...two flies.

top is a 13" tbone sucker. hollow tied and body-tubed. 4/0 universalx in back led by 25 and 35mm shanks.

bottom is a 18" mega glider anal probe (working name). 4 brushes of blended bucktail (6 colors), spuimpish, sf, and flash. 4/0 beast hook in back with keel weight, 55mm shank, led by 6/0 beast hook, also with keel weight. the mass of the lead basically cancels out any wind resistance when shes in the air. counter intuitive but weight balancing flies fkn works. also got some foam sandwiched between brush wraps on each section for as near a neutral buoyancy as i could get.

happy to do toothy critter stuff or otherwise in small (or large for nymph) batches if anyone is interested.

[durangobrad]

Can anyone recommend guides for vail/basalt area?

I'm heading up for work in early June and would love to float or wade some private water.

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[CTR]

Early June will be runoff for sure....float will be high and muddy anywhere close to there (Fork, Colorado, Eagle) ....Frying Pan worthy on a weekday if you can do it....Chet

[Rasputin]

I haven't been out since Friday, and life has been troubling since then, various stressors have led me through fits. However, when I go through tribulation, the fish seem to appreciate me, and today I was twice blessed by compassionate fishes which took a strong liking to my #12 DB Prince. At the honey hole I hooked a jumper which took a while to net. I made a very fancy video of the fine rainbow troutfish I caught, it is certainly high art.





I left the honey hole a few casts after catching the above trout, and headed toward the confluence, stopping to cast a bit in the area where I'd caught a nice one with the big hurkin stonefly nymph, and another beautiful rainbow took it, and fought harder than the first, but to no avail, as I yarded him in and gave thanks for how well the day was going.





I didn't get anymore takes, and gradually devolved into cursing at the insistently obstructive wind. However, the ensuing meltdown, and the misery of my inner disquietude will surely earn some sympathy from some nice sized fish in the future, so I'll call it a win-win.