The New Very Large Trout Lovers Thread

Bitterroot river south of Missoula

Looking forward to floating it again. 

Wow Pete, in that second shot, if that's a Whitefish? that's a BIG Whitefish!

Bob Gaineswrote:

Wow Pete, in that second shot, if that's a Whitefish? that's a BIG Whitefish!

Northern pike minnow/ squafish.  Invasive but fun to catch.   I was working back eddys for the monster rainbows and cuts and picked up several that size.   Their numbers have spiked, some say it’s because of low water years combined with dams have been removed allowing them to travel higher into the headwaters.   I’ll post some whitefish if I can find some pics. 

Whitefish.... (edit) errrr what are they called now????? 

My buddy Jan last summer on the Snake River- this was the largest one. They were mixed in with the Small Mouth Bass.

That was a squawfish.  The whitefish were on the Salmon.

Pete Swrote:

Northern pike minnow/ squafish.  Invasive but fun to catch.

Pikeminnow (artist formerly known as squawfish) is native to Montana's Bitterroot.  Not technically "invasive".

We used to catch them as kids (I grew up close to the Bitterroot south of Missoula).  Not as often as trout though.  Folks definitely seem to not like them for sure. 

Brown trout might be considered "invasive" in the Bitterroot river...!  Along with rainbows and brookies...

July 2019...north of Darby.  Love the colors on those native cuttys.  Great float!  Need to get back there this year...!

Thanks!

Throw 'em back Thursday...

In the recovery room, waiting to be released....

Catch and release from my float tube.

photo by yvonne gaines

Fishing off Chadeleur Islands, Mississippi, Millions of small catfish swarm the back of the boat.  

Best forum topic ever.  Thank you everyone 

How about speckled trout?

Nice!

Nothing beats some Alaskan salmon & halibut 

Ditto that...POW in AK last September.  Within an hour of getting a license, first salmon ever on a fly for Jen:

Humpy...

Always fun to try for reds on a fly...second cast:

Got lucky with the weather....two weeks and I think it barely sprinkled twice.

Good fun.

I think of the 5 species of Pacific Salmon (King, Chum, Silver, Sockeye, and Humpy) the Silver Salmon is my favorite target for fly fishing, for their eagerness to attack a fly, reel-sizzling runs, and acrobatic leaps. 

photos by yvonne gaines

Damn, those some great fish!  My luck recently..... 

Been goin after bass lately......caught this not-so-large Largemouth Bass!

Back in 2011 I was fly fishing the Kenai River in Alaska, known for it's giant sockeye salmon, and I caught and released this giant among giants. 

Even though it was in full spawning mode, it fought pretty hard since it got out into the main current, and it was tough to reel back in.

It was officially awarded the catch and release world record by the International Game Fish Association (all-tackle length), a record that stands to this day.

photo by yvonne gaines

That's cool Bob. A great read about the pursuit of record tarpon is 

Lords of the Fly by Monte Burke. 

Bob Gaineswrote:

Back in 2011 I was fly fishing the Kenai River in Alaska, known for it's giant sockeye salmon, and I caught and released this giant among giants. 

Wow...nice red!  

From the Henry's Fork a couple years ago.  Crazy that the second ski area in Idaho, late 30's, was Bear Gulch.  Long forgotten.  Ski lifts melting into the trees...

Frisky 'bow:

My backcountry creek setup. Custom bamboo by Paul Dufour from PJ's fine bamboo, Ross CO reel, Fish pond pack. All CO based.