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Fishing Megathread: Looking For Big Girls Who swallow


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Posted
On 3/21/2025 at 1:56 PM, 4th and 5 said:

lower laguna contraption making its way north

not my favorite way to fish but have grown tired of being outfished with it by the wader standing next to me

 

Heading to Port Mansfield early Wednesday to prefish a tournament that occurs Saturday.  I am going to give this a try.  I usually fish three things down there.  Topwater (Super Spook Junior Bone), gulp shrimp under a popping cork, and a Strike Pro Hunchback.

Posted

Fished yesterday and Wednesday.  Thursday was storming all day in Mansfield.  We have caught and released  a lot of trout in the 25 inch range.  More than I can remember in my 25 years fishing down here.  The stricter limits and slots seem to help.  

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Posted
12 hours ago, Frank Drebin said:

Fished yesterday and Wednesday.  Thursday was storming all day in Mansfield.  We have caught and released  a lot of trout in the 25 inch range.  More than I can remember in my 25 years fishing down here.  The stricter limits and slots seem to help.  

Friend of mine caught a 28”, 7.5lb trout on fly last weekend between Mansfield and the arroyo

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Posted

So, wife and I are looking to do a trip to SPI in mid June.  Looking at fishing charters (not wanting to go the 6-pack, private charger route, but rather a cheaper, bait and tackle included would be better).  Are there any recommendations?  Or outfits to avoid? 

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Posted (edited)
On 3/31/2025 at 11:50 AM, PvilleStang said:

So, wife and I are looking to do a trip to SPI in mid June.  Looking at fishing charters (not wanting to go the 6-pack, private charger route, but rather a cheaper, bait and tackle included would be better).  Are there any recommendations?  Or outfits to avoid? 

Working on this. Our girl team is flying in on Thursday for a Saturday tournament and 2 of them live in South Padre. One owns an offshore boat and they both fish so I think they may be able to help.  I originally posed your question to them and got a response about private charter boats. They are mid 30’s in age and therefore idiots. 

Edited by justhookit
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Posted
3 hours ago, crash_davis said:

Dude is getting all kinds of shit in the press. Fuck him. 

 

Yea his business is screwed and they have posted his like 10 arrests, stolen valor, claiming sponsors on his site that weren’t actually sponsors, ect.  Couldn’t happen to a better guy or self proclaimed worlds best charter captain..

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Posted

Anybody have any recommendations for fly guides or spots in Boulder or Ft Collins CO?

These aren't areas I've fished around, but we're doing college visits in early June, and I'd love to take the fam out.  Bonus points for fishing near the universities which would give our kid inspiration for fun things he could get out and do in college aside from gummies.  Oh, and studying.

Posted (edited)
On 4/5/2025 at 6:01 PM, Damor said:

Anybody have any recommendations for fly guides or spots in Boulder or Ft Collins CO?

These aren't areas I've fished around, but we're doing college visits in early June, and I'd love to take the fam out.  Bonus points for fishing near the universities which would give our kid inspiration for fun things he could get out and do in college aside from gummies.  Oh, and studying.

Keep an eye on Spring runoff.  We went to visit Boulder in mid June last year and the better water was blown out. Managed a few including my sons first Brown and some fish up near the park with https://rockymtanglers.com/GuideTrips.

My guide relocated but even then young guides there are solid.

My son didn't get enough scholly Monday to CU and just accepted Arkansas. He loves snow boarding especially after 7 powder days this year, but is also an excellent mountain biker -so not a bad back up. CU is incredible. You can catch wild trout on campus whilst seeing a hobo passed out and granola chicks doing topless yoga.

Edited by Born to Run
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Posted
11 hours ago, Born to Run said:

You can catch wild trout on campus whilst seeing a hobo passed out and granola chicks doing topless yoga.

Thanks.  I will tell him to accept no less than this on the official tour.

Posted
On 4/5/2025 at 8:01 PM, Damor said:

Anybody have any recommendations for fly guides or spots in Boulder or Ft Collins CO?

These aren't areas I've fished around, but we're doing college visits in early June, and I'd love to take the fam out.  Bonus points for fishing near the universities which would give our kid inspiration for fun things he could get out and do in college aside from gummies.  Oh, and studying.

St Pete’s fly shop in Ft Collins will have guides and equipment available. Stop by the downtown location and get your gear and whatever flies they recommend and then you can drive up the poudre river canyon. There’s tons of pull out parking spots in all the likely fishing holes. 

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Posted (edited)
On 4/1/2025 at 11:27 PM, justhookit said:

Working on this. Our girl team is flying in on Thursday for a Saturday tournament and 2 of them live in South Padre. One owns an offshore boat and they both fish so I think they may be able to help.  I originally posed your question to them and got a response about private charter boats. They are mid 30’s in age and therefore idiots. 

Well we finished in 3rd place with 22 sailfish (out of 41 bites) and 1 marlin. We were the only team that used more than 2 female anglers, we had 4. They did a great job competing against some top teams. Had 4 more bites than 1st place and TEN more than 2nd, 2 of our girls had a rough day trying to hook fish.  That’s one place out of the money - again - all 4 tournaments this year we’ve done that. Next year we are due.

@PvilleStang looks like you got a good rec for fishing. Good luck.

IMG_2622.png

Edited by justhookit
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Posted
On 4/12/2025 at 9:56 PM, justhookit said:

Well we finished in 3rd place with 22 sailfish (out of 41 bites) and 1 marlin. We were the only team that used more than 2 female anglers, we had 4. They did a great job competing against some top teams. Had 4 more bites than 1st place and TEN more than 2nd, 2 of our girls had a rough day trying to hook fish.  That’s one place out of the money - again - all 4 tournaments this year we’ve done that. Next year we are due.

@PvilleStang looks like you got a good rec for fishing. Good luck.

IMG_2622.png

Sounds like yall have been doing everything right but have just been unlucky.  Nice work!

 

If I slap on some fake tits can I get a ride?

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Posted

Any guide recs for Arkansas? Plan on moving my kid in mid August to Whoo Pig Suey then fishing after that.  Hoping for a two day float on the White with my homie. I figure tailwater in August is where it's at.  Will watch my cornhole.

Posted
1 hour ago, Born to Run said:

Any guide recs for Arkansas? Plan on moving my kid in mid August to Whoo Pig Suey then fishing after that.  Hoping for a two day float on the White with my homie. I figure tailwater in August is where it's at.  Will watch my cornhole.

Capt Luke Coffey. He's @ozarkplateauoutfitters on insta. I'll DM you his number. Fished with him last October and he worked his ass off. Fished us until dark, trailered the boat to two different places to catch releases at Bull Shoals and also Norfork. Stay at White River Trout Club. Totally remodeled lodge with a bad ass game room. Owners are from Dallas and are affiliated with Tailwaters. 

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Posted

It’s not exactly fishing, but cross posting it from the Costa Rica thread anyway. I’m sure some of y’all have heard the Florida term square grouper before. Anyway, 2 days ago there was a large weed bust here involving a commercial longline fishing boat. But this is insane.

 

Posted just now

840 kilos. This was about 200 yards away from me today at the marina fuel dock. Joint DEA and Costa Rican operation seized it last night/this morning. They apparently knew it was coming in because they hade been stopping private fishing boats for a few days which they basically never do. It was an older charter boat that had been here in the marina a long time and I believe recently sold. 

IMG_2623.png

 

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Posted
17 hours ago, justhookit said:

It’s not exactly fishing, but cross posting it from the Costa Rica thread anyway. I’m sure some of y’all have heard the Florida term square grouper before. Anyway, 2 days ago there was a large weed bust here involving a commercial longline fishing boat. But this is insane.

 

 

Posted just now

840 kilos. This was about 200 yards away from me today at the marina fuel dock. Joint DEA and Costa Rican operation seized it last night/this morning. They apparently knew it was coming in because they hade been stopping private fishing boats for a few days which they basically never do. It was an older charter boat that had been here in the marina a long time and I believe recently sold. 

IMG_2623.png

 

I'm surprised the DEA still targets the smuggling of weed.  Pills and powders sure.

Posted
18 hours ago, justhookit said:

It’s not exactly fishing, but cross posting it from the Costa Rica thread anyway. I’m sure some of y’all have heard the Florida term square grouper before. Anyway, 2 days ago there was a large weed bust here involving a commercial longline fishing boat. But this is insane.

 

 

Posted just now

840 kilos. This was about 200 yards away from me today at the marina fuel dock. Joint DEA and Costa Rican operation seized it last night/this morning. They apparently knew it was coming in because they hade been stopping private fishing boats for a few days which they basically never do. It was an older charter boat that had been here in the marina a long time and I believe recently sold. 

IMG_2623.png

 

HaHa for a second I thought it was Port A... But no marina angle like that, I am aware of.  

Did catch my first trout in the surf in 18 months after sacrificing a year of my life taking care of my folks.    And walked into a place today, called Grander Distributing in Georgetown.  Because I liked their Marlin logo, had a mount of "the grander" (1000 lb) monster hanging in the lobby.  I should have take a picture of that bad boy.  Made my excitement over a 19-3/4 trout and it's little head shake, sort of 

Posted (edited)
1 hour ago, Born to Run said:

I'm surprised the DEA still targets the smuggling of weed.  Pills and powders sure.

The 840 kilos was cocaine.

sorry that was a little confusing. 3 days ago was a big weed bust. Yesterday was the coke bust.

Edited by justhookit
Posted (edited)
1 hour ago, horn4life said:

HaHa for a second I thought it was Port A... But no marina angle like that, I am aware of.  

Did catch my first trout in the surf in 18 months after sacrificing a year of my life taking care of my folks.    And walked into a place today, called Grander Distributing in Georgetown.  Because I liked their Marlin logo, had a mount of "the grander" (1000 lb) monster hanging in the lobby.  I should have take a picture of that bad boy.  Made my excitement over a 19-3/4 trout and it's little head shake, sort of 

Wait until you lose a 30plus at your hand.  I've caught many at 28, a couple at 29 and landed zero over 30 despite a lifetime of effort. A 30 " trout is completely different from a dink. Heart pounding.  I have caught reds up to 44", and while it's fair to say it's an epic fight, there is nothing like a big speck. Maybe a big brown trout but i wouldn't know; yet.

Edited by Born to Run
  • 2 weeks later...
Posted

Costa Rica Sailfish season is over, I’m back home now. I’ll head back down for marlin season in July.

793 sailfish bites and 26 marlin bites in 27 days of fishing. Released 485 and 16. Not bad. Actually pretty great it was the best fishing down there in about 5 years. Our ratio needs to be closer to 70-75% or better but we had a lot of beginners fishing with us this year.

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Posted

I always wondered about those bites to landings ratios.

Man I am always so jealous of your posts, but I’ll bet it’s a lot of work, and way more $$ than I spend.

I was able to sleep late, go catch a few reds and specks in the marsh, and have the boat washed down in time to watch golf.

After spending the last two weeks in DC for work I just needed some outdoor time.

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Posted
4 hours ago, Chewbacca said:

Looking to buy myself a new fly rod. I've got a 9' 5 wt and want to get something lighter for the smaller rivers that are around me. Thinking of a 3wt, probably 8' or so.

@DefinitelyNotHollywoodColt or others, any recs? If like to keep it under 1k for the setup.

I have a sage 3 wt I like it, with a 3 wt Ross reel. For freshwater it’s my fav.  They make a few you can try them out I prefer the slow action for small streams though, you feel more of the fight as quick as it starts and can end. About a $1300 total set up if I recall. 

 

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Posted

@Chewbacca I'll defer to the experts, but at that size I think fiberglass is a lot of fun, and also I worry a little less about getting it caught and breaking it tromping through branches.  I have a nice burnt orangeish 3wt Echo Riverglass paired with a Ross Colorado that I love, and my boys try to steal it all the time.

Getting summer trips to Colorado organized, can't wait.

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Posted
20 hours ago, Chewbacca said:

Looking to buy myself a new fly rod. I've got a 9' 5 wt and want to get something lighter for the smaller rivers that are around me. Thinking of a 3wt, probably 8' or so.

@DefinitelyNotHollywoodColt or others, any recs? If like to keep it under 1k for the setup.

You may not win the parking lot beauty contest, but I think TFO is still the best value you can get. I've got a TFO 5wt and 7wt.

It looks like they've started to make higher end rods now too that have some of the finer aesthetic touches - https://tforods.com/product/solution/    This 8ft 3wt look pretty sweet.

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Posted (edited)
1 hour ago, The Royal We said:

You may not win the parking lot beauty contest, but I think TFO is still the best value you can get. I've got a TFO 5wt and 7wt.

It looks like they've started to make higher end rods now too that have some of the finer aesthetic touches - https://tforods.com/product/solution/    This 8ft 3wt look pretty sweet.

TFO is good, but I'm kinda moving on. I think for a casual angler it's pretty damn good. my original 5 wt is TFO, I might check out a few others of theirs for a replacement 5 wt, but my 3 wt sage, 8 wt scott and 12 wt thomas & thomas are noticeably more enjoyable to fish.  I may find for my preferences that a different make of a TFO 5 wt would work well (for the lighter weight rods I tend to like slower action, fish are less powerful, often times a dry fly, and distance casting isn't as big of an issue), but I haven't looked into it.  but to be fair at the time that TFO 5 wt (9 ft) was like $200 and my 3 wt sage (8 ft) was $1000 and the inflation issue let's see I bought the TFO in 2020 and the sage in 2024. it's pretty clear the TFO is still a budget / value brand, so long way of saying, yeah TFO is good.

the Ross colorado 3 wt reel is what I have (Damor mentions the same reel) is great.

and I just re-read Chew's budget, under $1000, TFO and that ross reel is probably a really nice set up for the price.

Edited by troph
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Posted
3 minutes ago, troph said:

TFO is good, but I'm kinda moving on. I think for a casual angler it's pretty damn good. my original 5 wt is TFO, I might check out a few others of theirs for a replacement 5 wt, but my 3 wt sage, 8 wt scott and 12 wt thomas & thomas are noticeably more enjoyable to fish.  I may find for my preferences that a different make of a TFO 5 wt would work well (for the lighter weight rods I tend to like slower action), but I haven't looked into it.  but to be fair at the time that TFO 5 wt (9 ft) was like $250 and my 3 wt sage (8 ft) was $1000 and the inflation issue let's see I bought the TFO in 2020 and the sage in 2024. it's pretty clear the TFO is still a budget / value brand, so long way of saying, yeah TFO is good.

the Ross colorado 3 wt reel is what I have (Damor mentions the same reel) is great.

and I just re-read Chew's budget, under $1000, TFO and that ross reel is probably a really nice set up for the price.

I think we're on the same page.

I've got a Scott 2wt and a Loomis 5wt as well. The 2wt is ancient so not really fair to compare, but I can def tell a difference between the TFOs and the Loomis. I bought it from a friend for ~$250 and that included a ross reel, but I'm pretty sure he paid at least 3x what I paid for my TFO 5wt. I'm a very average fly caster that can usually land my fly close to the target, but it's probably not going to land softly and wind knots are still a thing for me. I wouldn't own the Loomis unless my buddy sold it to me for so cheap...

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Posted
8 minutes ago, The Royal We said:

I think we're on the same page.

I've got a Scott 2wt and a Loomis 5wt as well. The 2wt is ancient so not really fair to compare, but I can def tell a difference between the TFOs and the Loomis. I bought it from a friend for ~$250 and that included a ross reel, but I'm pretty sure he paid at least 3x what I paid for my TFO 5wt. I'm a very average fly caster that can usually land my fly close to the target, but it's probably not going to land softly and wind knots are still a thing for me. I wouldn't own the Loomis unless my buddy sold it to me for so cheap...

that's really good context, I agree.

Posted
48 minutes ago, troph said:

TFO is good, but I'm kinda moving on. I think for a casual angler it's pretty damn good. my original 5 wt is TFO, I might check out a few others of theirs for a replacement 5 wt, but my 3 wt sage, 8 wt scott and 12 wt thomas & thomas are noticeably more enjoyable to fish.  I may find for my preferences that a different make of a TFO 5 wt would work well (for the lighter weight rods I tend to like slower action, fish are less powerful, often times a dry fly, and distance casting isn't as big of an issue), but I haven't looked into it.  but to be fair at the time that TFO 5 wt (9 ft) was like $200 and my 3 wt sage (8 ft) was $1000 and the inflation issue let's see I bought the TFO in 2020 and the sage in 2024. it's pretty clear the TFO is still a budget / value brand, so long way of saying, yeah TFO is good.

the Ross colorado 3 wt reel is what I have (Damor mentions the same reel) is great.

and I just re-read Chew's budget, under $1000, TFO and that ross reel is probably a really nice set up for the price.

I can go over 1k if there's a good reason.  Just trying to not be crazy.

Posted

Yeah, I think the Echo would leave you enough in the budget for that.  How could you not?

Think I posted upthread that I have the Animas version of that put aside for my older one's 21st, probably going to pair it with a 4wt Scott fiberglass rod.

As a beer snob, I don't even like Coors, but those are just amazing looking reels, and I do respect that they have their own malting floor in Golden.

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Posted
30 minutes ago, Damor said:

Yeah, I think the Echo would leave you enough in the budget for that.  How could you not?

Think I posted upthread that I have the Animas version of that put aside for my older one's 21st, probably going to pair it with a 4wt Scott fiberglass rod.

As a beer snob, I don't even like Coors, but those are just amazing looking reels, and I do respect that they have their own malting floor in Golden.

As a wine snob, I don’t even drink beer. 

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Posted
22 minutes ago, troph said:

As a wine snob, I don’t even drink beer. 

 I don't drink beer anymore, either.  But that reel is amazing.  Too bad it's a 4/5 weight.

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Posted (edited)

Went over and visited my local fly shop 30 min ago.  Talked to them for 30 min and they recommended either a Scott Session 3wt 8'0" rod or a Sage Sonic 3wt 7'6" rod.  Both are priced right around $700. Anyone have experience with either of these?

For the reel, he said he's not a huge fan of Ross or Abel reels (owned by same company) because they have an open drag and you can get dirt in there if you aren't really careful with them. He suggested a Lamson or Sage reel because their drags are sealed.  He also said he really likes click & pawl reels (no drag) for smaller applications like this. Anyone fish one of those?  I think I'm probably leaning in that direction.  Ross has one that I like (the Colorado).

Edited by Chewbacca
Posted
8 minutes ago, Chewbacca said:

Went over and visited my local fly shop 30 min ago.  Talked to them for 30 min and they recommended either a Scott Session 3wt 8'0" rod or a Sage Sonic 3wt 7'6" rod.  Both are priced right around $700. Anyone have experience with either of these?

For the reel, he said he's not a huge fan of Ross or Abel reels (owned by same company) because they have an open drag and you can get dirt in there if you aren't really careful with them. He suggested a Lamson or Sage reel because their drags are sealed.  He also said he really likes click & pawl reels (no drag) for smaller applications like this. Anyone fish one of those?  I think I'm probably leaning in that direction.  Ross has one that I like.

ha...trout guys are so much different than salt guys. I've blown up a sealed Lamson reel on a bull redfish. I've also blown up the top of the line Ross with a sealed carbon fiber drag on a 10ish pound Permit. All my big game saltwater reels are "open" cork drag reels. Low tech, but absolutely bullet proof. For your application with a 3wt, click and pawl would be a sweet setup. I'd go that route. 

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Posted (edited)

my colorado ross is a no drag reel. for a 3 wt catching small fish, you'll not need the drag, you'll never get the fish on the reel to begin with.

Edited by troph
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Posted (edited)
12 minutes ago, troph said:

my colorado ross is a no drag reel. for a 3 wt catching small fish, you'll not need the drag, you'll never get the fish on the reel to begin with.

Yeah, the more I think about it, I'm definitely going this direction. Anyone have input on Sage vs. Scott?  Guy at the store (who also guides) says he likes the Sage because it's got a faster action which helps casting on breezy days.

I might have to get that Coors reel for my 5wt rod.  

Edited by Chewbacca
Posted

I love my scott for salt water it's 8 wt, 9ft. it's pretty stiff (fast action) and it's a bad ass rod. I can cast accurately and consistently 30-35 ft with winds at 10. At times if I have to and it's first half of the day I can cast 50 ft with that thing. but I have no experience with the smaller scott rods.  I like my sage 3wt quite a bit. And as a salt water angler now as my more common type of fishing, I scoff at the idea of a stiff breeze in the mountains. no such thing. go with the rod you like the best, make sure you describe what you want out of the 3 wt and go that direction. my guess is you'll enjoy either of those two rods, quite a bit.

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