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Fishing Megathread: Looking For Big Girls Who swallow

Mac8111

By Mac8111
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troph
troph

Ok I have left the building for the most part but I made an exception to come back and say I am THE queen of the fly rod.  It happened! thank the good lord above and all my living right, it happe

BearSchlong
BearSchlong

By myself, at the Sabine jetty. First time since my dad died in March. Hungry reds and trout. Thank you for the last 45 years of fishing, old man. And for leaving me a nice boat. I've seen you catch

MalibuSheriff
MalibuSheriff

Fishing trip with my son after picking him up in camp.  Rio Grande cutthroats caught last Sunday evening at an extremely isolated lake in southern Colorado.    

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Braff Zacklin

Braff Zacklin 13,551

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25 minutes ago, Johnny Chimpo said:

Damn man. Lucky you. I’m amazed you’re getting them to take on dries this early. Usually I’m going through my fly box bonking nymphs on their noses they are so lethargic in the cold weather. 

Where are you at? This place is kind of the exception. The rainbows are in pre-spawn staging and the water boils from rises.

There was so much activity, I joked to my buddy that he could probably toss a yellow sally and they'd take. Sure enough, they did. So he quipped back for me to try a beetle. That worked, too. So did a yellow stimulator. They all were effective for at least a little while.

Little black midges worked best as that is what is popping off, but I can't see them for shit in glare or at distance, so I missed way more than I caught.

Also had lots of success with nymphs under a bobber. My favorite setup was a nymph (e.g., copper john, frenchie, cinnamon crunch, etc.) a couple of feet above a San Juan worm.

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Mac8111

Mac8111 2,105

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Well legends didn’t get the memo.  Bunch of good weights came in from down south hill this weekend. Dumb to think but I was hoping the fish would get a break.   

Well, I heard that the Watkins Jr boat ran all the way back to Rockport area to get their fish.

I have a friend who fished it and he said Mansfield was dead. Might have just been him bitching since he didn’t catch shit but it would be interesting to see where the top teams got their fish.
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troph

troph 24,781

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39 minutes ago, Braff Zacklin said:

Where are you at? This place is kind of the exception. The rainbows are in pre-spawn staging and the water boils from rises.

There was so much activity, I joked to my buddy that he could probably toss a yellow sally and they'd take. Sure enough, they did. So he quipped back for me to try a beetle. That worked, too. So did a yellow stimulator. They all were effective for at least a little while.

Little black midges worked best as that is what is popping off, but I can't see them for shit in glare or at distance, so I missed way more than I caught.

Also had lots of success with nymphs under a bobber. My favorite setup was a nymph (e.g., copper john, frenchie, cinnamon crunch, etc.) a couple of feet above a San Juan worm.

God bless you crushed it. So amazing.

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DCA_HORN

DCA_HORN 725

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Man, they had their kicker fish for sure.  There are some hammers in that tournament, and deep pockets. 
I don't fish tournaments but I assume these are still limited by the slot? That red doesn't loom that big especially since that dude looks to be about 5'2". Also what do deep pockets have to do with anything?
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Braff Zacklin

Braff Zacklin 13,551

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8 minutes ago, troph said:

God bless you crushed it. So amazing.

Thanks. The pics are a compilation of three outings.

And honestly, anybody willing to make the effort to get there would crush it. The fish aren't that picky. The only thing that didn't seem to get much interest were streamers, so I stopped hucking them after the first day.

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PorscheGuy

PorscheGuy 127

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Thanks. The pics are a compilation of three outings.
And honestly, anybody willing to make the effort to get there would crush it. The fish aren't that picky. The only thing that didn't seem to get much interest were streamers, so I stopped hucking them after the first day.

What part of Idaho were you fishing? Looks absolutely amazing. Would love to know more details.


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fattyflattie

fattyflattie 4,639

Posted
Posted (edited)
33 minutes ago, DCA_HORN said:
On 3/12/2021 at 8:50 PM, fattyflattie said:
Man, they had their kicker fish for sure.  There are some hammers in that tournament, and deep pockets. 

I don't fish tournaments but I assume these are still limited by the slot? That red doesn't loom that big especially since that dude looks to be about 5'2". Also what do deep pockets have to do with anything?

Yes, all TPWD rules apply. Each tournament has different bags, 1 T, 3R, etc.   

Wrt the expense, they are just expensive to be in.  I think it shook out to 750/person when they sent me an invite a few years ago (looks like it’s 1k/team now) . But the Calcutta is what I was really referencing.  I fish a little “invitational” with several of those teams that do Freeze Out (and many others). Last year, one of them got hit with a $7500 first bid on his boat.  So, if he wanted to win anything (more than 20% of pot) then he had to pony up $7500 in cash to buy back their boat.  There is lucky sperm club members all over those things that like that shit more than they do fishing.  A couple of them pulled that shit in our little invitational a few weeks later (how I got the story) and they just ended up with a bunch of teams, not enough money on the line to gaf in that one.   It’s one think to buy your boat for 5k when there’s 40k on the line.  Not so much when it’s 2k pots. 
 

But there are some real hammers in there.  I’m talking guys that are on the water every single weekend, and many of them competing 20+ times a year.  The only reason those few are in our little get together is they were old friends of the guys that founded it; definitely a level or three above the rest of us in it. 
 

eta: that’s a 9.4# slot red.  That’s a premium tournament fish in any tournament on the coast.  

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DCA_HORN

DCA_HORN 725

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Ah that makes sense. I thought you meant as far as actually catching fish. I guess that's why I've avoided those things. I've done the fishing with clients that are the people you are describing. When I'm on the water I want to be with people who know how to fish and act accordingly. I'll drink beer and all that when we get back but not interested in fishing with bobber "fishermen" on the water.

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Zwylde

Zwylde 812

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Got the baby girl out yesterday for some Spring Break action in West Galveston Bay.  She caught the biggest trout.  Water temp was a nice 75 and much more bait in the shallows than the last couple of weeks.   

IMG_7885.jpg

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Braff Zacklin

Braff Zacklin 13,551

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Highlights from today (on a different river):

This rainbow buck was my biggest catch of the day.

20210317-122252-Sharped.jpg

Apparently, I wasn't the only one after him. Noticed a couple of baldies flying about, so my guess is one of them almost made him lunch a few days ago. Poor guy.

20210317-122300-Sharped.jpg

Best of the rest was this healthy cutt

20210317-144544-Sharped.jpg

I love them cuz their ventral and anal fins are orange.

20210317-144603-Sharped.jpg

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bigshark88

bigshark88 388

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Miss/lose a fish on a plug?  Check the treble hooks.  Avoid the bad habit of getting pissed of and just firing out another cast.  Check the hooks.  

First thing Sunday on the flats I missed a heck of a strike while twitching a suspending, hard jerkbait.  So I did what I always do: curse my luck at not hooking up a fish on two sharp ass treble hooks with a strike like that and re-fire another cast.  By the end of the day I had hooked, fought and jumped off a fat spec on the same plug.  Then I hooked, fought and pulled the plug out of the mouth of the biggest red of the day.  Finally I momentarily hooked and pulled off of a stud speckled trout.

There was a litany of profane, spoken frustration.  Finally (hours too late) I looked closely at the plug itself.  Two of the hooks on the rear treble were straightened.  I fish enough I should have "caught" that at the outset.       

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Braff Zacklin

Braff Zacklin 13,551

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37 minutes ago, Pescado_Rojo said:

I've had a good fish come off a fly, then "missed" the next two hook sets only to discover the first fish broke the hook on the fly. Talk about feeling like a dumbass. 

Similar experience yesterday after snagging my perdigon nymph on a rock. For the next hour, anything I caught was on the San Juan worm above it. Then I took a close look at the perdigon and observed the hook was wide open. I felt super stupid.

Caught another rainbow within minutes of bending the hook back in place. Ah, what could have been ...

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DefinitelyNotHollywoodColt

DefinitelyNotHollywoodColt 12,301

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On 3/15/2021 at 7:56 PM, Braff Zacklin said:

Where are you at? This place is kind of the exception. The rainbows are in pre-spawn staging and the water boils from rises.

There was so much activity, I joked to my buddy that he could probably toss a yellow sally and they'd take. Sure enough, they did. So he quipped back for me to try a beetle. That worked, too. So did a yellow stimulator. They all were effective for at least a little while.

Little black midges worked best as that is what is popping off, but I can't see them for shit in glare or at distance, so I missed way more than I caught.

Also had lots of success with nymphs under a bobber. My favorite setup was a nymph (e.g., copper john, frenchie, cinnamon crunch, etc.) a couple of feet above a San Juan worm.

My favorite time of the year. They’re looking up and hungry/dumb as shit. 👊

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Braff Zacklin

Braff Zacklin 13,551

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10 minutes ago, DefinitelyNotHollywoodColt said:

My favorite time of the year. They’re looking up and hungry/dumb as shit. 👊

Passed a bunch of empty redds on the stretch of river I was working yesterday. Started to pull out at some old bridge pilings but noticed some activity around the bend. Got back in the water and couldn't believe what I saw--dozens and dozens of trout, some in about 2 inches of water, half of their bodies exposed to the air, swimming and thrashing and (possibly?) rising.

Nothing was hatching and not a bug to be seen. Observed midges popping off recently at another place, so I threw nearly everything I had at these fish--gnats, ants, black magics, purple hazes, PMDs, even cahills ... not one definitive rise.

So I admitted defeat and packed it up. It'd been a good day, but a bit of a frustrating finish.

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Dry Elbows

Dry Elbows 142

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1 hour ago, huge said:

If my BIL wants to get a trip together for 10 guys out of Galveston what is his best bet?  Are there charters that are that big?  Or is he stuck with one of those party boat day trip set ups?

Bay fishing would require multiple boats.  He could maybe find an offshore charter that could handle 10 people.  Not sure they could all be fishing at the same time, though.

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justhookit

justhookit 4,191

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2 hours ago, huge said:

If my BIL wants to get a trip together for 10 guys out of Galveston what is his best bet?  Are there charters that are that big?  Or is he stuck with one of those party boat day trip set ups?

Pretty much all charter boats have a 6 pack license meaning they can only take 6 people out. There is one boat in Freeport that can handle 10+ people - http://www.bluefinfreeport.com/index.html. I know they used to be pretty good but I have no idea if they still are.

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Braff Zacklin

Braff Zacklin 13,551

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11 minutes ago, crash_davis said:

have you won any money catching rainbows or cutbows?

LoL no, but I know a couple of folks who have.

I don't fish the South Fork often. Too much traffic. It's like a highway for drift boats. I mostly wade fish, anyway.

Every now and then, I'll reel in something that IDF&G has tagged, and there's a chance to win with those, too, but no luck so far.

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crash_davis

crash_davis 23,094

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2 hours ago, Pescado_Rojo said:

 TPWD votes to temporarily change Speckled Trout limit to 3 fish from 17"-23" from the JFK Causeway south to the Rio Grande.

 

won't someone think of the guides!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! how are they supposed to make a living if the limit is 3 reds and 3 trout?

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davidg

davidg 4,035

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46 minutes ago, crash_davis said:

won't someone think of the guides!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! how are they supposed to make a living if the limit is 3 reds and 3 trout?

4 trips a day instead of 2?  Still same price per trip, advertising limits most trips.

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fattyflattie

fattyflattie 4,639

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8 hours ago, Jiggy-Z said:

Anybody fished East Matagorda lately?

I have a four night camp/kayak trip planned down there in mid May.

We usually do Three mile lake area.

Not sure what is available in the surf mid May either.  Seems a little early for trout.

Second week in May, historically, is usually my first good day of the year in the surf.  For years growing up down there, second week of May was always first "limits" trip to surf, fwiw.  I used to keep stuff like that written down.

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troph

troph 24,781

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Posted (edited)
20 hours ago, fattyflattie said:

Second week in May, historically, is usually my first good day of the year in the surf.  For years growing up down there, second week of May was always first "limits" trip to surf, fwiw.  I used to keep stuff like that written down.

Oh and in addition to this weekend I think we are camping at bolivar in April last weekend with my sort of in laws and my boys. Would love tips for the surf. Thinking about getting a new rig because why not? My Walmart starter set feels shitty.

Edited by troph
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Masshole Horn

Masshole Horn 769

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Oh and in addition to this weekend I think we are camping at bolivar in April last weekend with my sort of in laws and my boys. Would love tips for the surf. Thinking about getting a new rig because why not? My Walmart starter set feels shitty.

I have some friends up here who spend a lot on surf setups, but I’m not shelling out for a Van Staal.

I like Tica and Star surf rods in the ~$150 range and Penn Battle/Conflict reels. I load them up with 50# braid and use a flouro leader.

These rigs will be for chucking big baits out there. If you’re fishing for specks in the first gut, this will be overkill.
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Spaulding Smails

Spaulding Smails 1,552

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1 hour ago, Masshole Horn said:


I have some friends up here who spend a lot on surf setups, but I’m not shelling out for a Van Staal.

I like Tica and Star surf rods in the ~$150 range and Penn Battle/Conflict reels. I load them up with 50# braid and use a flouro leader.

These rigs will be for chucking big baits out there. If you’re fishing for specks in the first gut, this will be overkill.

This is good insight.  I fish the surf maybe once a year.  I have a Penn Battle with an inexpensive Shimano spinning reel that I use for chunking bait.  And, I take a 7' moderate fast rod with a spinning reel for fishing the gut.  I don't throw a baitcaster because I've dunked more than one reel in the surf.  

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4th and 5

4th and 5 4,914

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Just got back from the Chandeleurs. Due to the weather and cutting the trip short, fishing was tough, relatively speaking, you had to work for them, but it would have been a banner day anywhere else. Fish were caught on purple/red/green chartreuse plastics, gulps under a cork and top waters. Also spoons wading close to the shoreline were deadly. We caught a lot more slot fish in the mid 20s this time and a lot less bulls. Trout to 22 inches. And a few flounder.

Also if any of you are booked on the VI this year, beware. That charter operation has become unreliable.

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The Royal We

The Royal We 3,067

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1 minute ago, 4th and 5 said:

Just got back from the Chandeleurs. Due to the weather and cutting the trip short, fishing was tough, relatively speaking, you had to work for them, but it would have been a banner day anywhere else. Fish were caught on purple/red/green chartreuse plastics, gulps under a cork and top waters. Also spoons wading close to the shoreline were deadly. We caught a lot more slot fish in the mid 20s this time and a lot less bulls. Trout to 22 inches. And a few flounder.

Also if any of you are booked on the VI this year, beware. That charter operation has become unreliable.

This trip has been on my bucket list for a while.  What outfit did you go through?

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Hook1997

Hook1997 5,351

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I fished 2.5 days in Indianola last week and didn’t even catch a hardhead...   I couldn’t get rid of dead shrimp, live shrimp or squid.  It wasn’t serious fishing as I usually do artificial but this was off the pier and shore just relaxing.  To not lose one bait in that amount of time is something I’ve never seen lol. 

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