Decided to try a low density spot in hopes of a big fish. After dropping off my son at school I packed up and had the pleasure of chatting with @Buzzy on a short hike in. He went left and I went right.
It didn't take long and I had my first solid grab and fish. A nice chunky football:
In the first hour I got three fish all fat in the 17 to 19 inch range. I was very happy with my start! These fish were freaking strong!
It was a beautiful day with a slight breeze:
Trespasser
Another chunky bow:
And another:
I was up to 6 fish with a few misses and a few long distance releases when my friend @Starman77 called to say he was on his hike in. At this point in the day I was very content but I did wonder since all my fish were 17 to 19 if there was a few with another year of growth to them.
All day long I had used one fly. An olive jig craw off my type 5. This is becoming my go to confidence fly.
What worked for me was throwing to the edges and then slow and steady retrieving it into the deep. I made a cast into a small but deep cove and got absolutely slammed by a bigger fish. It took off into the deep. I could tell it was significantly bigger then what I had been catching. When it jumped my jaw absolutely dropped. I kept looking up the hill to see if Rex was arriving. I even called him mid fight because I knew this fish was that special and was hoping he was just about there but it simply wasn't meant to be.
I've been blessed with a lot of nice rainbows but this fish just dwarfed them in girth. This is a fry plant fish. It wasn't released from a hatchery this big. Truely a spectacular fish:
It's hard to take photos that showed just how fat this fish was but I think this one shows it best:
I think 8 pounds is an accurate guess and maybe even conservative. Rex showed up shortly after releasing it. I of course told him all about it I caught another fish as we caught up talking and then had to head home in time to take my son to his baseball game.
Until next time
Billy
It didn't take long and I had my first solid grab and fish. A nice chunky football:
In the first hour I got three fish all fat in the 17 to 19 inch range. I was very happy with my start! These fish were freaking strong!
It was a beautiful day with a slight breeze:
Trespasser
Another chunky bow:
And another:
I was up to 6 fish with a few misses and a few long distance releases when my friend @Starman77 called to say he was on his hike in. At this point in the day I was very content but I did wonder since all my fish were 17 to 19 if there was a few with another year of growth to them.
All day long I had used one fly. An olive jig craw off my type 5. This is becoming my go to confidence fly.
What worked for me was throwing to the edges and then slow and steady retrieving it into the deep. I made a cast into a small but deep cove and got absolutely slammed by a bigger fish. It took off into the deep. I could tell it was significantly bigger then what I had been catching. When it jumped my jaw absolutely dropped. I kept looking up the hill to see if Rex was arriving. I even called him mid fight because I knew this fish was that special and was hoping he was just about there but it simply wasn't meant to be.
I've been blessed with a lot of nice rainbows but this fish just dwarfed them in girth. This is a fry plant fish. It wasn't released from a hatchery this big. Truely a spectacular fish:
It's hard to take photos that showed just how fat this fish was but I think this one shows it best:
I think 8 pounds is an accurate guess and maybe even conservative. Rex showed up shortly after releasing it. I of course told him all about it
I caught another fish as we caught up talking and then had to head home in time to take my son to his baseball game.Until next time
Billy
. 
