laker67

Well I hope you catch several. Kinda got sidetracked on the topic with out thinking . The crappie was the first fish. That is my annual "go to" fish.

I have yet to catch a big fish in 2019, but I have a good variety going. Crappie, largemouth, smallmouth , goggle eye, rainbow, and redhorse sucker.

yes indeed. Dave Bethurem and I called them "blue ribbon stringers".

Use a three fly rig and above that put an orange bobber. When the boober hesitates, make a downstream sidearm sweep. As you miss the strike on the bottom fly, you will foul hook one on the middle fly. As you are unhooking the foul hooked fished, the upper fly gets hooked in your ear lobe or chin or neck. Sometimes that foul hooked fish gets tangled with 2 other anglers on the opposite side also using 3 fly rigs. And at that point one or both of the other anglers think that they have fair hooked a fish and the tug of war begins. And when it is all worked out, the other 76 people wait as the 3 fly lines stretched from one side to the other get untangled.

I fished it on the 28th and it was clear but about 5 inches high in the area I was fishing. The river was up and muddy so I think it was backing the creek up. A buddy showed up with his daughter and his 8 year old grandson. I spent the first couple of hours taking pictures of fish they were catching. That little guy was a trooper, 31 degrees was the high for the day and he stayed right with it. Mom did good for about 3 hours then went to the truck to read a book. Now Monday the 31st was a different stream altogether. Don't know how much rain overnight. When I got to the park around 11:30 there was a mudline just starting about the holland dam. I went to the outlet in zone 2 knowing that some good fish might be moving out of the main current. The ankle deep water was already knee deep. I kept moving up with the water rising catching one fish after another for a solid 3 hrs. No good fish like I hoped for, but did hook and lose a nice brown around 3lbs. As the water got higher it also was filtering through the hatchery and eventually the outlet was muddy. At 3:30 I call it quits and took a stoll towards the whistle bridge. The high water was already spilling over it. I drove up to the spring on the way out. Spring was running clear but the dry creek bed was pumping muddy water over the slab. It was mixing together at the holland dam. Ended the 2018 season with a fun day of fishing.

Don't know about the blue cats, probably so, but "Bman" from the website caught and released an 18lb flathead on the flyrod a few seasons back near the big hole at taney.

That's why the average that Mitch questioned is low. You have to survive that initial run before you can use your fighting skills. It seems to happen alot more on tailwaters than parks. At taney they can head out towards Hollister with little to get in their way. At the parks they have a guantlet of people side straddle across the whole creek. You jump up to heavier tippet and you rip flesh or break your favorite rod trying to stop him. I spent the best part of one summer trying to land a lunker on .75 tippet. Probably lost 30 before landing one. Loved every minute of it.

Not sure why, but browns are notorious for wrapping line. It is either on the fin, around the gill plate, or as is the case with smaller fish, they will actually tie a half hitch around their head and gill plate. Must be in the way they turn back or something.

The reason I ask is that I am trying to remember big browns that were caught around that time. John Teeples had one near 15lb at the rock hole just below, and Foghorn had one at the high bank hole that was 16lbs 15 oz.

Hey Wrench. Do you recall what year it was that you caught that big brown?

Not sure as to what heavier might be. I am extremely comfortable with 6x. FW has got the same opinion as I. The harder you fight a fish the more he fights you. Landing a big fish is more like a gentle persuasion. Let him think that he is in control.

I got one. 1 hour prior to catching my largest brown I lost a big rainbow that would go around 14 or so pounds. I was back looking for that fish when I found the brown. On an average I normally lose about 3 to every one landed.k

You're right Gavin, trying to force feed one is the worst thing you can do. Most fish won't stand for that. You have to let it be their idea to eat your fly.

I would hate to bet against you. But somedays them girls make us look bad.

Yes I do.