Johnsfolly

Great story and photos. Want to see the kings once you get into them. A bit jealous, didn't get into any rainbow action when I was up there a couple of years ago.

I don't consider myself a purist but I have not been able to go with cheese or hotdogs (Vienna sausages), etc. as a trout bait. Maybe I will break down one day. Let's face it velveeta is as processed as any of the packaged dough baits that I do use.

Several years ago I fished the blue ribbon section above the lane Springs CG and ran into a group of five otters. I caught mostly sunfish and small bass and one 3 1/2 rainbow. I haven't been back to that area since that time figuring that the otters were much better at catching fish in that section than I was. Focused the last couple of year fishing around Newburg.

I would guess 3 to 3.5 lbs.

I love the football browns. Nice fish.

Dougie - sound likes you had a great trip. Nice photos and Congrats on your double!

Recently I was back in the UK to meet with clients. Due to the cost of tickets it was cheaper to stay in England a day or two longer than the leave after our last meeting. So I had a couple of days to do what I wanted. So I checked into fishing opportunities around the areas where I was staying. During that process I was reminded of when I was living there in 1998 and 1999 and the reasons that I did not fish when I was living there. You are required to purchase a rod license and if you intend to fish for rough fish, e.g., carp, pike, roach, bream, tench, etc., that was all you needed to satisfy the government. If you wanted to catch trout or salmon (i.e., game fish) there was an additional license that the government required. I'm fine with those fees. The daily rod licenses were not cost prohibitive. It was the day fees for the bodies of water that really bothered me. Every body of water was likely to be owned by a private citizen and they set the fees to be able to fish that body of water and the regulations that you would have to follow while there. It's their property so I understand the regulations. However, they did prohibit my fishing in the past and also on this trip. I didn't explore the pond fishing to determine if for a given day you were provided a certain section of the pond to fish. For the rivers at least in Northern Ireland, you would only be able to fish a certain section of the river. If there were no fish in that section, you were out of luck on that day. As one would expect, the best sections would have the highest fees. The point to all of this is that I continue to the have a great appreciation for the fishing and hunting opportunities that we are afforded as US citizens. As anyone can see just by reading any given thread, each of us have a difference of opinion on the best way to fish, on catch and release, on whether guides should be allowed to operate and fish for state funded stocked fish, etc. Even with all of those differences, I doubt that few on here would disparage the opportunities that we have when we purchase that fishing license. We all have the opportunity to fish miles of creeks and rivers without access fees or to boat and fish in the public lakes systems. Most of the regulations are put in place for us to enjoy a better experience. I appreciate what we have and I hope others do as well.

Billet - I would be proud of a find like yours. I also don't mind a little extra protein with my meal. I didn't get a chance to get out we had pretty severe weather on Sat. The road to one of my prime areas was washed out. I will have to get out and find some new areas this week.

Some great photos. Congrats on the personal best rainbow. Your net looks like mine. Don't tell Ham, but I bought it more for the fact that hooks don't get stuck in the webbing, but a close second consideration was that it was less likely to injure the fish.

I'll try to do the same and let you know if I find any. Good luck.

I was out of the country last week and have been chained to my desk since I got back. Anyone finding any mushrooms of interest, particularly any chanterelles?

If that were me, I would have likely slipped (since you can no longer wear felt soled boots) while going across the water and drove my rod tip into the root wad. Fortunately the tip would have broken away thus dissipating the energy of the fall and thus preventing me from going head first into the viper pit. Not that this scenario has ever happened.

Seth - when I switch down to 2# I am typically fishing in water that is clear enough to see the reaction of the fish. I will set the hook even before I feel the take.

I have always had more success from 10 am to 2 pm for smallmouth and even brown trout. I always wondered if that was due to the actual time of day or the time it took to get to the spots where the fish were less pressured. I never stayed overnight to fish those same spots first thing in the morning to see if I would have done better.

I basically fish the same setup that Seth mentioned. I will switch out to 2# Pline fluoroclear if I an going to fish microjigs in really clear water.

I tend to fish creeks and small rivers for smallmouth. I love topwater action and will go with walking baits with a preference to Excalibur spittn image (not sure they still sell these) that i have hand painted. However, I will tend to catch more fish on a fluke, but I just don't get that adrenaline rush when a smallie blasts a topwater. In deeper holes, I will move to the shad type or crawfish crankbaits or like Drew and Gavin suggested fish crawfish baits on the bottom or a feather jig. I fish mostly baby bass or green pumpkin for the plastics and olive, brown or white feather jigs. Good luck.

That's a pig. Nice catch.

By far I have caught the most bluegill on a green/black trout magnet jig under a float. I've caught nearly 300 bluegill using that combo over the last two years.

I'd like to hear how you do when try it later this summer. The video must have been fairly old, since Doug Hannon died in 2013. I loved watching him on ESPN.

Al - great post!

Congrats on the turkey. Was it a Merriams or an Eastern bird?

Great Post! I fished the 11-Point once last year and can't wait to get back on it this time with a boat and likely my family. this post definitely puts the spurs into trying to get there.

I guess it would help if I could spell the word brown. How deep was the water that you were fishing?

Phil - Great borwn trout. That fish had great coloration. Were you using 2lb or 4lb line?

Great report to make one jealous! You have a bunch of great photos. I haven't seen that kind of action in my neck of the woods.