Big One Got Away

[Mitch f]

26 minutes ago, snagged in outlet 3 said:

I’ve caught more big fish because I knew where they were, more than the method.  Those areas dictate the method. 

Agreed. 

I once read a story about a guy who would sneak up on small stream smallmouth by crawling on an overlooking bank and observing the school. He tried to obviously target the big fish. He had a live craw for bait. He stated the biggest problem he has was keeping the little ones from getting it before the big one was able to reach it. 

So how would you eliminate that problem? Maybe by a bigger offering.

[laker67]

9 minutes ago, fshndoug said:

Laker I don't think I have ever seen you throw a streamer and I fish around you more than anyone you know.P.S. I have plenty if you ever change your mind

you got more streamers than most fly shops

[Seth]

11 minutes ago, Mitch f said:

So how would you eliminate that problem? Maybe by a bigger offering.

I agree with you on that when it comes to bass. After watching Oliver Ngy throw that 10" Megabass swimbait for two days straight on LoZ and only catching two bass and still winning 100G's, the proof is in the puddin!

When it comes to trout, I think the best tactics is to just sore lip all the little stupid ones and then hope the bigger ones eventually get dibs. Stocker trout will eat anything, even when it's almost as big as they are. Besides, it keeps you occupied in between quality bites. 

[Terrierman]

2 hours ago, Mitch f said:

Is that because there are fishermen fishing scuds than there are people fishing jigs or jerkbaits?

Or is it maybe because those fish eat more scuds than anything else in the water column?

[JestersHK]

1 minute ago, Seth said:

I agree with you on that when it comes to bass. After watching Oliver Ngy throw that 10" Megabass swimbait for two days straight on LoZ and only catching two bass and still winning 100G's, the proof is in the puddin!

When it comes to trout, I think the best tactics is to just sore lip all the little stupid ones and then hope the bigger ones eventually get dibs. Stocker trout will eat anything, even when it's almost as big as they are. Besides, it keeps you occupied in between quality bites. 

Seth if we were to throw one of those in trout pattern I bet we could get ya over that 20in mark!

I think allot of it comes down to right place and right time.  Plus you have to be out there.  I made it down at least once a month, and I'm hoping to repeat that for next year.  Can't catch em at home...  Also this later part of the year once the run started I committed to almost 100% throwing jerk baits.

I think as others stated you have to go for quality over quantity.  Line size is a crucial part of it, but it's still just a piece of the larger puzzle.

 

[Mitch f]

27 minutes ago, Terrierman said:

Or is it maybe because those fish eat more scuds than anything else in the water column?

Tell that to the brown with the 12” rainbow shoved down his throat and still biting jerkbaits 😂

[duckydoty]

1 hour ago, laker67 said:

I have only caught one big fish,  " over 30 inches", on a streamer pattern. Leonard's hibernator to be exact. The other 31 big fish, "over 30 inches", came on a #12 or smaller scud and one that I recall on  a white egg at night. The majority came on # 14 and # 16.  7x to 6x tippet.

Hey Rick, I haven’t asked in a few years, but how many have you caught in the 20-30 inch range?

Get ready to be amazed folks....

[laker67]

13 minutes ago, duckydoty said:

Hey Rick, I haven’t asked in a few years, but how many have you caught in the 20-30 inch range?

Get ready to be amazed folks....

Well if I extend it on out to 38.5 inches I can tell you exactly. 1,588.

[Terrierman]

23 minutes ago, Mitch f said:

Tell that to the brown with the 12” rainbow shoved down his throat and still biting jerkbaits 😂

I autopsied that fish and he had a belly full of scuds.  They're just eating machines.  Probably would have bit a cigarette butt.

[laker67]

1 minute ago, Terrierman said:

I autopsied that fish and he had a belly full of scuds.  They're just eating machines.  Probably would have bit a cigarette butt.

the same thing with Rip Collins arkansas world record fish. A stomach full of sowbugs.