2023 Flyfishing Fish Pics

[FishnDave]

 

[FishnDave]

 

[FishnDave]

More pics of the 47.5" Longnose Gar I caught.

 

[FishnDave]

Another "collage" of the first Spotted Gar I'd ever caught, earlier this year:

 

[Ham]

Ooooh there’s stuff coming soon

[FishnDave]

First time getting my little watercraft out since 2020!  Towed it for 6.5 hours (round trip), fished for 1.5 hours.  Worth it!

Despite my best efforts to confound him 😁 ,  @Ham had worked hard and put me on my first Chain Pickerel early last year.  I was glad to catch my first one!  It was a small one, about the same size as some of the Grass Pickerel I'd caught.   Figured it might be time to try to catch a bigger specimen.

I did!  I caught maybe the best one of the trip on my first cast from shore:

...then 4 more while making a single pass around the open-water edge of the emergent weedline.  Nothing huge, and certainly a mix of sizes, but definitely some fun-sized fish on the fly rod.  Water was extremely clear, so while I never spotted the fish before casting, I got to see them appear and start to hit/follow the fly.  Very fun!

Here was the best 3:

And the smaller 2:

Although the water was crystal clear, I only saw one other fish...a bluegill.  And then what I thought was a nice Chain Pickerel decided to hit...but it turned out to be a 19" Largemouth Bass.  Heckuva fighter!

 

[Ham]

Heck of a Photo upgrade Dave! #firstcastdave

[FishnDave]

15 hours ago, Ham said:

Heck of a Photo upgrade Dave! #firstcastdave

Shucks....I failed to mention it above: @Ham scouted this place first, and gave me a detailed report.  I probably wouldn't have made the trek without all that info.  Kudos to Hamilton! 👍

[FishnDave]

Took a family vacation to Aruba.  We had a great time!

Had scheduled a 1/2 day solo guided flyfishing trip with Laurenz Van Mook of 

https://www.flyandspinfishingaruba.com/

I had not ever caught a tarpon, so was hoping to get one added to my flyrod list.  Large ones are rare in Aruba, but there are some baby ones.  That's all I wanted!  I caught one, lost one, and missed a couple more bites.  We looked for bonefish, only saw a couple, and the only cast I made to one landed too close, resulting in the fish getting spooked.  I also had a Bar Jack on, but lost it...and then caught a small Blue Runner.  The Tarpon and Blue Runner were flyrod fish #82 and #83 for 2023!

 

[snagged in outlet 3]

Baby tarpon are pound for pound the hardest hitting and fighting fish I’ve caught.   Nice, @FishnDave!!!