Caney Fork Trout Fly Fishing - Caney Fork Trout Guide

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Author Topic: The fish you remember most.  (Read 5430 times)

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MikeA

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The fish you remember most.
« on: September 28, 2007, 12:34:31 PM »
I stole this idea from Zach's site but I liked the idea so much I wanted to hear some of your experiences too. Here is mine.

It was 1980 and I was ten years old standing on a neighbors dock at Todd’s lake. Todd’s lake was a small community lake that was chocked full of aquatic vegetation. I had missed a couple of Largemouth Bass on a Hula Popper in this spot already. The strike on a Hula popper from a ten year olds perspective is almost enough to bring you to your knees, at least in my case it was. So it was with great anticipation when I cast out my brand new Big Bad Leroy Brown lure that I would hook and finally slay that giant Bass of Todd’s lake.
First cast, nothing but weeds. Hmm maybe a sinking plug wasn’t my best choice for a weed-chocked lake. To late now I’d spent my allowance and I was gonna make the most of it. I studied the lay of the weeds and found a path just wide enough to get my lure thru free of snags, if I got my cast just right. Made the perfect cast and started the retrieve when outa nowhere a boil appeared and my line went tight. My hookset was followed by a giant Largemouth leaping what looked like 2 feet out of the water. Well to make a long story short after a battle of epic proportions,,,, I landed the fish and ran home as fast as I could to weight it. It was a solid 2.6 pound Largemouth and by far the largest one I had ever seen on the end of my rod.

My mom had the fish mounted for me that Christmas and today it hangs over my tying desk. It’s tiny in comparison to the fish I’ve caught since but it’s the one I remember most.
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icthus

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Re: The fish you remember most.
« Reply #1 on: September 28, 2007, 01:14:49 PM »
The fish that I remember the most was a 12ln snook I caught three weeks ago.  Growing up I fished the bays and caught trout and reds, but never really caught a "good" snook.  My dad and I took Grace out for the evening and she was running a bit rough, but I just new where there were big snook where we were heading.    First light couple of trout one red, nothing great, but get the skunk off.  My father and I are deep in conversation everything from rearing a child, to the theology of managing people, and last but not least marriage.  We approach a light that looks fishy, and we take a trout out of it.  Just as I let the trout off the line, you see a big, big, swirl.  Many times growing up my Dad would tell me about these snook he would catch and how you had to pull them out of docks, and pray that they did not cut with there gill plate.   My dad said he saw the swirl, "...watch this cast pops, two false cast and I'll bend it around the piling
and in about ten seconds I'll own it."  Cocky, yes, but that was the only cast I could make and make it count: so why not at least call your shot?  The fly landed softly, and then, BANG!!!!!!!!!!! Violent things began to happen in the water.  The fight was on for 4-5minutes and finally 30", 16 lbs snook. 

Awesome,  my mentor, bestfriend, father was there to witness it all.  I could not stop laughing and yelling.  Hugging and high fiving and slapping my dad on the back.   To have that night back would be a gift from God.  My dad's approval, his excitement; knowing his son was finally snookered by a snook.

Icthus
"You see the fish, make the cast. Tic, tic, hit him, no not a trout set!!!!!! What are you doing?"

adamtn

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Re: The fish you remember most.
« Reply #2 on: September 28, 2007, 04:09:23 PM »
before i was into fly fishing my favorite was bass fishing in a pond. My favorite lure was the floating worm, still is for spinning. I was fishing with my brother in a pond in rutherford county, fishing was slow. We walked a bit to another pond that didn't see as much pressure as the one we were on but was still at the same place. The banks there are pretty covered with brush and theres not much room to cast. I flipped the floating worm out a few times and about the third cast, in pretty shallow water close to the bank. I saw a huge swirl in the water and set the hook. I was hooked up to the biggest bass i'd ever caught. THe fight was kinda dissapointing, he never took any drag and i got him in in about 30 seconds. When i got him on the bank and saw him he was BIG, I'd say 7-10 pounds. I was so excited my hands were shaking and i couldn't grab the fish. Luckily my brother wade was there with the assist. I got wade to hold it so i could get a pic and got the pig back into the water and on her way. I've caught a lot of fish on the fly rod but not a real pig, yet. Like icthus said, it was great to have my best friend there and that is an afternoon neither one of us will ever forget.

also for you carp guys. This pond has TONS of  big carp in it and you can usually see them feeding on a sunny day. I never gave it a try and you can't put a boat in there, but if someone wants to know the spot i'll give it to you via PM

RSiegmann

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Re: The fish you remember most.
« Reply #3 on: September 28, 2007, 05:52:06 PM »
Mine is from about 9 years ago ... I had just taken up fly fishing - only about 3 months infected with the disease that now courses thru my veins ... A friend and I were floating the AuSable River in northern Michigan ... We came across a trout that was feeding right up next to a half-summerged log ... the problem ... there were two smaller, fully-submerged branches that formed a protective triangle around the little bugger ... making for a very small window into which you needed to put a fly in order to get a drag free drift ...

My friend took about 6 or 7 casts at it from about 25-30 feet away ... He was and still is a caster far superior to myself ... when he gave up after the 7th cast resulted in a wind-knotted mess ... he turned to me and said to give it a shot ... I looked at him and laughed, knowing that if he couldn't make that cast, now way I was going to ...

But then the magic happened ... almost as soon as I let me forward cast go, the wind died down ... the sulpher fly landed six inches in front of the trout ... and after it floated for what seemed like a second at most ... it was smacked ... I set the hook, and after feeling it grab, I gave a little tug to try and pull the trout out of her wooden stronghold ...

Again the trout gods smiled on me, as the trout popped out of the water, landing her out into more open water ... after a short fight, I was looking at what at the time was the most beautiful 10" brown trout ... Not a trophy trout, but a personal trophy moment ...

icthus

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Re: The fish you remember most.
« Reply #4 on: September 28, 2007, 06:12:13 PM »
Adam tn, PM I have a couple of yaks we could slide on the water :) :) :).   Hmmm, I give you some Coca-Cola for a good fishing honey hole.

Icthus
"You see the fish, make the cast. Tic, tic, hit him, no not a trout set!!!!!! What are you doing?"

Mike Hill

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Re: The fish you remember most.
« Reply #5 on: October 01, 2007, 09:56:49 AM »
Mine didn't even have to do with flyfishing.  Back in the dark ages, when I was about 4 or 5 yo., Dad and I went fishing in a tank (Texas term, ranch pond to the rest of you).  He set out his big rod with a big shiner beneath a big red/white float and gave me a can of worms and a perch hook beneath a bobber.  He saw some activity in the weeds on the otherside of the tank, and went with a spoon on his other rod to investigate.  I was having fun catching small perch when I noticed that his big float wasn't to be seen.  Being the quick-witted 4 year old that I was, I saw that Dad was still on the other side of the tank and if I was to save his rod, I needed to run over and set the hook and reel that fish in.  The rod was a big fiberglass spinning rod with a Mitchell 300 on it and I had not been indoctrinated on the use of a open-face spinning reel.  Upon reaching the rod, I picked it up, tried to take up some slack, but in actuality reeled backwards and nothing happened, so in a panic, I decided to set the hook anyways.  Giving a mighty heave-ho, I raised that rod up as hard as I could and since there was so much slack there was nothing to stop that rod and I and the rod fell flat on my back.  Somehow, in the melee of getting back up, I pushed the button on the front of the Mitchell 300 spool and that released the spool from the body.  Well that spool hit the ground, and started rolling down the bank into the water.  Again in a panic, I tried reaching for the spool as it was going into the water, but now fell flat on my face in the mud.  I tried scrambling onto my feet, but the slick mud kept me on my rear.  As a good trooper, I held tight to that rod in my little hand - I wasn't going to let anything happen to Dad's good rod!  By this time, the fish knew he was hooked and was taking line out.  Thinking I might lose the fish or all that line or even the rod, I knew I had to do something - but what?  I decided I needed to lay the rod down - somehow I got to the line at the tip of the rod and started pulling in the line with my hands.   So there I was sitting cross-legged in the mud on the side of a tank pulling in what I thought was a whale, getting line cuts in my little hands until I pulled that fish through a bunch of shore weeds, out of the water, sliding him over the mud, and slid him into my lap along with yards of line and a bushel basketful of weeds.  By that time I noticed that Dad was coming around tank and I didn't know what to do (jump up and down for catching a big fish - but didn't dare do that or I would slide into the water) or cry for ruining Dad's good outfit!  I think I did a lot of both!  I thought it was an 18 pound fish, but it was probably only a pound and a half - but by golly it was my whale. 

MikeA

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Re: The fish you remember most.
« Reply #6 on: October 01, 2007, 10:33:55 AM »
There is not much collective security in a flock of sheep on the way to the butcher.

toddro

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Re: The fish you remember most.
« Reply #7 on: October 02, 2007, 11:29:28 AM »
Several years ago, I was fishing the Methow River in Washington.  I was out one afternoon and saw a fish make a really subtle rise (more of a "sip") up under a tree that had fallen into the water.  He was really far back in there, and had a huge "roof" overhang in just a perfect hole for him.  I could tell by the looks of the area that it would support a really big fish.  I tried running some flies in there, but it was just impossible to get a drift as far back into his "house" as I needed to.  I switched to streamers hoping he might chase something that was swimming across his "front porch", but got nothing.  I saw him rise about 6 times back there, and one time saw his back, which was huge.  This fish was "the big one", but I couldn't get anything back there to him!  I eventually (and reluctantly) left and continued fishing, but I couldn't get him out of my mind.  I went back the next day, and sure enough, I saw him again in the same place, but my attempts were again futile.  I came back again a third day, and he was still there, and again, I couldn't get anything into an area where he would take it.  I started dreaming about this fish at night!  I even named him, mapped out his "house" in my mind, and even half-way started thinking about buying a snorkel and and spear-gun!!  I felt like he was taunting me back from back in the safety of his "lair"...
On the fourth day, I went and stood in front of his house at about 6pm, and again I saw him - but this time something was different!  He was a little further out, and a little more to the left.  With the current coming from my right to left and his house slightly downstream, I could get a drift into his feeding zone this time!   I tied on a #14 BWO and put a dab of floatant on it so it would float nice and high.  I made one cast, but I shorted it and missed his feed zone by about 6 inches.  I let the fly go way past him so as not to spook him, and picked it up.  I made one false cast to set my distance, and then laid it onto the water in just the spot I wanted.  I knew as soon as it hit the water that this would be my best shot ever at this fish.  The fly made a perfect 10 second drift into his feedzone, and sure enough, he walloped it!  It was one of the few times I can remember shaking when I had a fish on, but I wanted this guy in my net big -time!!!  My first order of business was to pull him out of the tree cover, which took some hard tugs and alot of trust in my 6x leader, but I was able to pull him out and to the left, and let him run downstream, past the downed tree.  I began walking as fast as I could into shallow water, and after about 10 or 12 minutes landed a beautiful 22" Cutt that had my heart pounding!  I'd never pursued a fish like that before over multiple days, and have had rare opportunity to do it since, but I love reliving that experience!

Tight lines,

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MikeA

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Re: The fish you remember most.
« Reply #8 on: October 03, 2007, 04:14:44 PM »
Good story Todd. Grumpy and I fished to a real nice Brown at the Caney RR bridge one day. We both put several dozen flies and drifts by this guy and nothing. Like you I just couldn't give it up and eventually got him to eat or hit him in the mouth with my fly. ;D Fought it for a while but he got the hook undone before we could net it. Nothing like sight fishing to big Trout. It ranks up there with the most satisfying type of fishing I’ve ever done. 
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Little Man

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Re: The fish you remember most.
« Reply #9 on: October 04, 2007, 01:51:20 PM »
Well, after a year of lurking, signing up for the board, and then just reading … I'm finally contributing to the cause. 

My most memorable fish was a smallmouth caught many years ago in the Crystal River in the upper part of the lower peninsula of Michigan. My family was "enjoying" one of our traditional summer getaways from the oppressive heat of our home in west Tennessee. All eight of us (including parents, annoying little brother, Grandma, Grandpa, their mean little dog … and my crazy uncle) were stacked up in a condo near Glen Arbor, close to Sleeping Bear Dunes and the eastern shore of Lake Michigan. I was 14, and already addicted to fishing, so the lure of the small, fishy-looking stream running through the vacation complex was too powerful to overcome. My crazy uncle (everyone has at least one crazy uncle; I'm filling that role for my nephews, btw) took me and my younger brother to the banks of the river, equipped us with a couple of spinning rods armed with chartreuse roostertails, and set us loose.

My uncle proved to be an unusually patient guide on that day (this conflicted greatly with past experiences), as he scouted fish locations and promptly informed us of where to cast. As is the case with most youngsters fishing a small stream crowded by trees, shrubs and well, ... brothers and uncles, our casts often landed in places we did not intend. But, our abnormally understanding guide helped us through it each time.

We caught various panfish and small bass through the afternoon, including a nice little stream largemouth landed by my brother. Near sundown, my uncle spotted a good fish seeking refuge from the current behind a few large rocks. He told me where to cast, and amazingly, I hit the mark exactly and my roostertail was annihilated by a very angry smallmouth.

It leapt from the water, crashed on the surface, bulldogged downstream, then upstream, then downstream again. I swear at one point I heard the fish call me a bastard. This was my first ever smallmouth, and the memory of its dogged fight influenced me forever. After a relatively-brutal tug-of-war, I finally managed to subdue the fish to the shoreline. My now-giddy uncle pulled the exhausted smallie out of the water and handed it to me, and almost 25 years later, I still remember the feel of that fish in my hands. My forearms ached and my heart clamored in my chest, and my first thought was … my God, how could any fish fight harder than this one?

As crazy uncles tend to do crazy things, mine decided that the proper way to honor this magnificent fish was to kill it and mount it for me. At 14, I certainly didn't know what I know now, and honestly, I couldn't wait to see the finished product. The mount still hangs in my house today. All 13 inches and one pound of her. It seemed huge at the time, and maybe, figuratively, it was. Even now, as a resident of middle Tennessee, the lure of the stream down the street is still to powerful to overcome. After all, there are a lot of smallies swimming in it ...

Mike Hill

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Re: The fish you remember most.
« Reply #10 on: October 04, 2007, 05:17:55 PM »
Welcome Little Man, great story.  So that is how you got hooked on Smallies.   We've traded e-mails recently and have some of the same interests!  We'll have to trade crazy uncle stories sometime while dunking a fly.

MikeA

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Re: The fish you remember most.
« Reply #11 on: October 05, 2007, 06:38:26 AM »
Dang you guys can write. Great story Littleman.
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Re: The fish you remember most.
« Reply #12 on: January 28, 2019, 03:14:15 PM »
The fish I remember most was a 22" rainbow that I caught on the Duck...that is right the Duck River. I measure it and realeased it. I figured any trout that had got that big in the Duck deserved to live to fight another day. There are a few sections of it that have good size springs that empty into it. If you wade it and feel the water get noticeable colder you got a good spot, especially once the summer weather heats the river up.