Most Memorable Fish

[USMCFisherman]

I have two stories...

The first was when I was 16 I was trout fishing at Lake Dixon in San Diego and all my buddies were using powerbait and I opted to use a powerworm for the first time with a clear plastic float. I was using a 6# test with a 4# leader. I was sitting there when all of a sudden my little ultralight about broke in half. I set the hook and the battle was on I fought the fish for a good 7 minutes or so before it finally got close enough to see and it was the biggest trout I had ever seen. My buddy waded in the water to net this beast. We ran over to the ranger station and it weighed in at #13.6 oh man what a fish that was!!

The other one was about a year ago. It was my first trip up to Kress lake in clark county I had been fishing for the little brown trout that are all over the place there when I decided it was time for lunch. I rigged up a worm yet again and let it rest on the little piers they have there. I was sitting just a few feet away eating when my pole took off over the side onto the dirt I grabbed it and again the battle was on. When it was all said and done I netted a 13# catfish yet again on very light tackle. My biggest catfish to date...

[iPodrodder]

I have two stories...

The first was when I was 16 I was trout fishing at Lake Dixon in San Diego and all my buddies were using powerbait and I opted to use a powerworm for the first time with a clear plastic float. I was using a 6# test with a 4# leader. I was sitting there when all of a sudden my little ultralight about broke in half. I set the hook and the battle was on I fought the fish for a good 7 minutes or so before it finally got close enough to see and it was the biggest trout I had ever seen. My buddy waded in the water to net this beast. We ran over to the ranger station and it weighed in at #13.6 oh man what a fish that was!!

The other one was about a year ago. It was my first trip up to Kress lake in clark county I had been fishing for the little brown trout that are all over the place there when I decided it was time for lunch. I rigged up a worm yet again and let it rest on the little piers they have there. I was sitting just a few feet away eating when my pole took off over the side onto the dirt I grabbed it and again the battle was on. When it was all said and done I netted a 13# catfish yet again on very light tackle. My biggest catfish to date...

Lake Dixon? Isn't that where the 25 pound bass was caught? That lake must have some HUGE!!! fish!

[Lyndon]

UsMc was the catfish or the trout a better fight I am curious?

[Fish-or-man?]

My most memorable fish (hands-down!) was caught when I was 6. It's also one of my first super-vivid memories. The year was 1990 and my dad took me fishing at Borst Park pond (a very small juviniles-only pond in my birth city of Centralia, WA). My dad taking me is significant because I never really saw much of the guy, and when I did it was typically very uncomfortable... to put it tactfully I don't hold him in very high regards. However, this day was completely different. I was casting a red/white spoon from shore and hooked into a monster trout. It probably took about ten minutes to get it to shore, but I did. However, when I drug it up on the bank the trout did one final spaz-out, snapping my line. It flopped down to where the land meets the water-- one more flop and I would of been crying for days-- but before that could happen my dad tackled it, wrestled it down, and got a hand into one of its gill plates; completely soaking them both in muddy bank water in the process.

The fish weighed 5.75 pounds and was 23.5 inches long (still my personal best for a rainbow trout). This was before the days of triploids being planted everywhere, so it was a total freak for that small of a body of water that was so heavily fished. The outdoor guy at the local paper thought maybe it was a steelhead that washed into the pond from when the Chehalis River flooded into it earlier that year. Looking at the picture I think it was just a smart rainbow who figured out to avoid bait, but didn't see very many lures because kids under 15 tend to go the bobber and worm route.

In any case, I got to be in the local paper, "The Centralia Chronicle", which is always a huge deal when you're a kid. Plus my dad put the fish in a cooler full of ice so I could bring it to show and tell that Monday. Which, needless to say, made me the "big man on playground" for the rest of the school week. To this day I still use a red/white spoon religiously when trout fishing from shore, probably moreso for the nostalgia than the trout it sometimes produces. I'll try to get that newspaper clipping scanned onto here next week.

[Mike Carey]

I would have to say that my catfish that I caught in 2005 was my most memorable fish. I caught it at Lacamas lake and It was a 14 pounder! It was the biggest lake fish I have ever caught and It put up a fight that was better then a 30 pound salmon I have caught.

I started out fishing in the morning and I was fishing for bass the whole time. I was using an orange kranbait and I had already hooked 4 bass already and I almost hooked a 4 pound bass. When I continued fishing for that 4 pounder I ended up getting the hook up I would never forget. At first I thought it was the 4 pounder I was trying for but as soon as my pole almost flew out of my hand I knew it was well bigger then 4 pounds. When it hit my lure I saw it strike, it was the most aggresive strike I have seen and my adrenaline was pumping so much that I dont ever remember being so excited. I still cant beleive that the big momma didnt snap my 8 pound test. As it fought my legs shook and my heart was pounding. My pole was bent as far as it could go and my line was moving almost faster then I could watch. It was definately the best fight I have ever had by any fish. It took me 10 hart pounding minutes to see that it was a catffish and the whole 10 minutes I thought I had a lake record bass. I even remember telling my buddies that this bass must be 14 p0unds.lol! When I saw the ugly cat I didnt know what to think I just looked at it and then I thought how am I going to retrieve it? I realized I was on top of a 15 to 20 foot rock cliff. At this point I was dumb enough to jump off to get a hold of it because I really didnt care what happend to me as long as I could get ahold of it. So I did the manly thing and grabbed it and it tried to swim off so I had a real live Fight! hahah it was awesome I got in to the action and I was warn out. After about a minute of struggle I got a good hold of it and then I realized I didnt know the proper way to hold it. Back then I knew how to hold a bass so I figured a catfish should be like a bass right? so I stick my hand in this Ugly things mouth and it Bit my *$#&@% HAND! It hurt so bad you dont even know that is no joke. my thumb was bright red and shaking. As soon as I got a good hold on it I held it like I would a salmon and I took it up the cliff with the help of my two friends Keith and Kevin it was the most physical work I have ever did for one fish. When I got to the top of the cliff we gave some hive fives and some WOOOOO HOOO's and we were off to the local mini mart to get a pic. The day I caught it I was grounded and I argued with my mom for about an hour to go fishing and she finally gave in so when I came home with the fish I thanked her and she was in shock. haha that will teach her to let me go fishin more right? hahah. This is my favorite memory because This fish Gave me the fight of my life literally just not with a pole in my hand, tell this day I can remember this event like it happend yesterday.


The cat was measured on a certified scale at 14 pounds....

Nice memory - "Like it happened yesterday" - wait till you're in your fourties to say that. :bigsmurf: Did you really jump off a 15 foot cliff?? I'm impressed at your resolve to get that fish!

[USMCFisherman]

Yes Lake Dixon is where the 25 lbs Bass was caught. I have seen a few 10# plus come out of there myself. My biggest for the lake was about 3# nothing huge. From time to time when you would be reeling a trout in the bass your start to chase it so the would be a little exciting.

The trout gave a better fight because it was on the surface the entire time jumping as the catfish was on the botttom but both were great to fight. I am going to Hawaii next month and already have a charter so hopefully I will have more stories to tell....

[A9]

Seen Lake Dixon myself. Pretty impressive little lake and I've trout fished in nearby lakes and I've seen some huge bass lurking under the boat docks and in areas where you either cant fish. Those bass never bite though. Talk about lock jaw they will just cruise the shoreline all morning when you are out trout fishing and you could drop a soft plastic in front of it's mouth and it would have nothing to do with it...

[iPodrodder]

Hmmm.....maybe they take reactionary baits better. They may be smart with enticement, but maybe the opportunistic characteristic isn't as easily controllable.

[Lyndon]

To Mike, yes I really jumped off of a 15 foot cliff lol! It was one of those things where you cant beleive what you did after you look back at it. 15 ft doesnt sound like much but when there is rocks and stuff below it was kinda scary haha. I still think it was worth it =)

[A9]

I need to bring back some monstrous rainbow trout rapalas and some swimbaits or some gigantic plastics. The lake I always go to when I'm down in San Diego is stocked every two weeks with good sized trout (12-13 inches) and I'm sure they end up being food for some of the bigger bass in that lake. I never have tried to really put much effort into catching the bass, last time I was like 8th grade when I tried to catch those bass but I hadn't had any real experience with bass fishing back then, but I bet now i could work a few of those bass up from the depths!

[fishnislife]

Seen Lake Dixon myself. Pretty impressive little lake and I've trout fished in nearby lakes and I've seen some huge bass lurking under the boat docks and in areas where you either cant fish. Those bass never bite though. Talk about lock jaw they will just cruise the shoreline all morning when you are out trout fishing and you could drop a soft plastic in front of it's mouth and it would have nothing to do with it...

Your talking SoCal bro. You know how much pressure that lake gets. It has been known that monsters come out of there for years. Before Mac Weakley caught that 25lber, Jed Dickerson and Mike Long caught her, of coarse a couple pounds lighter. Most biguns down there are caught on swimbaits, big jigs deadsticked and 12" plastics. Those bass are smart and have seen it all. Plus, that water is clear and they can see you coming a mile away. Good luck if you go. It's worth a shot. I'd be tossing swimbaits all day.


fishnislife

[iPodrodder]

I'd drop a bare nightcrawler down off the edge of the pads. If they don't eat it, I'll just give up. There is nothing more enticing than a bare worm. If they're that smart, they're not worth my time unless I'm with a pro.

[A9]

Yep up just north of San Diego in the mountains a bit. Really cool lakes up there, great trout fishing for much longer during the year and yes those bass are about as smart as they come....

Hopefully I can get down to visit the grandparents soon, bring a rod and some big bass tackle..

[USMCFisherman]

I know they guys that catch the big ones are out on the lake all the time. If you read some of the articles about the 25#er they were fishing it for more then a day and have been fishing that lake for years. A couple other good lakes in the area are Lake Miramar and Lake Wholford (SP). Most guys throw the swim baits all day. All of the tackle shops carry a variety of swimbaits some that are over $50 bucks but I guess the big ones are worth it.

Here are a couple of bass my cousin and I caught off a dock in socal off soft plastics.

[cavdad45]

No joke, they get expensive. I saw a 3:16 Swimbait selling for $89.95.

[Derrick-k]

Alright I have two fish stories both about steelhead.

First when me and my dad where fishing our secret sriver it was a nice mourning in march we started off the day by me hooking a 4-6lber(chrome) on and off in a matter of seconds after a nice jump, then we continued to work the bank and I hooked about an 8lber(chrome) at my favorite hole after whitch we fished for about 1 more hours with no luck we switched rivers to a different river system the rivers where low at the time, and my dad caught a chrome 13lb native right off the bat then as we moved he caught about a 7lber (chrome) then I hooked about a 4-6lber (chrome) on and off. By now I was haveing a bad day because I couldnt get a good hook set to save my life. We then caught so many spawners it was unbeliveable about 7 alltogether. Then it started to rain, we wanted to switch to our orrigional river because steelhead shoot up that river, so on the way out of the seccond river I saw a big one jump so I toosed out my drift gear and caught about a 18lb spawner. Even if it was only a spawner it was cool to see such a big steeelhead. So when we arrived back at our orrigional rivver it was raining like crazy and me and my dad where the only ones crazy enough to be on the river everyone else left. I immediatly hook up with a nice one, never saw it on and of after about 10 seconds of battle so I am now serriously thinking that I am cursed. so my dad casts out and hooks anouther in the same spot. I say "I cant stand you catching all the fish," so I mover to the best part of the hole so that I could fish it before him and first cast hooked into an awesome steelie finaly landed about 5 jumps later it about a 12-14lb FAT native steelie with sealice sill hanging on to it. After helping e land it my dad says,"I need to get my line out there," I say "oh n you don't and cast out and first cast again hooked a nice 8lber after a spectacular sometimes airborn fight he ran way down river and i had to snap my line. Litteraly the best day of steelheading I have ever had I have never seen so many steelies before.

[Derrick-k]

Sorry I am makeing this into two seperate posts but the power was been going out here and I diddn't want to type all that over again.

My second story is when me and my dad went fishing the green river on the day before I had to go back to school he was always fishing rivers for steelies but he hadn't caught one in the green for over 10 years so I was fishing for trout and I told him that there is a very little chance that he will catch a steelhead and he told me one steelhead makes up for about 1000 little trout. so I cast my drift setup to my favorite spot behind a rock and watch something take my bait icast out again, still no hookup my dad tells he its probably just a dink bait steeler so I told him i would try one more cast and this time I hooked it, a 6lb steelie catapults out of the water after about 15-20 minnutes of intense battle withthis creature on a size6 hook with 4lb test we finaly get the beast to shore hatcherie and still in good shape. As I reached for a rock to smash its head my dad said "It made it thourgh all the nets and hundreds of fishermen, with all the s*** its been through it deserves to be released," so I gave it a kiss and sent it on its way.

The irronic part is that my father had been fishing for steelies there all summer wile I "Dinked arround with trout abut 3 trips there this summer"

[sanfrandan]

One of most funny fishing moments came this spring. I was fishing a small brushy creek by myself looking for a few brookies. The average size was about 8-9 1/2 inches, so when you hooked an 11 - 12 incher that made your day. As usual, I was fishing a worm to drift under an old rotted tree that was on the creek next to a large bush that provided great cover. I caught a small 8 incher and kept getting nibbles but couldn't seem to hook it. Then brookiezilla struck. It pulled like a tractor and as I started to lift the biggest fish of the day out of the creek it got terribly tangled in that damn tree and was hanging in its branches about 6 inches above the creek. I was so excited seeing this big brookie that I summoned up super power strength and drug the entire tree out of the creek while some how not losing the fish. He turned out to be one of the best I've ever taken fron the creek. A very respectable 14 inches. :bball:

[A9]

57 replies and 528 views...Been a good thread so far: Anyone else got a good story to tell?

[cavdad45]

Last night I was looking through some old fishing pictures and came across some taken the summer before I started dating my wife. My buddy Paul and I went to the Yamhill River to catch smallmouth. Most guys fish it downstream from the old Lafayette Locks, but since we were wearing shorts and water mocs we decided to go upstream. We each carried only one pole and I had a canvas creel that we dropped in a few extra lures and thus we were ready to go.

Since there is no shoreline upstream just thick and Imean thick blackberry brambles, it means hopping in the water and traversing the big boulders and remnants of boarding and concrete from the old locks dam. It's painful and slow going. We would get to a spot and throw some Rat-L-Traps, crankbaits, or a spinnerbait depending on the situation at hand. Eventually we made it around the bend and were able to climb these steep clay islands that were only good for one or two people to stand on and fish. We caught alot of smallies that day. The average was two pounds, but there were a couple threes and a four in the bunch.

After island hopping we came to a large pool of deep water. We took turns backstroking over to the shore hoping to find a shallow passage. No luck. Less than two feet from the shore, we were wading in water more than four feet deep. Could not go any further, so after minimal success in the pool, we headed back.

Looking at those pictures brought back a fun day. My favorite picture is that of me standing on one of those clay islands with my arms spread wide one hand holding my pole and the other holding a three-and-a-half-pound smallmouth. My T-shirt is soaked up past my belly. But the look of victory is written across my big grin.