KYKevin
Keeper of San Juan Secrets
Would you have put a spear in it if you had your gun? Never mind svivian, that was a stupid question
Fish Stories
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svivian
Escalante-Class Member
If I were at Beaver Lake Arkansas yes. I have dove powell for 6 years now and that was the first I've seen over 10lbs. The smaller ones eat better.Would you have put a spear in it if you had your gun? Never mind svivian, that was a stupid question
Edward Gerdemann
Well-Known Member
OK, I'll jump into this.
In the movie The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence Jimmy Stewart, who played a senator who was a hero for allegedly shooting the outlaw Liberty Valence was coming clean and telling a newspaper editor the true account. He didn't actually shoot Valence. In fact, he couldn't even handle a gun. John Wayne shot Valence from the shadows. When Stewart had finished the editor tore up his notes and said, "This is the West. When the fact becomes legend, print the legend."
Well, my fish "story" is rooted in both fact and legend. First, the legend. In southeast Missouri the St. Francois River at one time produced a fair number of near record-size walleyes. In fact, a friend of mine won the Field and Stream contest one year with a 20-pounder he caught in the upper river. Right where the St. Francois leaves the Ozark Escarpment for the flat lands of the Mississippi bottom it is dammed to form Lake Wappapello and some of those walleyes ended up in the lake. There is a submerged spring in the middle of the lake known as Blue Springs which, because of its consistent year around water temperatures attracts large numbers of fish including, at one time, some very big walleyes. There were stories the the Missouri Conservation Department's netting surveys there turned up some walleyes that would have challenged the world's record.
Well, the legend of blue springs was a huge walleye named Old Blue. This fish was supposed to weigh in excess of 30 pounds. A number of fishermen claimed to have hooked it but no one was able to land it. When hooked, Old Blue pulled so hard that it would tow the angler's boat up and down the lake, sometimes for several miles.
It was either the spring of 1961 or 1962, I can't remember for sure, Dad and I were fishing in the Blue Springs area. We were trolling with a Canadian-made trolling harness called a June Bug Spinner and big gobs of nightcrawlers hoping to hook, you guessed it, one of those big walleyes. Our outfits were Heddon Mark III spinning rods with Mitchel 300 reels and either 8 or 10-pound-test line. Suddenly Dad's rod bent up double. He thought he was hung and threw the motor out of gear to make sure. Suddenly the drag on his Mitchell started to sing, and he knew he was hung on a fish and not the bottom. The fish swung around from behind the boat to the front, and suddenly we were being towed up the lake. There were several other boats in the area, and they all stopped fishing to watch the show. As the fish continued to pull us up lake several boats followed just to see what would happen.
I was 8 or 9 at the time, and my boat handling skills were somewhat lacking. Still, I threw the motor in gear to follow the fish and to keep Dad from getting spooled as his line was getting dangerously close to the spool knot. Despite my boat-handling struggles, Dad managed to recover quite a bit of line. By this time a fisherman in another boat offered to help. He climbed into our boat and took over handling the motor from me. Dad would gain line and then the thing would take off again dragging us along until we were able to catch up. After about an hour we finally got over top of it, however the hooks came out. The dual hooks on the harness were pulled out straight. Lake Wappapello is somewhat murky and we never saw the fish.
We figured Dad had likely hooked into a big flathead catfish, however after reading the about the legend of Old Blue the giant Lake Wappapello walleye in the Missouri Conservationist magazine Dad and I liked to believe he had tied into Old Blue. It still was probably a big flathead, but hooking into Old Blue the legendary Lake Wappapello walleye makes for a better story. So, when fact becomes legend, print the legend!
Ed Gerdemann
In the movie The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence Jimmy Stewart, who played a senator who was a hero for allegedly shooting the outlaw Liberty Valence was coming clean and telling a newspaper editor the true account. He didn't actually shoot Valence. In fact, he couldn't even handle a gun. John Wayne shot Valence from the shadows. When Stewart had finished the editor tore up his notes and said, "This is the West. When the fact becomes legend, print the legend."
Well, my fish "story" is rooted in both fact and legend. First, the legend. In southeast Missouri the St. Francois River at one time produced a fair number of near record-size walleyes. In fact, a friend of mine won the Field and Stream contest one year with a 20-pounder he caught in the upper river. Right where the St. Francois leaves the Ozark Escarpment for the flat lands of the Mississippi bottom it is dammed to form Lake Wappapello and some of those walleyes ended up in the lake. There is a submerged spring in the middle of the lake known as Blue Springs which, because of its consistent year around water temperatures attracts large numbers of fish including, at one time, some very big walleyes. There were stories the the Missouri Conservation Department's netting surveys there turned up some walleyes that would have challenged the world's record.
Well, the legend of blue springs was a huge walleye named Old Blue. This fish was supposed to weigh in excess of 30 pounds. A number of fishermen claimed to have hooked it but no one was able to land it. When hooked, Old Blue pulled so hard that it would tow the angler's boat up and down the lake, sometimes for several miles.
It was either the spring of 1961 or 1962, I can't remember for sure, Dad and I were fishing in the Blue Springs area. We were trolling with a Canadian-made trolling harness called a June Bug Spinner and big gobs of nightcrawlers hoping to hook, you guessed it, one of those big walleyes. Our outfits were Heddon Mark III spinning rods with Mitchel 300 reels and either 8 or 10-pound-test line. Suddenly Dad's rod bent up double. He thought he was hung and threw the motor out of gear to make sure. Suddenly the drag on his Mitchell started to sing, and he knew he was hung on a fish and not the bottom. The fish swung around from behind the boat to the front, and suddenly we were being towed up the lake. There were several other boats in the area, and they all stopped fishing to watch the show. As the fish continued to pull us up lake several boats followed just to see what would happen.
I was 8 or 9 at the time, and my boat handling skills were somewhat lacking. Still, I threw the motor in gear to follow the fish and to keep Dad from getting spooled as his line was getting dangerously close to the spool knot. Despite my boat-handling struggles, Dad managed to recover quite a bit of line. By this time a fisherman in another boat offered to help. He climbed into our boat and took over handling the motor from me. Dad would gain line and then the thing would take off again dragging us along until we were able to catch up. After about an hour we finally got over top of it, however the hooks came out. The dual hooks on the harness were pulled out straight. Lake Wappapello is somewhat murky and we never saw the fish.
We figured Dad had likely hooked into a big flathead catfish, however after reading the about the legend of Old Blue the giant Lake Wappapello walleye in the Missouri Conservationist magazine Dad and I liked to believe he had tied into Old Blue. It still was probably a big flathead, but hooking into Old Blue the legendary Lake Wappapello walleye makes for a better story. So, when fact becomes legend, print the legend!
Ed Gerdemann
Fishing related (mostly) but not all Powell
Have a friend who grew up in Bishop CA and was an avid fisher/hunter When he was young and wanted fish for dinner he'd go out east of town and shut off the head gate to the irrigation canal and walk down the creek and pick up the fish for dinner (we're going back 70+ years here)
When I was about 10 (65 years ago) we were fishing June Lake in the Sierras and had anchored our boat about 50 feet off shore to bait fish. Along comes another family "trying" to anchor near us with the daughter yelling "Papa papa you're going out too far"!! As she's yelling this and they had their outboard motor still running and going in circles (its obvious that he has no idea what he is doing) the father stands up and heaves the Navy anchor not looking where it was going.
IT LANDED IN OUR BOAT!!!
In the 70s we were beached in Warm Creek with the houseboat and I was wading flooded sage brush in the evenings casting grubs for crappie,
It was no problem to catch 50 or 60 BIG crappie in way less than 2 hrs One of the best fishing trips for crappie I ever had on Powell
Have a friend who grew up in Bishop CA and was an avid fisher/hunter When he was young and wanted fish for dinner he'd go out east of town and shut off the head gate to the irrigation canal and walk down the creek and pick up the fish for dinner (we're going back 70+ years here)
When I was about 10 (65 years ago) we were fishing June Lake in the Sierras and had anchored our boat about 50 feet off shore to bait fish. Along comes another family "trying" to anchor near us with the daughter yelling "Papa papa you're going out too far"!! As she's yelling this and they had their outboard motor still running and going in circles (its obvious that he has no idea what he is doing) the father stands up and heaves the Navy anchor not looking where it was going.
IT LANDED IN OUR BOAT!!!
In the 70s we were beached in Warm Creek with the houseboat and I was wading flooded sage brush in the evenings casting grubs for crappie,
It was no problem to catch 50 or 60 BIG crappie in way less than 2 hrs One of the best fishing trips for crappie I ever had on Powell
Myself and a friend from Missouri were fishing upper Last Chance years back and I got a large toilet-bowl Slurp on a clear Super-Spook. After about 10 min. of trying to haul it in, I looked down and saw the biggest Striper I had ever seen. Kept it up for a few more minutes and I thought I broke off. Reeled in and the split-rings were straightened out!
Rivergoer
Keeper of San Juan Secrets
Son’s friend showed up last year with a 36” pole (his ‘golf bag’ pole) nicknamed the “Charlie Brown” pole.
Understandably he took a LOT of ribbing on the trip out. Then, he started pulling in 3 lb stripers…several right off the back of the houseboat.
The nickname quickly changed to the “Charlie Manson” pole.
Understandably he took a LOT of ribbing on the trip out. Then, he started pulling in 3 lb stripers…several right off the back of the houseboat.
The nickname quickly changed to the “Charlie Manson” pole.
Mr Jimmy
Well-Known Member
So Dorado
You didn't finish the story.
Did you become a thousandaire buy selling the fish ?
Or did some village in Panama eat Ahi for the next three months.
15 pound yellowfin as bait !
Now that's going large !
Canyon Glen
Well-Known Member
Not Powell but I hope to fish like like this someday
en.wikipedia.org
Mobile Bay jubilee - Wikipedia
TR.
Escalante-Class Member
i went to Costa Rica for my 50th with the intent of catching pez gallo, or rooster fish. I figured I would mix it up a little with my guide and did 3 days rooster fishing and one day sail fishing. I usually tie my own flies but I had never even seen a fly for sail fish so I bought a few from a big saltwater tyer. It was about a foot long and had mostly large Feathers. I threw it a bit on my 12 weight to get used to it and felt pretty good. we went out about 30 minutes off shore and set the spread. I was trailing the fly in the water and the guide kept asking me in very limited English if I wanted his spinning rod. He didn’t have a lot of confidence in the whole fly rod thing but that’s what I was there for. Pretty short
y we had a sail in the spread and I picked up and hauled. The fish was about 50 ft. back and I figured it would be an easy throw. What I hadn’t counted on was the weight of the fly after it was wet. Really wet. I hauled and it looked like a wet sweat sock…and threw like one. All of about 12 ft. I picked up to throw again, pretty darned disappointed in myself. The guide tried to hand me a spinning rod again…. At my second throw the fish was gone. Well I was hoping i would get another chance and had to deal with the well meaning guide for about 30 minutes when I had another chance. Big fish in the spread, same 50 ft. Mark. I put everything I had into my haul and put it right at her left eye. Without a second thought she casually rolled over and ate it. I strip set HARD three times and the guide was waiting for the rod to rise but on a strip set you don’t use the rod. He was yelling at me to set it and I told him I had her. He kept yelling to set and I kept telling him I was good and all of a sudden she realized she was hooked and she was off to the races. The guide and his mate were screaming like little kids and talking so fast in Spanish I couldn’t keep up but they couldn’t believe I hooked it and were happy as hell. I have never hooked a fish that I felt outmatched in until that day. I fought that fish for 90 minutes and every 5 minutes or so I came to the realization the fish might tire me out and win. My hands were cramping so bad they were going numb. The rod was disintegrating over the battle with the fighting butt pretty much gone. The mate leadered the fish and it was a catch but we wanted pictures. The mate grabbed the fish and it came straight up in the air over us and almost leaped into the boat. we all threw ourselves down and I tried to keep the rod in a good position but when the fish hit the water the rod was at a bad angle and just snapped into three pieces. I sat there in disbelief but the captain was incredible. He had on gloves and grabbed the line and asked if I had a second rod. I did and he said ”get it..quick”. We drew out about 75 ft. Of line and cut it. He held the fish for about 5 minutes while I built my backup 12. I tied a quick knot between the old line and the new line and and it was game on again. The fish was exhausted and hadn’t made a run the whole time he was holding the line. after about 25 minutes of fighting again…which almost made me cry… we got the fish to the boat. That was about the time I realized we had a pretty good squall coming in and the boat was rocking and rolling and had no tuna door. There was a sense of urgency from the guide due to the weather and we pushed hard to get it in the boat for a pic. After all that, and with both guide and mate trying to roll it into the boat, my leader snapped and the fish managed to get loose. They were so disappointed but I could care less, it was one hell of an adventure. the guide was calling all his buddies on the radio on the way in and I mostly could pick up him bragging about actually landing a sail with a fly rod and that I was pretty much crazy. the pic below is my broken equipment lol. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it
TR
y we had a sail in the spread and I picked up and hauled. The fish was about 50 ft. back and I figured it would be an easy throw. What I hadn’t counted on was the weight of the fly after it was wet. Really wet. I hauled and it looked like a wet sweat sock…and threw like one. All of about 12 ft. I picked up to throw again, pretty darned disappointed in myself. The guide tried to hand me a spinning rod again…. At my second throw the fish was gone. Well I was hoping i would get another chance and had to deal with the well meaning guide for about 30 minutes when I had another chance. Big fish in the spread, same 50 ft. Mark. I put everything I had into my haul and put it right at her left eye. Without a second thought she casually rolled over and ate it. I strip set HARD three times and the guide was waiting for the rod to rise but on a strip set you don’t use the rod. He was yelling at me to set it and I told him I had her. He kept yelling to set and I kept telling him I was good and all of a sudden she realized she was hooked and she was off to the races. The guide and his mate were screaming like little kids and talking so fast in Spanish I couldn’t keep up but they couldn’t believe I hooked it and were happy as hell. I have never hooked a fish that I felt outmatched in until that day. I fought that fish for 90 minutes and every 5 minutes or so I came to the realization the fish might tire me out and win. My hands were cramping so bad they were going numb. The rod was disintegrating over the battle with the fighting butt pretty much gone. The mate leadered the fish and it was a catch but we wanted pictures. The mate grabbed the fish and it came straight up in the air over us and almost leaped into the boat. we all threw ourselves down and I tried to keep the rod in a good position but when the fish hit the water the rod was at a bad angle and just snapped into three pieces. I sat there in disbelief but the captain was incredible. He had on gloves and grabbed the line and asked if I had a second rod. I did and he said ”get it..quick”. We drew out about 75 ft. Of line and cut it. He held the fish for about 5 minutes while I built my backup 12. I tied a quick knot between the old line and the new line and and it was game on again. The fish was exhausted and hadn’t made a run the whole time he was holding the line. after about 25 minutes of fighting again…which almost made me cry… we got the fish to the boat. That was about the time I realized we had a pretty good squall coming in and the boat was rocking and rolling and had no tuna door. There was a sense of urgency from the guide due to the weather and we pushed hard to get it in the boat for a pic. After all that, and with both guide and mate trying to roll it into the boat, my leader snapped and the fish managed to get loose. They were so disappointed but I could care less, it was one hell of an adventure. the guide was calling all his buddies on the radio on the way in and I mostly could pick up him bragging about actually landing a sail with a fly rod and that I was pretty much crazy. the pic below is my broken equipment lol. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it
TR
Dorado
Keeper of San Juan Secrets
Cool story! Better off leaving the fish in the water of you’re going to release it anyway! I can only imagine how tired your forearms were on the fly rod. I have caught some 30-40 pound yellowfin and it is so hard to get leverage and put heavy pressure with a fly rod!
Mr Jimmy
Well-Known Member
That's insane !
My favorite is wading or working the shallows on a flats boat.
I can't imagine taking beating from a marlin. Especially after my shoulder surgery !
I'll keep to chasing bonefish and permet. Not that I'm an expert.
I enjoy the flats for all the cool stuff you can see around you, and in the water.
Almost dream like at times.
Keep pressing the envelope !
I got to know. Did Orvis replace the rod ?
My favorite is wading or working the shallows on a flats boat.
I can't imagine taking beating from a marlin. Especially after my shoulder surgery !
I'll keep to chasing bonefish and permet. Not that I'm an expert.
I enjoy the flats for all the cool stuff you can see around you, and in the water.
Almost dream like at times.
Keep pressing the envelope !
I got to know. Did Orvis replace the rod ?
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TR.
Escalante-Class Member
No questions asked and I put it through the wringer for sure. Second rod was a Winston B2mx.
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