[Dslayer]

I was fishing at a place called Long Lake last night-it's up in the Tieton Basin, a oversized pond more or less that's got a nice population of brookies-a good one goes about a foot but over time I've caught a few 14-15 inchers in there so there's always the hope of a nicer fish and they're generally pretty plump, not too snaky as some of the brookies can be. As I reeled my spoon up to shore, I had to lean out over a log and there he came, the big fella. Instead of just relaxing and letting the spoon fall back to him, I went to set the hook, (or in other words, I FREAKED!) figuring he had it and, of course, pulled it right out of his mouth. He came out of the water after it and I about peed my pants-he looked like Jaws compared to the other little fishies. Fish had to have been 18 inches if not bigger--all these brookie lakes seem to have a few like that--the thing I have to remember is that they're often near the shoreline rather than out in the lake, hiding under logs, or overreaching brances. I fish the shore of Manastash, my favorite brookie lake, like I would stream, trying not to spook fish and working up the lake shore and not too often casting directly out into the lake. So tell your story--biggest fish(es) caught, a big fish lost,etc. You are not expected to tell the absolute truth and any and all exaggerations are acceptable, as well as outright lies. You don't have to tell where your event took place.

[Steve]

Well, the biggest fish I ever caught was a ling cod just outside the Canadian border at about 180' down. We were actually bottom fishing for rock cod (Chinese quillback) and accidentally got him when reeling up from 300' deep). It actually was not big by ling standards, but was the biggest I've caught; it was about 30" long and about 8-10 lbs. The biggest lake trout I've caught was 14" up at Melakwa lake several years back. BTW, the Tieton Basin is on my To-Do list. Is it as good a hike as it sounds? Have you tried to summit Mt Gilbert? If so what route did you take?

[salish]

Dslayer, This is interesting and timely news for me, because the weekend before last I was fishing up in the Okanagon and caught some of the biggest brook trout I've ever seen here in Washington. These were hike-in ponds in the Sinlahekin Valley, north of Concunully. Interestingly, these ponds held really nice rainbows last year, but this year we had large brook trout on with the first cast, and we caught fish probably every third cast. My buddy's fish was the largest, at 18" and a couple of pounds (very fat), and my biggest was 16". All of these fish were extremely healthy and very fat, as these ponds are reedy bug factories. The smallest was probably 12", and the average was probably 14". We were amazed because we have never seen brook trout this big before. All of the "brookies" on the west side are stunted, tiny fish. We kept a couple for the frying pan and they were pink fleshed and absolutely delicious. Anyway, it was fun, and sounds kind of like the fish you encountered. As far as I know, these are rare around here... My personal best fish-got-away story? I've had more than a few dramas play out on the North Fork Stilly or Sky where I lost a nice summer run steelhead or two, but what sticks in my mind is a fish I lost on the lower Green, back in 93'. I was working at Boeing at that time and while on my lunch break I decided to take my steelhead rod down to the 204th St. bridge and wet a line while I ate my lunch. All I had for tackle was a single blue, hammered "Steelie" spoon, which had no snap swivel attached to it - just the bare "hole" in the spoon. I tied that spoon on and cast it into the fast water under the bridge and it was hammered immediately by a huge fish. I knew the fish was large, and figured it for a steelhead, but after getting a feel for the fish I knew it was big. It fought like crazy and went berserk in the pool. I was worried about my spoon breaking off, and also the fact that I was using 12 lb mono. After about a solid minute I realized I still had half of my sandwich sticking out of my mouth, so I spit it out and concentrated on the fish. This thing fought like crazy but I was able to get it within sight of the beach and was astounded to see that it was the biggest Chinook I've ever seen. I mean it was huge, probably a 30-40 pound fish - or larger. We do get them here once in a while. I work in fisheries and I know for a fact we have some 60 lb Kings in some of our rivers. Anyway, once I actually saw this fish I practically fainted. I could see my hammered spoon sticking out of his upper lip. I swear this fish was as long as my dashboard. Since I had tied the line to the hole in the spoon I was really worried that the sharp edges of the hole would fray the line and I'd lose the fish. After a couple more runs into the deepest part of the pool, I was able to work him close to shore again. Then he went back out into the pool, and we did it all over again. On his third trip to the beach, when he was about three feet from my feet, he did a headshake and the line went slack. I could see him swimming out into the river with my spoon hanging from his upper lip. The tussle had just been too much for the line to hold. I just sat there staring at the water like the village idiot. There was probably drool hanging off my lip. I almost started crying, but instead I started laughing out loud, because it really was kind of funny. The whole thing probably lasted only a few minutes, but it seemed like an eternity. I've never seen a fish that big since, and these days I spend more time trying to catch dinks rather than steelhead and salmon, but I'll never forget that fish!

[Quark]

I caught at 54 inch redfish off the coast of Corpus Christi - sorta by mistake. It's difficult to know when you have a fish on the line in the ocean sometimes, as there is a lot of drag on the weight, raking across oysterbeds, being bumped by gar, etc. I thought I felt a bite and lethargically reeled in my line, expecting to not have any bait left on the end of the hook. It wasn't until I saw the fish flop around on the first sandbar did I realize what I had! The old salt I was fishing with said he saw me jumping up and down with glee from his viewpoint (quite a ways off, havin' a beer by the truck). At the vertex of each jump, I was momentarily the high point of the whole coast of Texas. I'll never forget the first time I caught a flounder. They're so funny looking, and I laughed so hard that I almost forgot to finish reeling him in. Once I was trying desperately to free my lure setup from an oysterbed and fought hard - I also kinda sorta thought I might have The Big One on the other end of the line, 'cause it kept acting like it was fighting back. So I fought long and hard for what seemed like hours. Ernest Hemingway couldn't have written a better saga about it (oh, wait - he did, didn't he?) Anyway, when I was done fightin' and was able to real that puppy in, on the end of my line was - you guessed it - A jumbo shrimp. I guess I have a lot of stories about fishin'. Haven't done it in years, though. That was a good eatin' summer. Sand trout and crabs every day, with flour tortillas, fried potatos, scrambled eggs and coffee. I had no money then, so it was how I got by. Not bad for a chick on her own!

[#19]

Caught a 15" 'Cut' on the shores Yellowstone Lake at age 12. No one near me caught anything and I was pr-pr-proud. Not the biggest fish I ever caught - but the best! Saw something as big as my forearm snaking across Lewis Lk. Ran down to lake and went after it- no go.

[Dslayer]

These are great stories--I love reading them. Salish-I've had exactly the same feeling when you lose a big one...you practically want to cry but you're sort of in awe of just having had the battle--had one like with a steelhead in the Klickitat, several explosive runs up and down the pool then it turned abruptly, came out of the water at least 5 feet and broke my line. I was absolultely breathless...The place I've been talking with you about, Manastash Lake has had some of the nicer brookies I've caught around here---the best I've caught were in MT-in about the size range you're describing-that's cool. Steve-where I was yesterday is in a different-driveable part of the Basin. I've never been up to Gilbert--I've done the S. Fork loop, Surprise Lake and been to Warm Lake which I think is on or around the route most people use to Gilbert-not real sure-you won't be disappointed by that country. I'm going to explore more of the N. Fork of the Tieton this year--it's one of the spots in my neck of the woods that I'm least familiar with. Quark-that's some good eating, made me salivate just reading. I've seen redfish on TV--must of been awesome. Pappy--I'd love to hear more of your Yellowstone fishing adventures if you have them--my 'dream' trip of 2003 will be the hike along Yellowstone Lake and up into the Thoroghfare-that's about the ultimate trout fishing adventure I hear.

[#19]

Sorry Dslayer, I was much more avid at fishing as a kid. Been back to Jellystone with my family a couple times. No fishing, just touristy stuff and a little hiking. One of my favorite places on earth.

[Dslayer]

I've been to Yellowstone once as a kid, then took my daughter back there two years ago--I haven't been into the backcountry at all, but I can't wait to go--one of my favorite places, too. Can you imagine what if would have been like to have seen it back in the old days?

[salish]

My first and last "real" trip through Yellowstone was on one of those epic family vacations in the early 60's, when we fed black bears hot dogs from our car windows. The last time I was in Yellowstone was on a motorcycle trip in August 82', and I spent most of my time trying to get in and immediately out of the park without getting run over by an RV. I'd love to go back for a real vacation again. One of my coworkers goes every August and tent camps with his wife and kids, for a solid month. He fishes the Lamar River and loves it, and they do some great hikes and see some fantastic animals.

[MCaver]

I spent a few days in Yellowstone in June 1998, the one time I've been there. It was really pretty and the wildlife was great (elk and bison and bears oh my!) and it was really cool to see Old Faithful and all the other geysers. Places like Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone and Tower-Roosevelt were worth the trip alone. But, for scenery I much prefered Grand Teton NP. I am dying to go back, since I only got to spend 2 days there. I had originally planned a week vacation back to the Tetons early this summer, but it doesn't look like it's going to happen this year. I'll have to add it to the evergrowing list of places I really want to visit -- Tetons again, Banff again, Yosemite again, Denali, Wrangell-St Elias, Monument Valley, on and on...

[#19]

Mcavr, no offense, but IMO, the "touristy" scenery of the Tetons is nothing compared to Glacier NP, Banff to Jasper, or even parts of the N Cascades (Washington Pass Overlook). Taking the boat across Jenny lake I found the view of the Tetons kind of ho-hum. I think people go to Yellowstone sometimes expecting to see great mountain views and are a little disappointed. I was the first time. But there is so much to see and do there. And for a waterfall guy like you I'm a bit surprised. The brink of the lower Yellowstone falls is unbelievably powerful. sorry for the drift.

[Dean]

My friend Larry and I were fishing underneath the Black Diamond-Enumclaw hwy on the Green a few years back and we didn't have any expectations other than a little rainbow fishing. We weren't there ten minutes when my friend hooked into what seemed to be a small log. Alot of cussing later, he managed to pull the "log" through the shallows there when it became obvious that he hadn't hooked a log at all but a large ocean going trout (aka steelhead) My friend Larry disappointed me that day when he refused to return the fish to the river ("its a trout" isn't it? said he) when I pointed out he didn't have a steelhead card. The sporting way he caught the fish was what bothered me the most, he had hooked it through the tail. (it weighed in at over 16 pounds)

[salish]

Dean, that was a huge fish, and more than a few have been taken out of the Green without a tag. I never had much luck on the Green, but I remember when it was one of the top three steelhead rivers in Washington state. My first experience on it was one crisp December morning at 4:00am. After getting a coleman lantern going and our eggs on the hooks and into the water, I heard one fisherman after another yell "fish on", and then listened to the ensuing battle. It was pretty surreal. It did set the steelheading hook in me, though.

[Dslayer]

My brother and his son similar to CascadeHiker's-they went down to a boat launch/Marina expecting to catch few a perch. His son-Mitch was about 5 or 6-thought he had snagged the bottom, and my brother went to help and him and just reefed on the pole--a fish-it later turned out to be a 16 lb hen steelhead just took off! They were on a dock and my brother had to pass the pole under the dock to the other side-the fish had gone opposite of the side they were under-they eventually landed it and had it mounted. I don't know if I bragged this up yet either-but my brother caught a walleye that is now officially the Wa. State record in the Columbia, 18 lbs. 10 oz.....He's waiting to find out if it's a national catch and release record for walleye..if I knew how to post pictures I'd try to do it, it's an awesome fish.

[Dean]

Salish, that is true about the Green being a top notch steelhead river at one time. I had several near misses in the green river gorge near flaming geyser that bring back fond memories where I had a huge steelhead on but never was able to land. Pure excitement for sure whether you catch one or not. Dslayer, where did your bro catch that huge monster of a walleye. The Columbia is near where I live here in Kennewick so it would be interesting to know what part of the river he pulled that trophy fish from.