Fly Fishing...I've come full circle...

[wyldechylde77]

Hey guys,

Got another great update here for you guys, and I think you will enjoy this one most of all. Fall is upon us, for most that means putting the rods away and getting out the rifles. Others, such as myself, know that this is not the time of year to put the rods away just yet, as Fall brings an increase in fish behavior and aggressiveness. Most species really have put the feedbag on and are feeding heavily in preperation for winter. Of course, others begin spawning runs. Yes, this is the time of year when the King and Coho Salmon hit the tributaries to spawn, closely followed by massive Brown Trout and Steelhead. This is a fun time of year if you know what you are doing and can deal with crowds of people at times.
So this past Monday, I was off from work and my father and I decided to take a ride out to Burt, NY to try our hand once again at the Salmon/Trout run. The Salmon spawn is winding down, evidenced by the increasing presence of Steelhead and the very dark coloring they are showing. I wanted to really give it a hardcore shot and brought my 8wt fly rod only, along with some attractor flies and egg patterns I had tied. I'll be honest, I really wasn't expecting much as I was stuck on shore due to not having any waders. (Note to self: START SAVING FOR WADERS!). I was using a blood dot egg pattern in red with a pink dot, on a 9' fluorocarbon leader with 10lb tippet. The fly was rolling out nicely, as I was limited to mostly roll casts.
I was just taking it all in, watching in the water, seeing huge Kings swimming around, chasing Brown trout away, breaching, and of course I saw a really MASSIVE Brown that at least 5 people were trying to catch to no avail. So as I was casting and talking to my father and another gentlemen, I suddenly felt a tug and my drift stopped. Instinctively, I set the hook hard and HOLY GOD did that line start tearing out!! Wasn't sure what I had on, but it was crazy strong. That is, until it jumped...BIG KING SALMON!! Knew this was gonna be a battle and knew I was gonna be at a disadvantage since I couldn't wade after it. So, I buckeled down and used every ounce of strength and knowledge I have of King Salmon to maintain control. Kept the rod tip high, fly line tight, and a close eye on my drag. Guys...wow..can we say RELENTLESS on a fly rod???? I now see what people fly fish for salmon!! I wasn't having much trouble turning him, but when he would take off on his runs I had to relent. He took off on a long run towards the shallows and even though I knew that spelled trouble due to the rocks, there wasn't much I could do about it but hope he slowed before he got there. No such luck. He got into the shallows and as much as I pulled, I could not budge him, although I was able to see him splashing around down there. A fisherman who was in the water close by so saw this and asked if I'd like him to see if he was caught up on the rocks or not, and I said yes please look. He went over there and after a few minutes I saw him grip the Salmon's tail and he said yes, he was wrapped around a rock. He untangled the fish, and began walking him towards me and that's when the realization hit me: I just caught my first King Salmon on a fly!! He passed him to me, and wow this fish was ENORMOUS! My father took these pics, so sorry they are not the best LOL. I also noticed that the fish had an egg sack stuck to his fin haha. Finders keepers!! We weighed him at 20lbs, and by the looks of him he was probably only a few days to a week away from death anyway. His gills had torn so he was bleeding heavily, and was also milting all over me as well lol. I ended up giving him to a another fisherman as I do not like the taste of salmon as it is. I offered him to the guy that got him for me, but he declined. Anyway, here it is guys...my first King Salmon on the fly! :







Happy guy here!!

[Yellowstone7]

Hi Chuck and Everyone:

Great fishing story and catch! Congratulations!! Told you flyfishing would change your life. LOL

I saved the pictures and will use them in the future. Should have laid the fish on its side and get a good profile shot for me. Bet you forgot in that that excitement. Hahaha!

Regards,

Stanley

[wyldechylde77]

Hahaha, you know, it's funny you would mention a side profile shot, Stanley. Believe it or not, in all the excitement, I actually DID think of it just for you, but I was not happy with the way it turned out. Plus, the rope was still in its mouth from when I was about to give it away. Take a look:



I know. Darn it all. I certainly did try, but I noticed the angle was off after I had gotten home.

And yes, you were certainly right. You had me figured out early, with my love for everything that swims that I would take to fly fishing with no problem. I enjoy all facets of it, from the challenge down to tying flies. It's terrific to have this other attack when I want a bit more of a personal battle with my targets. I am forever in your debt, Stanley! Believe me, should you ever decide to take the wife to see Niagara Falls, you can guarantee I'll get you out to fish at least once with me, and would do my absolute best to get you on some of the finest fishing WNY has to offer. The offer is always there, and would be my absolute pleasure to get you on some farm pond Largemouths, some Lake Erie Smallmouths, or even fly fishing the Niagara River for Smallmouth and Muskie! Although, I think nowadays a large Niagara River Muskie would pull you overboard I'm kidding of course.
So far, this King Salmon is the pinnacle of my young fly fishing career for the moment. I have achieved a personal goal of mine a bit early haha! Even sweeter was that he bit on a fly that I tied myself. Hoping to knock out another goal before the weather turns bad. And that is to catch a Steelhead and Brown Trout on a fly. If I can get out there a few more times, I'll certainly be trying!

[Yellowstone7]

Hi Chuck, Cutch and Everyone:

Sometimes the Lord (or who ever is in control of the lives of people and depending on your religious believes) works in wonderful and mysterious ways. When I first joined the RWFF Forum as a wide eyed novice, I was very impressed with Cutch's work and he was one of the few people that I followed and modeled my own outings creations after. His work to me, showed a lot of love for fishing and a mundane common sense approach to the sport that I loved. e.g. In his outing descriptions he said something like "Let Cutch show the the place to catch some big fish". I thought that was kind of cool. Just a down to earth, no nonsense approach that I appreciated. Then Cutch disappeared for a few years but got you into the game.

When you first joined the Forum I loved the enthusiasm you showed for fishing and our little game. Then later when we ran our "Guess the Fish of the Week" contest you showed yourself to be a very knowledgeable fish person. I also noted your excellent craftsmanship in your building of outing bitmaps. I thought, someone like Chuck shouldn't be just throwing big spoons and plugs with a bait casting rod or spinning gear. There is another dimension of fishing that I would love to introduce him to...flyfishing.

You see, flyfishing has never been a sport for everyone as it is technically difficult to master and will take a lot of learning and practicing to have any success at it. This form of fishing depend a lot more on skill than luck. It is kind of like hunting in a way as it is a very target oriented. You can't bring down a deer by randomly shooting into the wood no more than you can splash the water with a flyline hoping a fish will take you fly. You really need to know what you are doing, what the fish are doing , what the environment (flow of water) is doing to have any consistent success. I encouraged you to take up flyfishing as I thought you had all those qualities. A knowledge of the fish and their habitat, good fish sense, great craftsmanship and precision in building thing like RWFF outings, and finally, a real love for fishing in every form and ways.

In a little over one year's time you have learned to cast a flyrod, make your own flies, and now, caught a fish that some people would only dream of catching...A BIG Salmon on a flyrod. You know some folks might pay many thousands of dollars for professional guide services and go to remote exotic destinations just to do that? Wow! You deserve a good pat on your back and you should be very proud of what you have achieved in a relatively short period of time. Congratulations indeed!

There is another cool thing about this. After Cutch got you into the RWFF game, you got him back on the game as well after many years of inactivity. We are all proud and pleased to have old Cutch back on the Forum sharing his love for fishing with everybody here. It is kind of like a family reunited again and this is cool beyond words.

Finally, from my own past experience in flyfishing, fishing products and fishing garment manufacturing, etc I realized that flyfisherman are a bunch of very special people and we are definitely a minority amongst those who do bait and lure fishing. It is my pleasure to introduce you, a very special person, to this very fascinating sport. It will add a lot of fun, and another dimension to the sport that you love so much. I will pat myself on the back for that as well.

Too bad you didn't end up with a good profile picture of the fish...maybe next time? Remember, no fingers, no leaves and dirt, and no ropes. LOL

Best Regards,

Stanley

[Cutch]

Congrat's, dandy salmon, Chuck. They are so much fun catching on flies we've tied,....a real challenge
landing them if they're a monster.

[wyldechylde77]

Thank you, Stanley and John! Means a lot to me coming from two well-respected people in my eyes. Funny thing is, it's so hard to really believe what just getting into this game (RWFF) has done for me in life. Had I not joined, I may have never been swayed to try my hand at fly fishing. And look where I am now. I am very proud of this King Salmon, proud of my overall accomplishments, proud to be a member here (even though it's been a bit on and off with work and all). Am seriously considering getting a replica made of this King. Need $ first though hahaha. Again, I wish to thank you guys from the bottom of my heart. Would of never known back when I joined that I was in for a life changing experience. I only wish that one day, I could fish with you old masters side by side. That would be a dream come true for me!

[Yellowstone7]

Hi Chuck, Cutch and Everyone:

No problem for us at all. This is the really cool thing about the RWFF game and Forum. Members from around the world can join and enjoy a little friendship, camaraderie, away from all the conflicts and turmoils in our real dog-eat-dog world, and share their passion for fishing and things fish with other folks. Yes, it amazing how sometimes some little thing can have a big influence on one's life. I am glad you took my advise (and nagging) to become a flyfisherman. I just felt you had the knack for it.

Due to the poor circulation in my legs, long distance air travel and standing in cold trout stream are not possible for me now. I would dearly love to be able to go fishing shoulder to shoulder with you and share some of the good times on your great streams. It would have been a real blast if you, Cutch and I were to be able to fish together. However, that doesn't look like it would be possible now.

Anyway, keep this great sport going and encourage your friends, relatives and other new fishermen to take it up. Flyfishermen tend to be very environmentally conscious and we do a lot of protection of natural environment and practice catch and releases. As most of the fish will be hooked in the lip, versus hooked in the gills, the throat or in the gut, 99% of the fish caught can be released safely back into the water to fight another day.

Keep those great fishing stories and pictures coming, I am sure everyone on the Forum will enjoy reading them.

Regards,

Stanley

[Hings1973]

There's so much good stuff to see on this thread and it's impressive. You give green people like me a lot to look forward to, and I am here for it. Great stuff!