-
- Species
- Whitetails
- Rut Reporters
- Deer Camp
- Big Game
- Small Game
- Birds
- Special Methods
- Bow Hunting
- Conservation
- Heroes of Conservation
- Hero for a Day
- Outdoor Skills
- Total Outdoorsman Challenge
- Land for Sale
-
- Species
- Bass
- Trout
- More Freshwater
- Saltwater
- Special Methods
- Fly Fishing
- Hook Shots
Presented by
- Conservation
- Heroes of Conservation
- Hero for a Day
- Outdoor Skills
- Total Outdoorsman Challenge
- Land for Sale
-
- Health & Fitness
- F&S Adventurer
- Outdoor Skills
- Total Outdoorsman Challenge
-
- Rifles
- Shotguns
- 2nd Amendment
- SHOT Show
- Outdoor Skills
- Total Outdoorsman Challenge
A Real Jaw-Dropper
Recent Comments
- kirkdeeter on On the Spot: "The Bug Guy" Robert Younghanz (14)
- dleurquin on On the Spot: "The Bug Guy" Robert Younghanz (14)
- dleurquin on Surface Film II: The Best In Fly Fishing Photography (1)
- imago456 on On the Spot: "The Bug Guy" Robert Younghanz (14)
- imago456 on On the Spot: "The Bug Guy" Robert Younghanz (14)
Categories
- Alaska (2)
- Animal Attacks (1)
- ATVs (2)
- Bass Fishing (38)
- Big Game Hunting (2)
- Bird Hunting (2)
- Bow Hunting (1)
- Camping Gear (1)
- Close Calls (2)
- DIY (1)
- First-Aid (1)
- Fishing (458)
- Fishing Gear (50)
- Fly Fishing (645)
- Gear (45)
- Guns (1)
- Hunting (5)
- Hunting Gear (2)
- More Freshwater (73)
- Optics (2)
- Other (7)
- Quick Tips (2)
- Saltwater (71)
- Shooting Gear (1)
- Shotguns (1)
- Small Game (1)
- Survival (4)
- Survival Food (1)
- Trout Fishing (181)
Recent Posts
- Surface Film II: The Best In Fly Fishing Photography
- On the Spot: "The Bug Guy" Robert Younghanz
- New Videos From The Fly Fishing Film Tour
- The Fly Rod Beauty Factor: Does it Matter?
- Tie Talk: Tying a Stimulator in 19 Steps (With Photos)
- On the Spot: Guide, Author Pat Dorsey
- Rio Grande Road Trip: The Outtakes II
- The "Rudest" Trout Rivers in America
- Fly Fishing Film Tour Tickets Caption Contest Winner Announced!
- Is Tenkara Fly Fishing a Fad?
Archives
- February 2012
- January 2012
- December 2011
- November 2011
- October 2011
- September 2011
- August 2011
- July 2011
- June 2011
- May 2011
- April 2011
- March 2011
- February 2011
- January 2011
- December 2010
- November 2010
- October 2010
- September 2010
- August 2010
- July 2010
- June 2010
- May 2010
- April 2010
- March 2010
- February 2010
- January 2010
- December 2009
- November 2009
- October 2009
- September 2009
- August 2009
- July 2009
- June 2009
- May 2009
- April 2009
- March 2009
- February 2009
- January 2009
- December 2008
- November 2008
- October 2008
- September 2008
- August 2008
- July 2008
- June 2008
- May 2008
- April 2008
- March 2008
- February 2008
- January 2008
- December 2007
- November 2007
- October 2007
- September 2007
- August 2007
- July 2007
- June 2007
- May 2007
Syndicate
FlyTalk
in your Inbox
August 05, 2009
A Real Jaw-Dropper
By Kirk Deeter
Every once in a while, I see a fish that just floors me... leaves me bewildered, and lime green with envy. This is one of those fish...
I got wind of it from guide and writer David Rose from Michigan. Apparently guide Tommy Lynch nailed this mondo brown trout in the Pere Marquette river on a mouse fly at night. It's a 30 incher.
There's something that makes a catch like this extra-special...
And that is, for anyone who has fished the PM and rivers like it... you know (at least you suspect) that "Big Daddy" lives in some of those deep, dark runs... but you never see him. It takes that one special, celestial event, when everything lines up just right for you even to have the slightest, 1 in a million chance at a fish like this. And to connect and land it is, well, literally a lifetime achievement.
I mean, you can go to the ends of the world and catch big browns in Tierra del Fuego, or sit under some tailwater dam out West and catch mutant pig rainbow trout in the Toilet Bowl (literally the name of a run on the Frying Pan River).
But this is exceptional. I've always thought that catching a two-foot trout out West is about being in the right place at the right time. Doing so back East is the same... and about being a great angler as well.
So what's your "life fish?" Goals... stories... and if anyone has a little more insights on this story, I'd like to hear it.
Deeter
ADVERTISEMENT
Today on Field & Stream
Loading...
Visit Our Sister Sites at Bonnier Corporation
| Enthusiast | Kiteboarding | QUAD | SKI | Skiing | Scuba Diving | Sport Diver | TransWorld Ride BMX | TransWorld Business | TransWorld Motocross | TransWorld SKATEboarding, | TransWorld SNOWboarding | TransWorld SURF | WakeBoarding | WaterSki | Warren Miller Entertainment | WindSurfing |
|---|---|
| Travel | Caribbean Travel & Life | Destination Weddings & Honeymoon | Islands | Meeting Traveler | Resorts & Great Hotels |
| Lifestyle & Shelter | Florida Travel & Life | Garden Design | Home Ft. Lauderdale | Home Miami |
| Luxury | SNOW | Spa |
| Marine | Boating Life | Cruising World | Fly Fishing in Salt Waters | Power Cruising | Marlin | Motor Boating | Sailing World | Salt Water Sportsman | Sport Fishing | Yachting | NewBoats.com | UsedBoats.com | YachtBroker.com |
| Outdoor | Field & Stream | Outdoor Life | SHOT Business |
| Parenting | Babytalk | Parenting |
| Science | Popular Science | Science Illustrated |
| Saveur | Saveur |
| Working Mother Media | Working Mother |
| Entertainment / Events | World Entertainment Services | World Sports & Marketing |
Fieldandstream.com is part of the Field & Stream Network, a division of Bonnier Corporation.
Copyright © 2012 Bonnier Corp. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.
Comments (22)
up on the gaspe peninsula in quebec we were salmon fishing on the restigouche and matapedia rivers for black salmon when we caught 24 salmon and 20 brook trout, the biggest salmon was about 15 pounds but I lost a 22-25 pounder.
Breathtaking. Surprised how light colored it is. Taking nothing away from the fish, which is truly a catch of a lifetime, could it have come up from Lake Michigan?
Amazing..
That is one beautiful fish, a true Trophy
My largest fish on the fly came out of the PM. A big salmon I suspected weighed over 15 lbs. (I was told by the guy next to me it was 22 lbs but you know how that goes).
My buddies are begging me to go to Michigan next week. It's the third trip this year and each trip yeilds several browns over 20". Tempting but I have two kids in college and...
Back to the topic. Great fish. A mouse at night has to be one of the most exciting methods for big fish there is. Bring your heart medication.
Lake run? We could beat that topic to death but does it matter?
This would be a huge fish in the lake as well as in the PM. It's special. Being lake run matters if someone wants to increase chances of catching another monster like this on a fly.
Guy from southwestern wisconsin caught a 30 inch male brown on a hex merger July 2008 and rumor has it he followed up with a 29 incher this July 2009 with a dumbbell eyed bunny leech. The Driftless Area Of Wisconsin is really sweet water. Some guys have all the luck.
MLH,
Do the big browns run in the PM like they do Oak Orchard in NY?
buckhunter - I have no idea. Never thought about it until I saw this fish. Hoping to find out.
Great fish. Last week I was fishing out on Lake Michigan and caught a 33in 17lb 8oz Brown (the picture is on the site). Awesome job!
Wow. I used to go to Hazel Creek in NC every fall. It's one of the two major tributaries of Lake Fontana and I'd always get some nice lake run browns, but there were those few chance encounters that involve 3/4 to full moon for some visibility and about a size 2 -4 black eggsucking leech. I'd lose a couple flies that way each trip, every once in a while pull in a 20" plus brown, by every once in a while I mean once ever, usually I'd just end up a trembling spooked wreck with a popped tippet who couldn't cast anymore and was too freaked out to be in the water anyway.
Here is a link and fishing report of "The FishWhisperer",himself ...
http://thefishwhisperer.com/reports.php
capture your moment in history with the enduring leagacy of art. chad lavin studio. www.lavinstudio.com
chadian - I suspect posting just for advertising rather than contributing in a meaningful way will lead to minimal likelihood of anyone using your services.
Amazing catch, congratulations. I dont think that smile could be any bigger.
As a Michigan guy myself, MLH, that was my first question, whether it was a lake-run or not... the lightness of color might well be a camera effect at midnight, and you you just have to wonder... time of year and all, if it might not have been a freakish resident... no matter to me. That's a sick fish. I've been fishing that river since the mid 80s and haven't come close.
The lifetime achievement of mine was when I was 11 and caught a 14 pound 4 ounce bass.... it was so big, I thought it was an alligator and refused to reel it in. With some persuasion from my grandfather, I reeled in the hog and landed it. Biggest bass I have ever caught to date.
i have never fly fished in the traditionial sense. Most of my time is spent offshore. i have many dolphin, bluefish and a few cobia to my credit. the biggest i ever had on a fly was a catch and release on a 10 foot tiger shark. we were chumming and there was a bet made that i could not land the next shark on my 14 wt fly rod. I won.
http://www.idofishing.com/forum/showflat.php/Number/809329/fpart/1/once-...
i'm not taking anything away from this fish its a great catch. but last week i was on a family campout and i was fishing a river i had never seen before. it didn't look like much and i wasn't expecting to catch any big fish. in some parts you could walk across and not get the tops of your shoes wet. well the first night we were there i caught 2 5 lb bull trout. rough guestamate. they were 23 and 25 in. well the next day all my uncles and my dad came down to watch me fish cuz of course no one believed me. on the third cast i hooked into a 33 in. king salmon and 35 mins later i landed it. keep in mind i was using a trout rod with 6 lb test. well everyone was excited and so was i so i made one more cast into the deep pool and i immediately hooked into a monster...thought it was another salmon but 40 mins later when i finally landed it we measured it and it was a 35 in brown trout. that was the first brown trout i've ever caught in my life and prolly the biggest i will ever catch. i checked the washington state records and he was 1 1/2 inches shorter than the state record. it was the trip of a lifetime and there were many firsts for me on that trip.
I have fished with Tommy as a guide for our party a few times. All I can say is that there are few people that are more passionate about flyfishing than Tommy.
I am sure he crossed that same ghole a minimum of 100 times a year and may have only saw it once with a client on a streamer.
He pulled a scale to have it genetically analized to find out if it was a LR or Resident. The red spots lead me to believe it is resident but the only way to know for sure is genetics.
But the fact that a guide with Tommy's experiece thought may be a resident river trout leads me to believe he thinks it is.
The PM does get a decent run of LR Browns from Lake Michigan and Tommy has seen alot of them.
Either way, for a guide that has work Alaska and Michigan to say it is his largest brown to date, tells you just how reare of a fish this is.
WOW that is an amazing catch. It must have been even more fun catching it in a river.
Post a Comment
As a Michigan guy myself, MLH, that was my first question, whether it was a lake-run or not... the lightness of color might well be a camera effect at midnight, and you you just have to wonder... time of year and all, if it might not have been a freakish resident... no matter to me. That's a sick fish. I've been fishing that river since the mid 80s and haven't come close.
up on the gaspe peninsula in quebec we were salmon fishing on the restigouche and matapedia rivers for black salmon when we caught 24 salmon and 20 brook trout, the biggest salmon was about 15 pounds but I lost a 22-25 pounder.
Breathtaking. Surprised how light colored it is. Taking nothing away from the fish, which is truly a catch of a lifetime, could it have come up from Lake Michigan?
Great fish. Last week I was fishing out on Lake Michigan and caught a 33in 17lb 8oz Brown (the picture is on the site). Awesome job!
Here is a link and fishing report of "The FishWhisperer",himself ...
http://thefishwhisperer.com/reports.php
Amazing..
That is one beautiful fish, a true Trophy
My largest fish on the fly came out of the PM. A big salmon I suspected weighed over 15 lbs. (I was told by the guy next to me it was 22 lbs but you know how that goes).
My buddies are begging me to go to Michigan next week. It's the third trip this year and each trip yeilds several browns over 20". Tempting but I have two kids in college and...
Back to the topic. Great fish. A mouse at night has to be one of the most exciting methods for big fish there is. Bring your heart medication.
Lake run? We could beat that topic to death but does it matter?
This would be a huge fish in the lake as well as in the PM. It's special. Being lake run matters if someone wants to increase chances of catching another monster like this on a fly.
Guy from southwestern wisconsin caught a 30 inch male brown on a hex merger July 2008 and rumor has it he followed up with a 29 incher this July 2009 with a dumbbell eyed bunny leech. The Driftless Area Of Wisconsin is really sweet water. Some guys have all the luck.
MLH,
Do the big browns run in the PM like they do Oak Orchard in NY?
buckhunter - I have no idea. Never thought about it until I saw this fish. Hoping to find out.
Wow. I used to go to Hazel Creek in NC every fall. It's one of the two major tributaries of Lake Fontana and I'd always get some nice lake run browns, but there were those few chance encounters that involve 3/4 to full moon for some visibility and about a size 2 -4 black eggsucking leech. I'd lose a couple flies that way each trip, every once in a while pull in a 20" plus brown, by every once in a while I mean once ever, usually I'd just end up a trembling spooked wreck with a popped tippet who couldn't cast anymore and was too freaked out to be in the water anyway.
chadian - I suspect posting just for advertising rather than contributing in a meaningful way will lead to minimal likelihood of anyone using your services.
Amazing catch, congratulations. I dont think that smile could be any bigger.
The lifetime achievement of mine was when I was 11 and caught a 14 pound 4 ounce bass.... it was so big, I thought it was an alligator and refused to reel it in. With some persuasion from my grandfather, I reeled in the hog and landed it. Biggest bass I have ever caught to date.
i have never fly fished in the traditionial sense. Most of my time is spent offshore. i have many dolphin, bluefish and a few cobia to my credit. the biggest i ever had on a fly was a catch and release on a 10 foot tiger shark. we were chumming and there was a bet made that i could not land the next shark on my 14 wt fly rod. I won.
http://www.idofishing.com/forum/showflat.php/Number/809329/fpart/1/once-...
i'm not taking anything away from this fish its a great catch. but last week i was on a family campout and i was fishing a river i had never seen before. it didn't look like much and i wasn't expecting to catch any big fish. in some parts you could walk across and not get the tops of your shoes wet. well the first night we were there i caught 2 5 lb bull trout. rough guestamate. they were 23 and 25 in. well the next day all my uncles and my dad came down to watch me fish cuz of course no one believed me. on the third cast i hooked into a 33 in. king salmon and 35 mins later i landed it. keep in mind i was using a trout rod with 6 lb test. well everyone was excited and so was i so i made one more cast into the deep pool and i immediately hooked into a monster...thought it was another salmon but 40 mins later when i finally landed it we measured it and it was a 35 in brown trout. that was the first brown trout i've ever caught in my life and prolly the biggest i will ever catch. i checked the washington state records and he was 1 1/2 inches shorter than the state record. it was the trip of a lifetime and there were many firsts for me on that trip.
I have fished with Tommy as a guide for our party a few times. All I can say is that there are few people that are more passionate about flyfishing than Tommy.
I am sure he crossed that same ghole a minimum of 100 times a year and may have only saw it once with a client on a streamer.
He pulled a scale to have it genetically analized to find out if it was a LR or Resident. The red spots lead me to believe it is resident but the only way to know for sure is genetics.
But the fact that a guide with Tommy's experiece thought may be a resident river trout leads me to believe he thinks it is.
The PM does get a decent run of LR Browns from Lake Michigan and Tommy has seen alot of them.
Either way, for a guide that has work Alaska and Michigan to say it is his largest brown to date, tells you just how reare of a fish this is.
WOW that is an amazing catch. It must have been even more fun catching it in a river.
capture your moment in history with the enduring leagacy of art. chad lavin studio. www.lavinstudio.com
Post a Comment