River Fly Fishermen who fish forTrout

[Pontoon Papa]

I'm a lake fly fisherman and usually average between 30 and 60 fish on each trip. I'm curious, how many fish do you river fly fishermen usually average when you go trout fishing? Also, why don't you fish lakes??

[N.U.Angler]

I've fished places on a river catching fish like that, I usually don't count though and you may find bigger trout in a lake. I do fish our local lakes too, mostly for browns, but haven't done for awhile, gonna have to get at it!

[Blue Tip Spinner]

PP- are you talking stockers or native fish? i don't average nearly that many on the rivers i fish, but the ones i do, are well worth the effort.

[traks44]

I cant stand fishing still water. I need to be constantly moving seeking new structure and fish to sneak up on, thus spend all my time fishing rivers, mostly(wallowa, Grande ronde, Umatilla, and an assortment of creeks.

I dont remember a time that I counted how many fish I caught, but thinking back now I probably have caught upwards of 60-70 on the wallowa during a hot summer hatch(these were not very big though). I would much rather catch 5-10 14 inchers or better, than 100 12 inch long fish.

I am the type of person who will spend all day trying to memorize a brute out in the middle of the river and hopefully atleast get him to rise. For me its not the number of bends in the rod, but the size of the bend in the rod? Whatever that mean?

just my $.2

[Riverkeeper]

My opinion:

Lake fishing is fun if you are casting dries to rising fish. But kicking around dragging a bugger on a sink tip is too much like <font color="red"> TROLLING WITH GEAR </font> :sick: :sick: :rolleyes: :mad: :mad: :mad: Clearly for losers only.

I remember back when I used to have lots of 30 to 60 fish days river fishing...but then I quit steelhead fishing.

[Mark Vickers]

Hmmm... I can only remember fly fishing a lake once. It's not my bag. Seems kinda dull to me. But then again, I'm the kind of guy that'll walk the riverbank for days at a time in pouring rain to get that one vicious take from a steelhead.

[PTS]

I fish every type of water for every type of fish. I fish 100 to 150 days a year. When you fish that often it keeps it interesting to have a lot of variation. It enhances your skills also. Some days I may keep a count in my head up to some point but it's not important. Catching high numbers of stocked fish says nothing regarding your skill level. Flyfishers that I know that I admire most are those that can consistently catch trophy trout on both lakes and streams, catch a LOT of steelhead and salmon and can slay them on the Metolius.

[Abalone]

My opinion:

Lake fishing is fun if you are casting dries to rising fish. But kicking around dragging a bugger on a sink tip is too much like <font color="red"> TROLLING WITH GEAR </font> :sick: :sick: :rolleyes: :mad: :mad: :mad: Clearly for losers only.

I remember back when I used to have lots of 30 to 60 fish days river fishing...but then I quit steelhead fishing.



You got to be kidding Right ?

Your perception of it is a little misleading.
Would you also consider standing in a boat casting and retrieving Stillwater patterns a losers Game ?

There a lot more to it then trolling, albiet Trolling may be usefull to locate fish.

I do both and I enjoy both. Something about catching very large trout in a Beautiful mountain setting appeals to me as much as working a dry fly on a stream. One really nice thing about still water, you can find your own patch of water to fish. Some streams get a little too crowded for me.


Fine: You don't like stillwater fishing but don't sit there and tell me or Denny Rickards it's for losers. :noway:

Actually fishing lakes is best when you can do it from shore or while wading the shallows targeting fish that are feeding the surface.

"Losers" Give me a break ! :jester: :jester:

Your kidding right !

[Steve L.]

I prefer walking the banks of a stream or river these days. Some of it searching new water and some of it is a feeling that just sits well with me. Chasing native Cutts, Steelhead and Salmon is , to me, the best. I used to fish high Sierra lakes and streams for Rainbow, Golden, Browns and Brookies when I was younger and that appealed to me then.

As for "Losers", I hope this board doesn't go down the toilet due to the "If you don't do it my way you must be loser" syndrome. :hoboy:

just my :twocents:

[FallRiverGuy]

I remember back when I used to have lots of 30 to 60 fish days river fishing...but then I quit steelhead fishing.



Is that all you could catch. :shrug: Actually, it is more likely that RK has his ratio backwards and it was 30-60 days/fish. :laugh:

[Abalone]

Riverkeeper is just trying to yank somebodies Chain.

Someday he'll get older and wiser and feel the need to buy a pontoon boat where he can expand his fishing skills on the stillwaters of Oregon Lakes. He knows anyone with minimum skill can toss a big Salmon Fly on the Deschutes during hatch and catch monster trout. When he realizes there much more to Fly fishing Trout it will be like a new adventure for him...... :jester: :jester:

That's what makes life so grand, Exploring new horizons.

Right Darian ? :wave:

[Riverkeeper]

Right Tony. :wave:

I just figured chain yanking was going to be a theme in this thread.

I do fish lakes on occasion, but the fun for me is mostly in sight casting dries to surface cruising fish. I don't own any sink tips for trout rods, so I have never tried the subsurface stuff. I'm sure its fun...

[Riverkeeper]

The only thing we can agree on is that GEAR FISHING IS FOR LOSERS!

[Mark Vickers]

The only thing we can agree on is that GEAR FISHING IS FOR LOSERS!


Caught these on a fly in T-Bay? (http://www.ifish.net/forum/showflat.php?Cat=0&amp;Board=UBB1&amp;Number=987482&amp;Search page=5&amp;Main=987482&amp;Words=Riverkeeper&amp;topic=&amp;Search =true#Post987482)

[Meskel]

...anyone with minimum skill can toss a big Salmon Fly on the Deschutes during hatch and catch monster trout.


Ouch then my skills must be less then minimal. I throw them out there during a hatch but the fish just didn’t take them. :laugh:

I would have to say that I have more fun walking a river. Im not sure but I don’t think that I have ever caught 30 to 60 fish in any given day on a river. Nor for that matter on a lake. That type of production just seems to cheapen the fly fishing experience that i love so much. I would rather work hard to get the chance to play a couple good sized fish then to pull in 30 or so 8 to 12 inch hatchery fish.

There is always a time and a place for kicking around a mountain lake. (try kicking all the way around lost lake on a windy day) My only problem is that inevitably nature calls when I am the furthest from shore.

:twocents:
Meskel

[Abalone]

To be honest with you I would rather dry fly fish a stream during a hatch then anything else too....... But the West side has more Still water close by then it does Big Trout water.

[Blue Tip Spinner]

The only thing we can agree on is that GEAR FISHING IS FOR LOSERS!


Caught these on a fly in T-Bay? (http://www.ifish.net/forum/showflat.php?Cat=0&amp;Board=UBB1&amp;Number=987482&amp;Search page=5&amp;Main=987482&amp;Words=Riverkeeper&amp;topic=&amp;Search =true#Post987482)



OMG... :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: (gag, breath) :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

[clacksteel]

I love fly fishing of all sorts...lake fishing, trolling buggers (amazingly aggressive takes), casting dries to picky trout (very difficult on lakes where they have all the time in the world to examine it), swinging (and nymphing) flies for aggressive steelhead...I even appreciate my pellet heads every now and then (in the skillet). There is a certain quality in all the types of fly fishing I think is awesome! Of course fly fishing for steelhead is the King's sport! :smash:

[AndyK]

I'm a lake fly fisherman and usually average between 30 and 60 fish on each trip. I'm curious, how many fish do you river fly fishermen usually average when you go trout fishing? Also, why don't you fish lakes??



Steelhead are trout and I only fish for them in rivers (and creeks). I've never caught as many as 30 a day; I think my arms would fall off about then.

[nookslayer]

Here we go again....

The only thing I can really say here is that I am an AVID FISHERMAN who primarily fly fishes. I do "gear fish" when it comes to chinook season. I love to fish and I think that should be enough. If you want to call me a loser, fine. I'll simply hold up the 35lb fish I caught on that gear that you are malking fun of.

As for the fly fishing, for me it's not about numbers, it's about the hunt for that fish in the perfect spot and I can only get it to rise with the perfect fly and the perfect cast. Whether that is on a lake "trolling" with sink tip ir on a small stream with my 3 wt it doesn't matter to me. I slowly am fishing for ALL of my fish by fly only because I like the challenge and just FISHING in general. I am a productive fisherman, butI don't have to be in order to enjoy my trip. I am at peace in the water be it a lake or a stream. :angel:

[Sweet Melissa]

Lake fishing is fun if you are casting dries to rising fish. But kicking around dragging a bugger on a sink tip is too much like <font color="red"> TROLLING WITH GEAR </font> :sick: :sick: :rolleyes: :mad: :mad: :mad: Clearly for losers only.



True, true. But I'm a blissfully happy loser when I'm "trolling" a wet fly and catching fish, while the poor bank fishermen aren't getting any action on their yummy PowerBait. :smile:

[TheCamel]

I am at peace in the water be it a lake or a stream.


:yeahthat:

well...................except for the afternoon on East Lake when one of the most vicious lightening/thunder/hail storms I have ever been in hit the area. :bigshock:

I'm glad this thread went almost 180 degrees from the direction that I thought it was going!

IMHO - if how you are fishing is legal, and you are having fun.................enjoy! It's not my place, or anyone else's, to tell you how to fish. Unless, of course, you ask for my opinion.

[Riverkeeper]

Alright guys, I thought I was employing some funny sarcasm and "reverse psychology" to indicate how I feel about this subject (and numerous others that have come up on this board of late), but I guess I missed a little.

To be sure, my feelings on the subject could not have been expressed better than as just posted by The Camel.



if how you are fishing is legal, and you are having fun.................enjoy! It's not my place, or anyone else's, to tell you how to fish.



Sorry if I got your panties in a bunch. :rolleyes:

[Two Fister]

Damn, I hate it when my panties get all bunched up. That's why I stopped wearing them...except as hats. But that's a different story.

I think the monsoon has everybody a bit edgy. How about we all take a deep breath, remember RKs unique sense of humor and remember that the rain will eventually stop falling.

Cheers!
TF

[PittsburghD]

I don't really know where this is going, but I'm all for the gear/fly combo. I'll strap on a Budweiser plug to either my spinning rod or 5wt and hit trout, steelhead, bass and rednecks all day long!

Steelers!

[Pontoon Papa]

Stockers...but I usually wait a week or 2 after they are put in to allow them to become aclimated to the lake.

[Sweet Melissa]

I like the stockers, too, PP, especially the brood stock. I'll never forget the first time I caught one in Coffenbury Lake. We had no idea they'd planted them. I hooked it on a Black Carey, and was so shocked that I just picked up my stuff and headed home, trophy in hand, to show the family. Didn't know there was a whole lake full of them. :smile:

[SilverFly]

Hey look! Riverkeeper caught an Abalone while trolling!!! (JK Tony :wink:!)

Now If Riverkeeper said fishing "lake" fishing for STEELHEAD with a sinktip was for losers, - then I would have gotten my panties in a bunch!

------

[Blue Tip Spinner]

i got it and my boxers were not in a bunch. i thought it was pretty funny RK! :cheers:

[TroutGirl]

I'll tone it down a bit here. These "averages" you guys post are stunning. I fish rivers mostly. Maybe a couple lake trips a year. And there is the couple times that I might have a 50 + day a year, but there's several skunked trips, and seems like I generally expect at least 2 fish and its exceptional when its over 10 fish. So hows that? Pretty slow by most of your standards.

My question is, can you guys still have a great day, and be skunked? I can. I like being on the water. It makes it hard for me to fish with someone if they are just bumming about not hitting the high numbers. Slow down, relax, enjoy the ride, the cast, the hatch, the sun, the sound, the rise, the leap. Its all worth it.

[Blue Tip Spinner]

:yeahthat: sure can and do!!!

[Abalone]

I'd like to catch that many fish in a day but rarely ever do. What I hope to do is when the fish don't seem to be biting figure out what it takes to get them to bite.

I mean I can fish all day long and if after trying everything under the sun nothing works but I finally find a technique of a fly presentation that works, The one nice trout can make the whole trip worthwhile. Getting the fish to bite is the reward for me...

[Riverkeeper]

i thought it was pretty funny RK!



Thanks buddy!


I can have a fun day fishing even if the fishing sucks. Likewise, I have had bad days fishing even though we caught fish.

I will be a great stillwater flyfisherman the day they open the Wizard Falls outlet pond to people over 12 years old. :smash:

[TroutGirl]

Rk-
Lets start writing those letters.

Dear Wizard-

I would really like to fish at your beautiful hatchery. Every day since my 13th birthday has been sad, because I can't have the joy of fishing there anymore. Its age-ist and wrong that you close the ponds just because I'm chronologially 30 something. I'm mentally not more than 10 and there are lots of people who will testify to that.

So dear Wizard, please let me fish there, so I can catch as many fish as the I-fish boys and have an "average" worth posting.

Sincerely,

Heather

[Riverkeeper]

That is what I am talking about Heather. And I know Abalone will be ready to join in the campaign to fish the pond, because I have seen his self-tied hatchery pellet pattern.


Seriously though. Give me 1 hour every five years on that pond. I would die a happy man. Stew, don't even TELL me you wouldn't fish there if given a chance! :dance:

[Blue Tip Spinner]

I'm chronologially 30 something. I'm mentally not more than 10 and there are lots of people who will testify to that.





that is usually how i (and everyone who know me) would describe me too!!!!!

i think RK would probably catch and keep every fish in that pond if he had a chance. i bet we would catch him flossing the fish in there as well as keeping well over his limit!!! (he would just tell the officer that he thought they were whitefish...)

[greenbuttskunk]

I had one day where I caught 11 skunks. It was CRAZY! :dance:
It's all about numbers! :grin:
1 fish or 20 fish, just having the chance to get away, smell the sage and dust after a rain, feel the water pass by me and
make that perfect cast to a rising fish, well I'm ok with just that. A few fish is just the bonus. Having said that, if I have two skunk trips in a row, then I at least want a whitefish or two so I don't forget how to land a fish on a flyrod.

[Stew]

Post deleted by Stew

[mandinga]

Lakes offer an amazingly diverse amount of insects for us lowly flyfishers to imitate.

I love fishing lakes, as long as I'm going to catch some fish....because I can get skunked all the time chasing these dang steelhead.

You guys'gals that dont like lakes should be VERY THANKFUL that you didnt grow up in the desert like me....all we had were high desert lakes and 1 river.

[mandinga]

<font color="red"> TROLLING WITH GEAR </font> :sick: :sick: :rolleyes: :mad: :mad: :mad: Clearly for losers only.



:grin:

BRILLIANT!

You guys are such fish! Sorry tony, but you are RK's keeper of the day. :grin:

[blazerman]

We'll I can honestly say I've never caught 30-50 fish in a day fishing a river. I've done it in lakes, but it's almost always been a bunch of pelletheads. The exception would be a couple of hike-in lakes that nobody fishes. I enjoy fishing lakes but I like rivers a whole lot more. River fish just fight a whole lot better IMO. They are stronger due to their living conditions, and they use the currents to their advantage when you've got one hooked. I've caught a few of those "trophy" fish that ODFW stocks in the lakes, they are kinda fun, but I'd rather catch an 18" redside any day of the week. Just my :twocents:

Ben

[Team River]

The only time I've caught 30-50 fish in a day is one afternoon at Hosmer Lake in Central Oregon. I got lucky to catch a hatch in August and fortunately I had a little white dry fly that for some reason they loved. I could barely get my fly on the water, make one twitch to try and straighten my crooked tippet and I would get slammed. I was catching so many I started to feel bad for my dad and another guy there who couldn't find a fly close enough and were merely getting the occasional fish. I nearly lost my grandpa's old 5 weight he gave me that day when I was trying to release a fish with my rod resting across my tube when all of the sudden I looked away from the fish in my left hand to see my rod sinking down into the lake. :help: Luckily I reached over with my right hand and caught it at the last eye. Whoo! :dance:

Anyways, I never catch that many fish and I don't really care to all every time. If I did that would make the normal days of 2-6 or whatever somehow feel like a "bad" day.

Who want's to feel "bad" about not meeting their own quota?

Heck, I get skunked every single time I go steelheading, which is only a couple times a year since I live out of the area, and I still love every minute of it! :dance: :dance:

[jfsfish2]

The joy of the lake with a pontoon!!! Numbers? Yes!! Little ones from 9" to big ones. A blast!! The joy of the action or the peace of the water. Love every thing!!
http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/Another_Pic_on_Trillium_05.jpg

[jfsfish2]

http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/Landed_Big_Trout.jpg

[jfsfish2]

http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/Fish_on_Trillium_051.jpg

WHAT A BLESSING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

[john montana]

i used to fish lakes all the time, but i definately prefer rivers. i fished the reservation lakes in MT (duck, goose, kipp, etc.) for years and once you spend quality time chasing the monster trout in those lakes, fishing for 12 inch stockers just isn't the same. i still enjoy lake fishing, but find myself gravitating more and more to rivers. it isn't about the numbers, but the water. there is just something about moving water that draws me. just don't ever start carp fishing...then you won't want to fish lakes or rivers unless they are 2 feet deep and have big carp tailing all over!

[PittsburghD]

GBS you made me cry. The imagery, the solace... I'm speechless. Thanks.

<font color="yellow"> --D </font>



p.s.
unless you want to talk Steelers, then I've got a mouthful.

[nookslayer]

let's not turn this post around again... Steelers? PLEASE!!!

[McKenzie]

For trout I really prefer moving water. There's something about small to medium size water that has a weird effect on me. I can't get enough of the smallish mountain streams. My favorite trout water is Butte Creek in Marion County. The river averages about thirty feet across in most places, some getting as narrow as 8-10 feet, and at the falls it can get about a hundred feet across with beautiful plunge pools teeming with hungry and aggressive, albiet smaller, rainbows and the occasional cutt. The largest fish I've ever pulled out of there was about 13 inches - for that water that's a real hawg. Average fish is around 6-7 inches. It's definately a short &amp; lightweight rod stream - perfectly suited to a 3 or 4 weight rod. I have been known to use a 9 footer when fishing wets/nymphs - but it's more of a dry fly stream throughout it's course - the exceptions being the plunge pools. I fish the pools using a 2 or 3 fly rig, with a good high-floating dry fly on point and usually a small dark colored nymph on a dropper.

The Clack above Faraday is another favorite of mine. I haven't been up there in a couple years, but it is a real hoot to fish in the summer.

I do fish stillwaters though - but when I fish stillwater my focus is on panfish &amp; bass. I've also got this obsession that I've been trying to satisfy for a few years of catching a carp fair and square on a fly. I've landed them on fly-tackle before, but minus the fly -- unles you count a size-6 egg hook and a hunk of multi-grain bread as a fly :laugh:

The best time I ever had fishing stillwater for trout was Yellowstone Lake - where I was tossing dries to big healthy cutts. I had fish bumping into my legs and schooling around me. Everyone fishing that back was having a blast catching fish in the 16-20 inch range on top. I want to go back some day.

I need a toon boat...

[Abalone]

Perhaps we should ask Jennie to start a new Forum.

We could have one for River Flyfishers and one we could call

Pellet Heads for losers to share ideas with. Then we would have to be bothered by all the insults..... :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

Of course we'd have to rename the other forum.

I suggest "River Maggots " :bricks: :jester:

[mandinga]

just don't ever start carp fishing...then you won't want to fish lakes or rivers unless they are 2 feet deep and have big carp tailing all over!



shhhhhhh :cheers:

[McKenzie]

I still haven't managed to entice such beast to a genuine artificial after years of trying - what am I doin wrong? I've tried just about every pattern in my box, tied a couple up specifically for carp (a seed pattern, a berry pattern, and a gob of fur &amp; hair that looked like decomposing white bread) -- I usually hunt for fish I can see tailing or cruising. I've tossed dry flies as gently as I could with a 6 weight. I've even once, in a period of insanity, attempted the same with one of my 4 weights. No luck Chuck. Carp are maddening! I started my pursuit for the brown beasts on a serious note about 4 years ago. Carp are a hoot on ultra light spinning tackle, and big carp are a hoot on medium spinning tackle. I've used fly gear and cheated by fishing a gob of bread on an egg hook - those are the only times I've ever had fish take me in to backing! My ultimate goal is to hook one of the big lipped beauties on a dry fly, but I'll settle for anything right now.

As for the waters I fish for them - Commonwealth Lake, Bethany Lake (or Pond, whichever you prefer), the Tualatin River (the clearer stretches near West Linn) the Willamette at MS Young, and a couple farm ponds. No luck, ever. Not on flies.

Are there carp in Hagg? I've always been too distracted by bluegill, trout, and bass to hunt them down there.

[TroutGirl]

McKenzie-

A friend of mine got a carp at MS Young on a fly. The key was stripping them slowly in the mid water column. Very hard. Need a light delicate cast, let it sink, and then very gentle twitching. all in front of a carp. He did it on a hares ear, and on a wooly bugger. I was not there to witness, but could attest to the incredible slime on him from landing the things. ewwwww.

[john montana]

carp are much more difficult to catch than people imagine. i spent several frustrating trips this year before i finally put it together. i think you have to do three things perfectly in order to hook a carp on the fly. get within casting distance of a feeding fish without disturbing it, cast within 6-10 inches in a half circle around their mouth, and detect the strike. the third part is actually the hardest. it took me a while to figure out what a strike looked like. their mouths are so tactile that they spit the hook almost immediately. i landed close to 100 carp this year, and only felt 3-5 of them take the fly, the others were all visual cues. if their gills flare, set the hook; if their tails speed up, set the hook; if they change direction suddenly, set the hook; if they go slightly more vertical in the water, set the hook...if they have simply looked at where you think your fly is for too long...you are too late. should have already set the hook! carp are a challenging fish. pattern is less important than presentation and catching the visual clues.

that said, this was my first year carp fishing...andy ap emerger got me started in early summer, so take my advice with a big grain of salt. if you really want to put it together, track down andy...

[SilverFly]

I still haven't managed to entice such beast to a genuine artificial after years of trying - what am I doin wrong?



"Beast" is good word usage!

You might try crazy fly-fishing experiments in the Columbia river like I did :rolleyes:.

One September several years ago, I was driven to near madness (short trip, I know) by the extreme numbers of fall chinook, coho, and summer steelhead coursing over Bonneville dam. At a spot I know where the fish cruise close to the bank I tried swinging various buggers, comets and such on a full sink line. In spite of salmon rolling on all sides of the boat, this went on fruitlessy for several hours until I finally got a solid grab.

I was immediately convinced I had connected with a sizable chinook due to the powerful headshakes and surging upstream runs in the strong current. After several runs alarmingly far into my backing, the fish was almost within visual range of the boat when it made a final run, this time straight towards the bank. Only when it starting rolling around in a weedbed, stirring up mud, and flashing gold in the sun, I knew it wasn't a salmon. Finally worked the fish free and back to the boat. In retrospect, I wish I had gotten some measurements, but it left several silver dollar sized scales in the net :bigshock:.

I have yet to catch another carp on the fly but I gained new respect for the fish that day!

They are a worthy gamefish! :bowdown: .

---------------

[Abalone]

Carp Fishing with fly gear becomes a topic every year about this time. But during the summer the interest seems to die off. I'd love to try it. The ponds along the Columbia river that have really clear water and you can see the carp would be excellent places to try. From what I have read, Fishing the Flats is the way to go. Shallow Clear water that you can sneak up on.........But summer is a long ways away.

[mandinga]

Since moving to oregon I have yet to catch a carp on the fly.


I...like most other carp fisherman have found them to be one of the most challenging, if not the most challenging fish that I have ever attempted to catch on the fly. I cant remember which book or magazine I read this in, but I remember reading that Carp are the most advanced fish available in freshwater..something about this makes me so enticed by the bronze beast.

My best success has been at 2 golf course ponds(disgusting, stinky, muddy, did i mention stinky!)...shallow, murky and very carpy! If you think"NO FISH CAN LIVE HERE!" I guarantee there are carp around...which leads me right back to the carp being the most advance freshwater fish, no other fish can live where they live! :yeahthat:

When people ask me what to use for carp I always tell them to do a streamside survey(not usually a stream we are surveying), Carp are very selective feeders, and their surroundings offer a very rich insect selection, so you should have no trouble at all figuring out what they eat...get in the mud, and get a net...you will find some bugs that you normally dont find in the rivers that most people fish...

I vote for a ifish carpathon! NOW THAT WOULD BE A BLAST!!!!!! especially since there are alot of carpers, and there seems to be alot of carpy water in or near the metro area :shocked:

:shocked:

[Steve L.]

CM, you start a carp-a-thon and I'll be there. That is one tough game fish. Tasty steamed with black bean sauce too(the chinese kind , not the trendy tex-mex black bean).

[gottafish]

Does the John Day count? Ive had 200 fish days there. LOL Nothing over 14 inches.