First Crescent Report of 2007!!

[hookjawfreak]

Managed to get the boat over the ice and into open water at Crescent this weekend. We were well rewarded for our hardcore effort. I released my second biggest brown of 9 pounds, 32 inches. My buddy RD got a nice 5 lber, and we got mac's of 6 and 10 lbs. I would call the resort before you go down to check on the conditions and GET PERMISSION to launch off the beach. They might require a cabin rental. See the full report at TrophyTroutHunter.com.

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[elklaker]

Awesome fishing and nice report. Hard core but well worth it. Sure got my blood flowing.

[FishnMike]

Oh man, nice fish!

FishnMike

[fish-on-bend]

Way to go guys! I can't wait till the forest service launch is usable. How long would you guess till you can drive a rig in there?

[hookjawfreak]

Fish-on, I will take a guess and say a month before the public launch is open, if we don't get any more storms and the weather continues in a spring-like pattern. As you know, the road is well shaded over there, and there looked to be at least 18 inches at the closed gate.

Check out this video of the release of the big brown above:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=NEE2l4Tg5SQ

[elklaker]

Wow, awesome video work. Nice going all the way around. :smash:

[pontoonbandit]

That is so sweet guys!:bowdown:

[fish-on-bend]

Great story on the other website as well.:bowdown:

[Jimmy]

One of the best fishing video's I have ever seen. Thanks for sharing and congrats on your catch. I hope to see you both on the water soon.

[BrushApe]

This is not a flame and please do not take it that way. Seen somewhere where it was not good for the fish to pull them backwards in the water that way. Not sure myself, know I did that for years also till I seen report to the contrary. Not sure where I read it, just a heads up.

Awesome fish, fantastic that you :bowdown: released to fight another day. Thanks for the pics, one of my brother's favorite koke lake.

BA

[Bugle4em]

Every time I see the mouth on a brown trout, it just amazes me.
Nice Feeeesh!!

[hookjawfreak]

This is not a flame and please do not take it that way. Seen somewhere where it was not good for the fish to pull them backwards in the water that way. Not sure myself, know I did that for years also till I seen report to the contrary. Not sure where I read it, just a heads up.


Thanks for being gental with your critisism, it is #1 important to me to know that the fish is in the best of shape when I let it go. I am wondering what I should do. I have read all my life that that is a good technique for reviving a fish and that old guy was TIRED! The water was only 35 degrees and I am pretty limited in how much I can do while holding a 32 inch fish over the side of a fairly deep boat. Should I only move the fish forward and lift it out of the water every time I have to pull back to me? That would seem kind of odd to me, but I am always looking to improve my game.

Up until a year or so ago I liked to hold big fish in a more vertical position for the picture, but I learned that new info suggests that the organs of a big fish can get all moved around by gravity. That really made sense to me seeing as the fish are always horizontal in a near zero gravity enviroment. Horizontal photos only for me now.

[FallRiverGuy]

I have just read the same. Grant Scheele might have posted it on the main board. In a stream it is easy to hold a fish into the current to run water over its gills. In a lake that is not possible. If you have a live well that might be the way to go. Without one I am not sure how I would revive a fish. This is a good question and one I would like to know the answer to.

[Two Fister]

Nice job on the fish!

As far as releasing tired fish in a lake, I like to just hold them in the water and let them recover without pulling them back and forth. Just let them work some oxygenated water over their gills on their own. I find that they struggle less than when I am moving them around a lot. They'll always try to break away a bit too soon so I'll hold them for the first couple of escape attempts. If the wind is pushing the boat you can hold them so that the current is flowing into their mouth/gills, but that can be kind of tricky in a deep boat. On really tired big fish I've put the kicker in gear for a second or two just to get a little bit of current, but that's a two person job.

Holding them vertically by the tail or by the lip (a la bassmasters) is really hard on their internal organs, their spines, and their bone structure.

Great job getting out on the water!
TF

[SalmonNilla]

How on earth did you guys get the boat in and out of the water? Wasn't the ice thin at the edge? Congrats on the fish.

[hookjawfreak]

TF, thanks for sharing your release techniques. Good ideas. I have an email in to a biologist friend who has a passion for trophy trout. He has some solid knowledge of the dos and don'ts of fish handling, and we have had good conversations on the subject in the past. I will share his wisdom with the board when I get it.

SalmonNilla, The ice drag was abit of a gamble but we knew we had near 6 inches near shore, and we kept almost all of out weight over the boat as we drug it across so that if everything gave way we would fall into the boat. As it turned out, the edge at the open water was over 8 inches thick so it was a pretty safe deal. I would not do it again today as the ice melted a ton in the three days we fished. I'd say the ice will be gone within the week. As far as boat removal goes, I got a huge favor from Tom at the resort, as he pulled us up the beach with his tow sled (snowmobile). The snow on the beach was less than 6 inches deep when we pulled out, so I could have chained up all four on the Toyota and gotten the job done. Throughout the weekend we pulled the boat up onto an ice free section of beach 100 yds east of the launch point.

I am going back in 2 weeks to try again!

[joemomma]

Awesome report, video, and I think the release was first class!:smash: You guys are animals!

[Super Fluke]

Nice fish