Your Biggest Rainbow

[lamiglass drifter]

I cought one a few years ago on the Rogue when I was just learning how to steelhead fish that went a little over 10 lbs. I just was wondering if many get that big in oregon's coastal river system.

[andy-ap emerger]

Whooooooa !
I hooked and landed a big ol buck trout @ 14lbs!!! At Lost Lake (on Mt Hood in June)
Holy Smokes!
The 4wt was buckled over! 5x tippet, a sz 16 flash back pheasant tail nymph!!!! My wife caught the whole thing on film!
:dance:
:dance:
:dance:

[KingFisher85]

Will a brown trout pass ok?
I got on the fly a 13 pound brown out of a pond down the road. Got pictures will try to get up soon

[happybrew]

My biggest was a 32 inch brood trout at E.E. Wilson Pond. I had taken my kids there when they were small. I let them take turns fighting it. They couldn't hold the rod up. Afterwards, I took my oldest to kindergarten, and he told his teacher all about it. Over and over again.

happybrew

[lamiglass drifter]

I was just wondering about wild cold water river trout. I now the state record is 28+ lbs from the Rogue down river a little from where I cought mine. I just was wondering if this might be the next closest thing?

[Grantspastor]

LG...it could be. Did you get yours in the Holy Water? I have seen numerous trout in the six to eight pound range there. If it was below the diversion dam then a ten pound rainbow is a phenomenal fish.

[fishguy]

Grantspastor,
I noticed your post on the main board about the Copper River bow. Let me tell you, you are lucky. There are no longer fish like that in the Copper (Iliamna), the river does not get hardly the amount of salmon it used to so there isn't as much food for the fish to feed on. I have been guiding during the summer time in the Iliamna area for the past couple of years and have seen the Copper at it's worst. I just hope that it returns to the condition it once was. By the way the biggest rainbow I have landed was 28" out of the Kvichak, estimated at 10- 12 lbs.

[Grantspastor]

Fishguy...I'm sorry to hear that the Copper is declining. That fish was caught in 1981. I have floated and fished several of the Iliamna area rivers when I lived in Alaska. How are the other rivers doing...like the Koktuli, Branch, Kvichak....? It's been about four years since I last fished there

[Fish_N_Russ]

wow happybrew, 32" out of EE Wilson huh?

Hmmmmm, I am only about 5 minutes from there.........I always wondered about that place. Now I have an excuse to go somewhere while the wife looks at the exotic bird display lol.
Russ

[Steelie28]

Fishguy,

I guided out of Iliamna during the 2000 season. I was camped up at Fog Lake for 6 weeks and was very disappointed/concerned with the health of the rainbows in the Copper. We ended up naming the fish the "Copper River Eels" as they were very skinny and unhealthy looking. I felt guilty that we were even fishing for them. I heard stories of the Copper from another guide that had 3 seasons up there, and those stories were the reason I wanted to camp there. The Sockeye runs into the lake are the life of that drainage, and they have not been good in the last few years. I have been interested in knowing if the Copper has bounced back since then, but it sounds like it hasn't. I had a few days on the Gibralter where we didn't only spotted a few rainbows. From what I had heard at the time, the Gibralter was one of the better rivers to fish in that area. Lower Talarik is still doing good I hear, as is Moraine. That flyfishing chick from Lee's Ferry, Arizona caught a 34" on the Kvichak the year I was up there. I think there is a world record in that river. What lodge were you working at?

Steelie28

[fishguy]

Grantspastor
We don't fish the Koktuli or the Branch however, we do fish the Kvichak. this last summer, it produced multiple 30"+ rainbows. In my opinion those are the hardest fighting rainbows anywhere, because they are usually fresh from Lake Iliamna.
Fishguy

[Grantspastor]

Yep...I think they are too. Haven't lived until you hook up a 10+ pound Kvichak River rainbow on a 5-6 wt. fly rod

[lone willie]

Sounds like there are a few Rainbow-king guides on the board. 1993 was my most memorable summer! Five weeks on fog lake. The fishing was excellent and the quality of the fish was fine. I hate to hear it's going down hill.

[garyk]

Biggest ever was 34" Davis Lake rainbow C&R'ed about 1994, October.

The week before I had caught lots of hatchery coho on the N.Fk.Nehalem.

When this fished jumped on the hook-set, my first thought was - "Oh, another nice silver". Next instant I remembered there are no coho in Davis.

[Steelie28]

LoneWillie,

Cheers to Copper Camp :cheers: . 6 weeks in 2000. The trout fishing was terrible when I was there, but I had some outstanding days Pike fishing on Fog Lake. Largest was a 42-inch aligator.....those teeth were big!!!

[Grantspastor]

Couple of questions for the guides. Does Walker's Lodge still exist on the Copper? I knew the family. Also...is the Rainbow King Lodge the one owned by Chris Goll? I have a friend that is booked in that lodge later this summer.

[fishguy]

Grantspastor,
I believe Chris Goll owns Rainbow River Lodge. I'm not sure where they are located. Rainow King Lodge is located in the town of Iliamna.
Fishguy

[lone willie]

RKL IS OWNED BY TOM ROBINSON

[Steelie28]

I think Rainbow River Lodge is on the lower lake where we would get picked up after finishing the drift. I'm not sure the name of the lake, but it is not too far from the mouth of of the Copper, maybe a mile or so. Looked like a decent place to stay, very secluded on its own lake. They run jets up the river. Had a few run ins with them while floating. It get pretty competitive up there sometimes, especially on a smaller river like the Copper.

Steelie28