Many Trout anglers are lucky to catch one 20 incher a season. I've spoken to some that have never even reached that mark throughout their lives. What I'm saying is a 20 incher is the hat trick of small stream Trout fishing. It's the golden mark. The MiDNR actually considers anything above 15 to be a trophy, but I disagree. 20 is the magic number.
Last night I scored three hat tricks. Two 21 inchers and a 23 incher. Two of the three were on DFTannheimer Spinners and one was caught with a Rapala Original Floating Brown Trout pattern. The fish gods were smiling upon me. I have never caught so many giant fish in one outing. The stream was about 20 minutes away from my house, and I think I laughed the entire drive home.
Anyway, the pics and stories are below. I am going to be in Alabama for the next week, so I will not be able to make any lures until I return. As usual, I will get them out as fast as I possibly can for those who order while I am away. Sorry for the less than stellar picture quality. I forgot my digital camera, and had to use my phone's camera.
Last night I scored three hat tricks. Two 21 inchers and a 23 incher. Two of the three were on DFTannheimer Spinners and one was caught with a Rapala Original Floating Brown Trout pattern. The fish gods were smiling upon me. I have never caught so many giant fish in one outing. The stream was about 20 minutes away from my house, and I think I laughed the entire drive home.
Anyway, the pics and stories are below. I am going to be in Alabama for the next week, so I will not be able to make any lures until I return. As usual, I will get them out as fast as I possibly can for those who order while I am away. Sorry for the less than stellar picture quality. I forgot my digital camera, and had to use my phone's camera.
Fish 1: Big ole hook jawed male. This guy was sitting right in the culvert under the road where I entered. He chased my first toss, struck and missed. The second throw he was on. He ripped my 5 foot ultra light with 4 lb test right down river. I had to chase him a bit to get him back. I got him to net, took a few pics and watched as he swam downstream after released.
Here's a close up of that kype. Dude was a bruiser.
Fish 2: I made my way upstream. I missed what looked like an 18 incher, and caught a few 15s and such. When I came to a 90 degree bend in the river I knew that the hole master was somewhere in the darkness near the flow into the bushy area. After a few tosses I hooked into what I thought was a snag. The snag took off and jumped three times. This hog was a fighter. After jumping he wrapped me around sticks and logs a couple times. I had to untangle and continue to follow him until I got him in the net. Once in the net the first time he jumped out. My Brodin couldn't handle him. He took off downstream again, but had tired himself out. I got him back to the net again after a short battle. Once in the net I had to use my hand to hold his head in as he was just too big to fit well. As I had my hands by his face he pushed himself forward and bit me! My thumb bled for a while after this guy decided to show me what's up. After he bit me I decided he would be going on my smoker. I do respect his tenacity, though.
Fish 3: After I caught two 20+ fish I pondered that this stream must have something in the water. Steroids? Some version of HGH for fish; FGH? I don't know. I decided that I would go for one more. If I caught another over 20 I would call it a short day as to not upset the fish gods. I moved my way upstream and came to a small rapid above a really big hole. The hole had a log going across the top of it that made my traditional approach of an upstream cast difficult. I decided to work above the hole and drift in a spinner to see if there was anything lurking below that log. To my surprise a slob left his comforts and smashed the spinner within 3 seconds of dropping it in. After a good battle I got this last beastly brute to hand. A few pics and away he went back to his home.
I had my wife take a picture of me with fish 2 after I got him home.