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The White Cloud: When you know they like your eggs!

February 15, 2015 By JD Leave a Comment

Good-Eggs
Here’s yet another cool pic I shot last season of a king munching on a glob of sulfite-cured eggs. You always know you’ve got a cure the fish like when they mash it into white smoke!

Filed Under: Cool Photos, Underwater Photos/Video Tagged With: chinook salmon, king salmon, roe, underwater

10 Mind Blowing Giant Steelhead

November 21, 2014 By JD 28 Comments

Okay steelhead junkies, hang onto your hats… here are 10 massive steelhead that will make your heads spin!

37-pound steelhead
Nick English with his massive, jaw-dropping and and well-publicized 37-pound beast caught on the Kispiox River in British Columbia.

MOBY
Andrew Fairclouth, right, with guide Gill McKean, hooked “Moby” on a fly in BC’s Kitimat River. While Moby was not weighed prior to release, he was very likely in the mid 30’s. Using Sturdy’s Weight Formula (length x girth squared x .00133), which was developed for Dean River steelhead, you get an amazing 35.8 pounds. The Skeena/Kispiox Formula (length x girth squared divided by 775) designed to estimate the weight of the extra girthy fish those drainages are prone to produce, gives you 34.8 pounds.

In either case, Fairclouth’s steelhead would eclipse the fish long accepted as the world fly rod record of 33 pounds, set by Karl Mauser in 1963. Read the incredible story of “Moby” HERE.

My Favorite Steelhead Fishing Gear

IGFA-WORLD-RECORD-STEELHEAD
The current IGFA All-Tackle World Record Steelhead was caught while salmon trolling in the salt!

36-pound-steelhead
Chuck Etwart caught his 36-pound steelhead onOctober 5, 1954 in the Kispiox River.

35 pound steelhead
This massive dark buck was caught and released by Jeff Wissing (left) on the upper Quinault River with guide George Rose (right) in 2004. It measured 46 inches, with a 24 inch girth and weighed approx. 35 pounds!

Photo from Steelhead Fly Fishing and Flies, by Trey Combs (one of the all-time great reads, by the way!)
Photo from Steelhead Fly Fishing and Flies, by Trey Combs (one of the all-time great reads, by the way!)

On October 8, 1962, Karl Massuer listened to his beloved San Francisco Giants defeat the New York Yankees in Game 4 of the World Series on the radio and then went out and caught this 33-pound World Record Fly-Caught steelhead on the Kispiox River. A pretty dang good day!

By the way, the starting pitchers that game were Juan Marichal and Whitey Ford, respectively… neither of whom got a decision. The winning pitcher that game? None other than Don Larsen…who had thrown the only Perfect Game in World Series history as a member of the Yankees on October 8, 1956!

32 pound steelhead
All I know about this leviathan is that it  measured 44 inches by 24 inches, which using the steelhead weight formula, comes out at 32 freaking pounds! WOW!

29.5-pound-steelhead
Peter Harrison of Port Hadlock, WA shows off the enormous 44-inch, 29.5-pound wild steelhead buck he caught in Washington’s Hoh River on a spey rod. The mammoth steelie created quite a fuss in angling circles for a couple reasons… First off, it’s huge (duh!). It was weighed almost 24 hours after it was caught, so it was most likely a 30 plus pounder alive. Secondly it was a wild fish that was killed…

Read more about it HERE.

Huge British Columbia steelhead
This obese chunkier of a steelhead got released by a client of guide Gill McKean of West Coast Fishing Adventures (left)while fishing a yarn ball under a float in BC’s Kitimat River. Estimated weight: 30 pounds!

Photo:: www.pioneersaloon.com
Photo:: www.pioneersaloon.com

On October 1st, 1985, Clay Carter beached an enormous steelhead at lower Patch on the Kispiox River in BC. He quickly measured the fish and let it go (So awesome!). Using length and girth measurements, the fish was estimated to weigh 37 pounds!

A fiberglass replica of Clay’s prize catch is on display just inside the Pioneer Saloon dining room. in Ketchum. A photo of the memorable moment hangs just outside the grill. Clay’s close friends and the Pioneer Saloon are proud to keep alive the memory of this gracious sportsman.

For more info, check out my steelhead techniques section

Filed Under: Angling Records, Cool Photos, Trophy Room Tagged With: alaska, babine river, british columbia steelhead, fly fishing, IGFA world record, kispiox river, kitimat river, record

Chum Salmon: Blue Collar Brawlers

November 3, 2014 By JD 2 Comments

CHIUM-BATTLE
Chum salmon don’t get a lot of love from anglers. After all, wouldn’t you rather chase something called “The King” instead of a fish with the nickname of “Dog?”

But this bad rap is unwarranted. They are biting, fighting machines. Sure, they’re not as good to eat as other salmon species, but from a pure sporting standpoint, they’re terrific. Our man Reilly puts it best:

“They bite like crazy, they pull hard and there’s usually lots of ’em around…what’s not to like?”

Indeed!

Filed Under: Cool Photos Tagged With: chum salmon

The Amazing Flying Coho Salmon

October 1, 2014 By JD 3 Comments

Coho are crazy, leaping freaks. Here are just a few shots I took of them in Alaska this summer…

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Filed Under: Cool Photos Tagged With: alaska, coho salmon, silver, togiak river

Underwater Salmon Bite…or Not?

September 16, 2014 By JD 2 Comments

Here’s a a really interesting sequence of underwater photos I took of a small king attacking a glob of roe…and then passing on it. Sorry for the fuzziness of these shots, but this fish  was moving so quickly I couldn’t get him into focus!

He's a nice cluster of red eggs and a chartreuse Corkie drifting along...

He’s a nice cluster of red eggs and a chartreuse Corkie drifting along…

Suddenly, a king comes out of nowhere...

Suddenly, a king comes out of nowhere…

At this point, a hookup looks like a strong possibility...

At this point, a hookup looks like a strong possibility…or does he really see which way the hook is facing and attacks from the opposite side?

Check out that cloud of sweet milky goodness…how the heck could he resist? Maybe he's just circling around for another pass...

Check out that cloud of sweet milky goodness…how the heck could he resist? Maybe he’s just circling around for another pass…

Or not! What the heck happened here? And how often does it happen per day?? Inquiring minds want to know!

Or not! What the heck happened here? And how often does it happen per day?? Inquiring minds want to know!

Filed Under: Cool Photos, Underwater Photos/Video Tagged With: chinook, king salmon, roe, underwater, underwater camera

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