01-17-08 Blessed by the Putah Gods part II

brian clemens · Senior Member

01-17-08 Blessed by the Putah Gods part II

Chris Laskodi · Veteran Member

Sounds like a great day Brian. Seems like that spot has been producing for you real well this year. Wish I knew which hole you're fishing.

Just curious if you're actually taping these fish. I haven't gotten a fish above 24" this year or seen any caught. Haven't seen many fish bigger than 24" over the years as well. You should tape the big ones and get a girth measurement as well, that'll give you a good estimate on weight. You also need a digi cam so we can see all these hogs as soon as it happens, I'm tired of waiting months to see them, I'm sure everyone else is too!

Another thing, I don't know how much a net will help you, most of the bigger Putah fish don't fit in my net and end up flipping out and my net has an 18" bow. Anything bigger and its a pain to carry around especially when bush whacking. I usually only net smaller fish just because they're impossible to grab since they are always so hyper and jumpy, the big fish i usually just get in the shallows and tail the fish.

Good luck in the next few weeks, hope to meet you out there someday! Seen your car before but have never stopped to say hi.

Matt R · Senior Member

Brain way to go that's a sweet day right there.

ez · Senior Member

nice going dude!!!! that must have been asome..liked to have something like that on a bamboo rod...havent been out much this year !!! crap havent been out in sometime...hooked on this damed xbox 360...cant let go somebody help me PLEASE!!!!!.got to sit here an wait for calls to go to work....sheet metal...hey havent even picked up my new liscense...what do they cost ihate to ask.....got to get it and get out.....tired of reading about all you guyes getting all the big ones....god bless all uuu

Packrat · Senior Member

Are these fish actually being measured or are you just guessing at the size? It's very easy to over estimate.

27 1/2 is an absolute monster, I know, I caught one that went 27 at Pyramid and it was measured at the scene, first against the rod, then with a tape measure.

If it was really 27 then that's awesome for you! Can't wait for pics, don't wait to finish the roll off in your disposable, just get it developed and post it up!

dtp916 · Senior Member

Nice Brian. That is indeed a big fish. What do you use to determine its length? I have measured the wraps on my rod and can go from there.

27" and 25" are beasts. Can't wait for the pics!

Nice fish Packrat.

Chris Laskodi · Veteran Member

Packrat,
Speaking of overestimation, talked to a guy earlier this year who said his buddy caught a 34" rainbow out of Putah. I had asked him if he had saw it or saw pictures and he said yes, then I asked if he taped it, of course it was a no. I told him I doubt that it was that big since a 34" fish is pretty rare in general. I've caught a few but those were steelhead and they don't count.

After talking with him for a few mins about fishing, he started saying how his buddy was full of it and then realized that the fish probably wasn't that big. Its funny how a 34" fish is now a 28" fish. Gotta love fish stories.

James, have you ever tried putting little marks on your rod as well? Had that on one of the rods I built. I know the distance from my cork to the first guide on most of my rods, but its amazing how big an inch is when you catch a monster. I know I'm guilty from the overestimation. Thats why I carry a tape measure now. The tape never lies.

Packrat · Senior Member

All you can do is take someone's word for it but I've seen a lot of pictures of so called 18 and 20 inch fish and just have to say NO WAY to most of them. Once you've caught them yourself and actually measured them with a tape, you have a much better idea of estimation. What most people guess is a 24 inch fish is probably more like 20 in reality. 24 inches is huge, heck, even 20 is pretty big!

I really get a laugh at guessing a fishes length that was never even landed...who do they think they are Houdini!

This Pit river bow in the net was measured at 18. These other 2 Putah bows were 16. I've seen many pictures where guys would have said these fish are 20+....it's too easy to over estimate with the excitement of catching a nice fish. Just keeping it real...the tape never lies, just the fisherman

-- Edited by Packrat at 15:03, 2008-01-18

windknots · Senior Member

I'm convinced Brian caught some fine fish, and his estimates may be right on the money for all I know or care. But I agree, I find my estimates are all over the place unless I have something to measure with.� Most fish I catch fall in the thumb tip to pinky tip category, and a 17 incher will span the opening of my net, and after that I have to measure it by comparing to the windings on the rod.

Trout in the 16-18" categories�are powerful fish, a 20 incher is a brute, and a 22 incher is a monster, beyond that has been unattainable so far for me so I couldn't comment.� As it is, I start bragging once they're pushing 16 inches.� Size is icing on the cake, I'm just happy when I can spend a day on a good creek somewhere.

I caught a 22" Rainbow out of Tahoe spinfishing from shore, I was shocked when I measured it, I think it was dwarfed by the size of the water it came out of, I knew it was big but I didn't realize it was that big.� On the other hand I caught a 22 incher out of a small body of water and would have guessed it to be 24" easy.

Heck, a 14" trout is a hefty fish for most of the waters I fish, I'm pretty stoked when I some of those.

dtp916 · Senior Member

Chris: I have thought about marks, and remember seeing a long sticker that has the numbers too. I just measured some of my wraps and remember. JT also gives his estimate based on his net length of 24". The first fish I caught Monday I thought was at least 23" but after measuring it, more like 21". Then I did actually get a 23". That was the biggest rainbow I have ever caught, and the biggest fish out of Putah. 23" is giant. I can even imagine a 27" fish, thats a freakin unreal.

cole · Senior Member

I saw a couple fish last week that were damn close to 24" in the creek. I'm pretty good at sizing em up and I have a hard time stretching the truth about fish. Awhile back I was watching a show on TV and this guy catches a nice brownie about 18 inches and when he pulls it up on the boat the friggin guide goes nice 23 incher! WHAT? Brian, everyone wants to hate when they weren't there. evileye

DTP, how big was that Truckee fish from yesterday.� That was a nice fish.

-- Edited by cole at 17:16, 2008-01-18

shon42073 · Senior Member

How big a fish looks in a pic has alot to do with the angle in which the pic. is taken and how you are holding it. Ok packrat, or anyone else....Guess� the length of this one, It was closely measured. And I aint gonna lie !

-- Edited by thecaptain at 18:16, 2008-01-18

-- Edited by thecaptain at 18:17, 2008-01-18

windknots · Senior Member

I'll bite .... 19 1/2 inches... That's a beautiful fish, I'm digging all of the fish pics that are getting posted.

SK60 · Senior Member

I grew up fishing with my Dad� and Grandpa almost every Saturday of the year. We hit every slough, pothole, canal or creek available within a rough triangle made up of Gridley, Colusa, and Oroville. My GP was very old school-12 foot bamboo pole with 12 ft of 40 lb dacron braided line, two size 8 Eagle claw hooks and a real cork bobber somewhere between a golf ball and baseball in diameter. And man, he could catch fish with the red worms he dug out of the Del Monte cannery waste piles, usually outfishing my Dad and me, equipped though we were with our shiny Mitchell 300's and Shakespeare spinning rods. I used to ask him "Grandpa, why do you catch so many more fish than me?" His stock answer: "I hold my mouth right and I spit on my worms to make them wigglier." I can believe the wigglier worms because he quaffed red powdered snuff constantly, spitting a red stream every couple of minutes-it did seem to light a fire under those worms when the snuff hit them.

So, Brian, you must be holding your mouth just right to hook, catch, or lose so many fish when some of the rest of us are struggling to get a touch; however, I have no idea whether or not you are spitting on your fly to increase the odds.

dtp916 · Senior Member

18" max

shon42073 · Senior Member

Come on dtp shes got a little size to her.

Packrat · Senior Member

18 to 20, don't think it's over 20 but it's a nice one. When you hold fish so far out it's deceiving, I like to hold them in close to be proportional to my body.

cole · Senior Member

You guys are terrible.� We are pretty tired of the Pyramid fish there Packrat.� When you're 80 you will still be talking about that fish.� I give you 22.5 Captain. biggrin

shon42073 · Senior Member

Barely 21".

Howard · Member

I agree, that looks like a 20 to 21 inch fish to me.� But Packrat, I can see those other fish look about the size you say, but that one in the middle (of which we can only see the middle) does not look like a 16 inch fish. Hard to tell from that pic, but if that is 16 inches, it is a very fat 16 inch fish.�

Packrat · Senior Member

cole wrote:

You guys are terrible.� We are pretty tired of the Pyramid fish there Packrat.� When you're 80 you will still be talking about that fish.� I give you 22.5 Captain.

Come on, I've only posted it like twice on different threads. I'm only using it for reference since I know for a fact that it was 27 inches. You are right about one thing, I'll never forget that fish! Let's see what you've caught that measures up

Packrat · Senior Member

Howard wrote:

I agree, that looks like a 20 to 21 inch fish to me.� But Packrat, I can see those other fish look about the size you say, but that one in the middle (of which we can only see the middle) does not look like a 16 inch fish. Hard to tell from that pic, but if that is 16 inches, it is a very fat 16 inch fish.�

On Monday I'll post a full body shot of the same fish, I tell no tale!

shon42073 · Senior Member

I once caught a a 28 incher on putah, I was 18 and used a peice of nightcrawler. And I bbq it.

dtp916 · Senior Member

Hmmm, well you do a good job at taking pics with fish!

Hold them out to the camera, is what i try to do.

Great fish.

Howard · Member

Packrat, I like that picture of the 27 inch fish, I like all these fish pics and I don't really care how big they really are.�� But speaking of big, I went fishing with Bono as a guide about the third time I ever went to Putah.� At the end of a long day, with many nice fish, I landed a 27 inch fish (I think it says 28 in Bono's pictures on the website) and it looked exactly like yours. I mean the size, the color and that ferocious jaw were very, very similar.��It was quite a fish.� As one well trained in the art of exageration, but also interested in the actual facts, I have to enjoy it when someone says they caught a 27" fish. One part of me believes it, the other part thinks it is a great story whether it was 23 or 27.� But I know those really big fish are there.� Maybe not 34, although I think Bono caught a brown at Putah that was close to that size.

Black Cloud · Senior Member

I agree that it is� easy to� over estimate the size of a fish . These fish were all taped , all caught on Putah except the one caught in the mountains.#1 was 20 ,#2 was 24, #3 was 24 , #4 was 26, #5 was 27.

memebop · Veteran Member

Congrats!

You've become a hell of a fisherman in a short time, and I'm afraid from some of the comments that it is "buggin'" the natives.

Too damn bad!��

I'm happy as hell to read your posts and imagining myself there��horsing in a hog next to you!

Bad Bob

Nohackle · Senior Member

I put pieces of tape wrapped around my rod.� Red=12", White=15", Blue=20".� How I chose those lengths I can't remember.� Later, when I started catching bigger fish, I added a fourth tape, Yellow=24".� The advantage of putting tape on your rod is that can just lay the fish down right next to your rod to measure him.�

Packrat · Senior Member

Black Cloud wrote:

I agree that it is� easy to� over estimate the size of a fish . These fish were all taped , all caught on Putah except the one caught in the mountains.#1 was 20 ,#2 was 24, #3 was 24 , #4 was 26, #5 was 27.

Nice! Now those are some hogs I have no trouble believing the size. If you take your 24 inch photo and compare that to some of the other supposed 24 inch fish from this board you'll see quite a discrepancy in size. What mountain stream did that monster come from if you don't mind saying?

WytEurp · Senior Member

You Guys are like a bunch of old cackling women.........Im going fishing see you later......