ronk Posted March 25, 2010 Report Share Posted March 25, 2010 Hit a river for the 3rd time this year on 3/23 for 6.5 hours starting at 12:45 with water temp at 52 & rising to 55 under the sunny skies by the time I quit.This outting was about 2.5 hrs longer than usual for me partly because it was such a beautiful,windless day but mostly because the fish were "on".The river was still pretty hi at 640cfs but had dropped & cleared some since I'd fished it on 3/19.So I saw no need to resort to the outsized 4.5" fly I used then fishing a 3" brown meat whistle the entire day instead.I carhopped to 3 areas.There are 2 good stretches in the 1st area.Got nothing in the 1st but after fishing the 2nd hard I finally hooked up with a 19.5" brute that with his tail pinched would've gone 20.The 2nd are is a long stretch with potential thruout but wanting to save time for the 3rd area I only fished a portion of it first losing one about 15-16" before landing a 17".There was probably about an nour left to the fishing day when I pulled up to the 3rd area which has 2 good spots,a sweeper & downriver the still standing remains of a large dead tree right along shore below which the water is deeper than in the surrounding area.I got nothing in the 1st spot but hit paydirt in the 2nd quickly landing 3 in just about as many casts at 19,18,& 15-16".I didn't bother measuring/photoing the last one not only because he looked pretty small compared to the others I'd gotten but also because the camera battery was about juiced out & I wanted to save it for one last bigger one just in case.I used my 6 wt but a matador's cape would've been good too because all the smb that day fought as hard as brahma bulls.All the fish came from near shore except the biggest one which came from a slack spot in a fairly swift mid river run. Like the title of that great old Dinah Washington song What A Difference A Day Makes.3/24 was cooler but most significantly without any sun to warm the water which peaked at 50 degrees after the fish had been spoiled by the 52-55 temps of the day before.I fished 2 different areas which I hoped would produce something even though I knew they weren't as good as the ones from the day before.Fished for 3.5 hrs. Long story short got zilch with either the meat whistle or a large white/chartreuse clouser. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Loebach Posted March 25, 2010 Report Share Posted March 25, 2010 Great looking fish, Ron. Way to go! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve S. Posted March 25, 2010 Report Share Posted March 25, 2010 I'll be sending you some new GPS flies to try out! Great job Ron! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bterrill Posted March 26, 2010 Report Share Posted March 26, 2010 Great job, Ron! Had to feel great. The correct way to measure a bass is to shut the mouth completely and pinch the tail. Depending on the fish you can lose or gain length. But it is the correct way to measure. Don't pip yourself out of a 20"er if it was! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob G Posted March 26, 2010 Report Share Posted March 26, 2010 All I will say is "So very Envious", love those spots on the first one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest airbornemike Posted March 26, 2010 Report Share Posted March 26, 2010 Ron I'm officially jellouse, very nice Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Don R Posted March 26, 2010 Report Share Posted March 26, 2010 Fantastic catch Ron! The correct way to measure a bass is to shut the mouth completely and pinch the tail. You're spot on B. I hear some folks just lift the fish up to their rod and add a couple inches. Crazy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ronk Posted March 26, 2010 Author Report Share Posted March 26, 2010 Fantastic catch Ron! You're spot on B. I hear some folks just lift the fish up to their rod and add a couple inches. Crazy. The only trouble is you'd need a 3rd hand to pinch the tail while holding the fish with one & the tape measure trying for an accurate measure with the other.Guess it'd be ok to just add a .5" instead from now on? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Kast Posted March 26, 2010 Report Share Posted March 26, 2010 Congrats Ron.... beautiful fish! I'd be half tempted to hang up the rod until next year after a day like that. HALF tempted! LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim J Posted March 27, 2010 Report Share Posted March 27, 2010 Ron, Fantastic fish! 19.5 is a huge, rare fish and you couldn't ask for better colors. Bronze beauty! Congrats! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark K Posted March 27, 2010 Report Share Posted March 27, 2010 Nice fish. You should have posted this in the reports forum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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