Troutnut.com Fly Fishing for Trout Home
User Password
or register.
Scientific name search:

> > It's Autumn, once again...and a new personal record



Jmd123 has attached these 12 pictures. The message is below.
View Full SizeView Full Size (5.3X larger)
A solid foot of brook trout, took a #12 Royal Wulff
A solid foot of brook trout, took a #12 Royal Wulff
View Full SizeView Full Size (5.3X larger)
Nice stocker rainbow (12") at Reid Lake - biggest one I've caught here so far and 12" is the legal limit.  This one came home and was delicious with lemon and butter!  And had a big leaf-footed bug and parts of a bald-faced hornet in it's stomach.
Nice stocker rainbow (12") at Reid Lake - biggest one I've caught here so far and 12" is the legal limit. This one came home and was delicious with lemon and butter! And had a big leaf-footed bug and parts of a bald-faced hornet in it's stomach.
View Full SizeView Full Size (5.3X larger)
The launch and fall colors at Reid Lake
The launch and fall colors at Reid Lake
View Full SizeView Full Size (5.3X larger)
The first maples to turn, Reid Lake
The first maples to turn, Reid Lake
View Full SizeView Full Size (5.3X larger)
Haven't seen many mushrooms this fall...a pretty one on the way to Reid lake
Haven't seen many mushrooms this fall...a pretty one on the way to Reid lake
View Full SizeView Full Size (5.3X larger)
Male trumpeter swan...came out of a nearby swamp and honked gently at me...
Male trumpeter swan...came out of a nearby swamp and honked gently at me...
View Full SizeView Full Size (5.3X larger)
...and here comes his girlfriend!
...and here comes his girlfriend!
View Full SizeView Full Size (5.3X larger)
Nice bass (15") from Clark's Marsh on a small red and green popper...caught probably 10 bass and 40 or so pumpkinseed on this very same fly that evening.  They're fattening up for winter!
Nice bass (15") from Clark's Marsh on a small red and green popper...caught probably 10 bass and 40 or so pumpkinseed on this very same fly that evening. They're fattening up for winter!
View Full SizeView Full Size (5.3X larger)
Rifle River rainbow, 11.5" - biggest of five I caught that night, better than I've ever done in October, all on a #12 Royal Wulff
Rifle River rainbow, 11.5" - biggest of five I caught that night, better than I've ever done in October, all on a #12 Royal Wulff
View Full SizeView Full Size (5.3X larger)
Monster perch at Reid Lake!  Almost 14 inches...took a #6 silver/grey KBF with nickel dumbbell eyes, and bent my 5-weight over double!  My new personal record on any tackle, and my previous one came from this same lake almost two years ago!
Monster perch at Reid Lake! Almost 14 inches...took a #6 silver/grey KBF with nickel dumbbell eyes, and bent my 5-weight over double! My new personal record on any tackle, and my previous one came from this same lake almost two years ago!
View Full SizeView Full Size (5.3X larger)
Sulfur-shelf, a.k.a. "chicken of the woods" - an all time favorite of mine and a surprising find this late in the season!
Sulfur-shelf, a.k.a. "chicken of the woods" - an all time favorite of mine and a surprising find this late in the season!
View Full SizeView Full Size (5.3X larger)
"Tastes like chicken"...???
"Tastes like chicken"...???
Jmd123October 15th, 2013, 8:27 pm
Oscoda, MI

Posts: 2611
The colors have turned but the fish are still biting, at least when I've been out! Dating back to the last nice brookie from [REDACTED] Pond, here's a series of fishies, fall colors, fungi, and a little wildlife thrown in from my latest fishing adventures. Enjoy!

Jonathon
No matter how big the one you just caught is, there's always a bigger one out there somewhere...
OldredbarnOctober 15th, 2013, 8:47 pm
Novi, MI

Posts: 2608
Pretty little spot there Jonathon! Looks like a good Wood Duck hangout.

Spence
"Even when my best efforts fail it's a satisfying challenge, and that, after all, is the essence of fly fishing." -Chauncy Lively

"Envy not the man who lives beside the river, but the man the river flows through." Joseph T Heywood
CrenoOctober 15th, 2013, 11:32 pm
Grants Pass, OR

Posts: 305
Ya kept the trout but not the perch? With perch like that I would start learning how to regularly catch perch on a fly. Sounds like a great fall going on.
EntomanOctober 16th, 2013, 12:08 am
Northern CA & ID

Posts: 2604
Uh - That perch looks like a smallmouth bass to me, Jon.:):)
"It's not that I find fishing so important, it's just that I find all other endeavors of Man equally unimportant... And not nearly as much fun!" Robert Traver, Anatomy of a Fisherman
PaulRobertsOctober 16th, 2013, 1:58 am
Colorado

Posts: 1776
Very nice. Thanks for those images.
Al514October 16th, 2013, 7:46 am
Central New York

Posts: 142
Is that just a really really dark olive floating line? Or a sinking line?

Nice looking trout, especially the rainbow beneath the bass. You guys should fish some of the Finger Lakes in the fall....14 inch perch are the norm on some lakes!
Jmd123October 16th, 2013, 1:30 pm
Oscoda, MI

Posts: 2611
Artie, that is a very dark floating line, a Cortland Clear Creek weight-forward 3-weight I got on sale earlier this year when I replaced my favorite 3-weight setup. I like the darkness for the stealth factor on small clear streams that I fish.

Regarding the consumption of the yellow perch - yes I did keep it, but unfortunately trusted a friend who said she knew how to fillet but sadly was WAY out of practice...so that fish got butchered in the bad sense of the word and I ended up eating as much as I could but...and for some reason she didn't think it needed to be scaled...blah...a sad end to a fine fish.

Jonathon

P.S. Oh that's right, I meant smallmouth bass! Thanks for correcting my fish ID there, Kurt... ;oD
No matter how big the one you just caught is, there's always a bigger one out there somewhere...
OldredbarnOctober 16th, 2013, 3:00 pm
Novi, MI

Posts: 2608
Trumpeter or Tundra? I want to see your field notes sir? The picture, when I blow it up a bit, goes too fuzzy for me to positively ID...;)

Your favorite Nerder Birder
"Even when my best efforts fail it's a satisfying challenge, and that, after all, is the essence of fly fishing." -Chauncy Lively

"Envy not the man who lives beside the river, but the man the river flows through." Joseph T Heywood
Jmd123October 16th, 2013, 3:43 pm
Oscoda, MI

Posts: 2611
Trumpeters, Spence. "The [tundra swan] adult's black bill often shows a bright yellow spot that the trumpeter lacks."

Robbins, C., B. Bruun, and H. Zim, 1983. Birds of North America, A Field Guide to Identification (rev. ed.). Golden Press, New York. A good scientist always cites their sources.

The best part was, after they came together, they swam over to the west end of the lake (about 13 acres) for a while, then they took off (and trust me, they need a lot of runway and what a commotion!) and headed straight for me, turning just as they were about to fly right over me not even twenty feet off the water! As if they were saying, "see you later"!

These birds are actually quite common around here. I've seen them ice fishing on Alcona Pond (have had great big flocks fly over, magnificent!), at Clark's Marsh, on Foote Pond, now at Reid Lake, they're all over the place. Like the bald eagles! This part of the world that I live in is a naturalist's paradise, and the fishing ain't too bad either!

;oD

Jonathon
No matter how big the one you just caught is, there's always a bigger one out there somewhere...
OldredbarnOctober 16th, 2013, 8:45 pm
Novi, MI

Posts: 2608
Good deal...I had tried to expand the pic to see if there was a yellow patch at the base of the bill and couldn't see it. Picture blurred at that point. Except for the reintroduced Trumpeters they tend to hang out west.

Don't take lightly getting hit...You will regret it if it happens. In 1973 I was at a friends father's farm north of Kazoo in Wayland. I walked around the end of the barn and when I looked up a few geese were headed right at me...I had to hit the dirt...and change my shorts after. :)

It is getting to be the time where some of the northern waterfowl start to migrate down our way. I have seen some arctic birds on Kent Lake in November. I have even seen Loon out there. Coots by the hundreds.

Spence
"Even when my best efforts fail it's a satisfying challenge, and that, after all, is the essence of fly fishing." -Chauncy Lively

"Envy not the man who lives beside the river, but the man the river flows through." Joseph T Heywood
EntomanOctober 17th, 2013, 3:14 am
Northern CA & ID

Posts: 2604
You're welcome. Any time, Jonathon. LOL

That Reid Lake rainbow is pretty for a catchable. Is it a holdover? Looks like it was planted as a fingerling. If not, that's a darn good hatchery you have up there.
"It's not that I find fishing so important, it's just that I find all other endeavors of Man equally unimportant... And not nearly as much fun!" Robert Traver, Anatomy of a Fisherman
FalsiflyOctober 17th, 2013, 3:33 pm
Hayward, WI.

Posts: 661
then they took off (and trust me, they need a lot of runway and what a commotion!) and headed straight for me, turning just as they were about to fly right over me not even twenty feet off the water!

Jonathon, was it anything like this?
Falsifly
When asked what I just caught that monster on I showed him. He put on his magnifiers and said, "I can't believe they can see that."
Jmd123October 17th, 2013, 5:02 pm
Oscoda, MI

Posts: 2611
Allan - LOL - no, not quite! As they say, OMG!!

No, these swans knew where they were going and knew what was in front of them.

Kurt, the MI DNR throws 1,300 to 1,600 or so rainbow trout in this lake between about 6.5 and 7.5 inches annually. And the minimum size is 12" for the frying pan (or casserole dish, if you like), so that by the time they are big enough they look pretty nice. The flesh on this fish was salmon-pink, and it had a big leaf-footed bug (Hemiptera: Coreidae) and the remains of a bald-faced hornet in it's stomach.

But the problem with this lake is that the fish are scattered - I catch one or two fish in one spot, then it goes dead and I have to move the kayak a few hundred yards and try some fresh waters. A nice 9" rainbow bent the rod almost as hard as that big perch (er, smallie!), then after those two, nothing...two more fish in about 2 1/2 hours and that was it. However, it is open year-round so I can still squeeze a few days of kayak fly-fishing in there before things freeze up, if we get some nicer days...50s F and rainy right now, not a fishing day for me.

Jonathon
No matter how big the one you just caught is, there's always a bigger one out there somewhere...
WbranchOctober 17th, 2013, 10:23 pm
York & Starlight PA

Posts: 2733
Jon,

Did you catch that mixed bag of brook trout, rainbows, largemouth, and perch all in the same water?
Catskill fly fisher for fifty-five years.
Jmd123October 18th, 2013, 12:24 am
Oscoda, MI

Posts: 2611
Heavens no, Matt - that would be something, wouldn't it? The brookie came out of [REDACTED] Pond a few days before the end of the season, and the rest of the fish pics are labeled as to location.

Jonathon
No matter how big the one you just caught is, there's always a bigger one out there somewhere...
Feathers5October 28th, 2013, 9:39 am
Posts: 287
The colors have turned but the fish are still biting, at least when I've been out! Dating back to the last nice brookie from [REDACTED] Pond, here's a series of fishies, fall colors, fungi, and a little wildlife thrown in from my latest fishing adventures. Enjoy!

Jonathon


Found a load of sulphur Mushrooms yesterday. They were beginning to get old, but they were still soft and they taste great.
Bruce
Jmd123October 28th, 2013, 2:47 pm
Oscoda, MI

Posts: 2611
Bruce, I'm still eating that big batch I found...they keep very well in the fridge, and go just perfect in the morning (early afternoon, in my case) with bacon for breakfast. I don't have much left considering this is my favorite way to eat them, but I have considered using them as a chicken substitute in some dishes to see how that works. Next year, unless I found more fresh before the snow flies...

Jonathon
No matter how big the one you just caught is, there's always a bigger one out there somewhere...
OldredbarnOctober 28th, 2013, 9:13 pm
Novi, MI

Posts: 2608
I have considered using them as a chicken substitute


I thought that was Molson Canadian...It is for me. ;)

You know, Warren Buffet says "own what you know", maybe I should own some shares of Coors/Molson...Maybe that was Jimmy Buffet???

Spence

"Even when my best efforts fail it's a satisfying challenge, and that, after all, is the essence of fly fishing." -Chauncy Lively

"Envy not the man who lives beside the river, but the man the river flows through." Joseph T Heywood
Jmd123October 29th, 2013, 9:38 pm
Oscoda, MI

Posts: 2611
Spence, you should try these mushrooms - they are absolutely delicious and generally when you find them, you find a nice big bunch! Mine lasted two weeks in the fridge, finished them off yesterday, already missing them...

Dr. Andrew Weil, noted nutritionist, has recommended that vegetarians (and I have strong tendencies in that regard, though not as strict as Spence) eat mushrooms due to their protein content, plus plenty of fiber and vitamins, minerals, etc. Also, he has advocated eating fish...which runs a bit counter to our emphasis on catch-and-release here on Troutnut.com. Although, I'm having a very hard time releasing perch these days...

Jonathon
No matter how big the one you just caught is, there's always a bigger one out there somewhere...
OldredbarnOctober 31st, 2013, 8:09 am
Novi, MI

Posts: 2608
though not as strict as Spence


"Oh yee of little faith!" ;)

I prefer psilocybin mushrooms...;) With them I'm not concerned with anything, especially whether or not I'm getting enough protein. Besides, I think the Molson has the protein problem covered...Right?

Spence the "Merry Prankster"...Owsley who?!


Bruce, I'm still eating that big batch I found...they keep very well in the fridge, and go just perfect in the morning (early afternoon, in my case) with bacon for breakfast.


That's the corn-fed bacon, right? "Free range" ;)
"Even when my best efforts fail it's a satisfying challenge, and that, after all, is the essence of fly fishing." -Chauncy Lively

"Envy not the man who lives beside the river, but the man the river flows through." Joseph T Heywood

Quick Reply

You have to be logged in to post on the forum. It's this easy:
Username:          Email:

Password:    Confirm Password:

I am at least 13 years old and agree to the rules.

Related Discussions

TitleRepliesLast Reply
Re: Escargo-eating trout and other mysteries of stillwater fishing
In General Discussion by Jmd123
1Nov 4, 2015
by TimCat
They're STILL eating my hoppers! Plus, a very large minnow...
(1 more)

In the Photography Board by Jmd123
0
"Comfort fishing"...a.k.a. the hometown lake
In the Photography Board by Jmd123
0
Re: First kayak fishing of the year - but again, the flowers outdid the fish
(6 more)

In the Photography Board by Jmd123
3Jun 22, 2018
by Jmd123
Re: Sinking Tip
In Gear Talk by Mcflyangler
5Jan 29, 2017
by Jmd123
Re: Little evening pond trip to Mile 36.6 pond on the Steese
In Site Updates by Troutnut
2Aug 30, 2013
by Troutnut
Re: 1 lb 4oz Brownie
In Fishing Reports by Sla9104
3May 31, 2014
by Sla9104
Re: A couple of very nice trips to the Pond
In the Photography Board by Jmd123
3Sep 25, 2015
by Oldredbarn
Re: Last trout of the year? Oh, and perch too!
In the Photography Board by Jmd123
2Nov 17, 2015
by Jmd123
Re: Spring is FINALLY here!
(1 more)

In the Photography Board by Jmd123
2Apr 17, 2013
by PaulRoberts