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Thread: Over The Top 2 Weeks!!! (Pic Heavy)

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    Senior Member (too much time on their hands) Big Skyz's Avatar
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    Over The Top 2 Weeks!!! (Pic Heavy)

    So my adventure started by hanging out in Drummond Montana and creating another coyote hunting episode for FoxPro TV. I was with Al Morris, John Bair, and Matt Piippo. That alone would have been adventure enough as everyone of them is quite the character. We had a blast and managed to put enough coyotes on the ground for a good show. It should debut on Roku, Amazon Prime, and YouTube sometime this week or next. Here is one of my favorite photos of the whole trip.


    During the middle of the day Matt made arrangements so that I could do a little westslope cutthroat trout fishing. I've caught a lot of cutthroat trout in Montana but these are my personal bests for size. I won't show every trout I caught, but here are a couple just to give you all an idea of the quality. I was like a kid in a candy store with no budget restraints.


    Here is my biggest on of the trip and my personal best westslope cutty ever.


    After hunting with the boyz, I headed north to Kalispell to fish with another friend of mine. We headed over to Libby and fished on the Kootenai River. My goal was to catch one of the large rainbow trout the river is famous for and if I was really lucky maybe catch a red ban rainbow trout and a bull trout. I have never caught a bull trout before and they were on my bucket list.

    I got this little red ban rainbow the first day.


    The biggest trout the first day was this 22 1/2" 4 pound rainbow. Anywhere else I would be crazy excited over this fish, but on the Kootenai it doesn't turn anyone's head. Still I enjoyed catching it and it gave me a heckuva good fight using the current to its full advantage.


    The next day we debated whether to go back to the river or head to the Thompson River and fish for brown trout. Brownies are my passion, but I can catch them right here at home. We decided to hit the Kootenai and if fishing was slow we would head for the Thompson around noon. Well the fishing was pretty good on the Kootenai so we ended up staying there all day. I caught a number of smaller fish and lost some huge fish within 10 feet or less of the net. One or two right at the net. I was feeling pretty beat up and discouraged when this little bull trout hit. It's the first one I've ever caught and I was actually very excited to catch it. I set a goal a number of years ago to catch every game fish species recognized by the Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks. Now that I caught this bull trout I only have one species left, a tiger muskie. Right after taking this photo I popped the hook out of his mouth and sent him scurrying back into the river. Hope he grows up to be a giant someday.


    My partner was the first to get on board with a big rainbow. He fought this amazing fish for quite a long time before I was able to get it in the net. For anyone wondering every single trout caught in this thread was released. This is one gorgeous monster fish!


    Finally towards the end of the day I hooked my fourth big fish. I was praying like crazy that I wouldn't lose this one. You can only imagine my relief when this one found it's way into the net. It is the heaviest rainbow I have caught to date. I have caught one longer, but this one is by far the heaviest. I wish the darn river otters weren't so hard on the fish there. They chew the tails up really bad. It makes these monster fish look like hatchery brood fish, which they absolutely are not. These are hard fighting wild trout that will test all your tackle to it's very limits. One of the big fish I broke off, broke 20 lbs Pline braid! That stuff can pert near raise the Titanic! Anyway I was happy to land this fish and it was the final fish of the second day. Stay tuned for part II after I returned home.

  2. #2
    Senior Member (too much time on their hands) Big Skyz's Avatar
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    Part II
    I got home on Wednesday July 4th. The next day my main fishing partner asked me if I wanted to join him, and break in his new boat on Holter Lake on Saturday. Our target fish were walleye and yellow perch. We left Great Falls at 5am and were on the lake by 6am. Fishing started off a little slow, but I managed to land this walleye that had a really cool surprise.


    It's the first fwp tagged walleye I have ever caught. I doubt I will be catching anymore anytime soon as this is a fairly rare event. I've only ever caught one other tagged fish in my life and that was a sturgeon on the Marias River. Some may not find catching a tagged fish all that interesting, but it's pretty cool to me.


    The wind picked up around 9am and we ended up finding a more secluded cove to fish in out of the wind. We never caught another walleye, but we did manage to catch a pile of perch like this one. We had plenty for a good sized meal for each of our families. We could have stayed and caught more, but we had enough. Plus, word must have got out, as a lot of boats started to pile into the secluded cove. Some were fishing and some were just full of girls in bikini's enjoying the sun. While it did make for some nice scenery, the noise level exceeded the view, so to speak. So we headed in and called it a day. It was an amazing two weeks and it will take me a while to top it, if I ever do, but I sure won't lack effort in trying to do so. Hope y'all enjoyed the pics and story.

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    Administrator BarryBobPosthole's Avatar
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    Troy, does the tag have a number you can send in to get info on when/where the fish was stocked or tagged?

    I’ve never caught or seen a tagged fish. Cool!

    Looks like that tiger striped perch has a parasite. Our perch get those in the Dog Days of August. Bass get ‘em too but mainly perch.

    BKB
    Viva Renaldo!

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    Senior Member (too much time on their hands) Big Skyz's Avatar
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    Yes the tag has a number and I will be calling them later today. I don't see what you see on that perch, it did not have any parasite.

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    Senior Member (too much time on their hands) DeputyDog's Avatar
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    Great pics and sounds like a great time.

    Of course, you’d get a lot more responses if you had posted pics of the noisy girls in bikinis.


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  6. #6
    Grand High Exalted Taser-Master
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    Couple of them were mite near keepers
    "I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones"
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    pUMpHEAD SYSOp Thumper's Avatar
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    You choose fish over bikini clad girls? Sometimes I worry about you boy!

    Great pics and memories. Sounds like you're having a kick-ass summer!

    P-hole ... weren't you on that trip to Slave Lake when Dave (pretty sure it was Dave) caught that tagged Walleye?
    "Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow-mindedness" - Mark Twain

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    Administrator BarryBobPosthole's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Big Skyz View Post
    Yes the tag has a number and I will be calling them later today. I don't see what you see on that perch, it did not have any parasite.
    Looks like a parasite mark below and between the dorsal amd adipose fins.
    Viva Renaldo!

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    Administrator BarryBobPosthole's Avatar
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    I don’t recall Dave being on the trip I went on up there.

    BKB
    Viva Renaldo!

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    pUMpHEAD SYSOp Thumper's Avatar
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    Well dang! I think I made 3-4 of those trips, so I get cornfuzzled as to who was on each one. Where has Johnboy been lately? If I remember correctly, the catch was made from his boat. I need to dig out some old photos (that was the days before digital, although I have them stored on 3-1/2" floppies ) and see who was along on that excursion.
    "Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow-mindedness" - Mark Twain

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    Senior Member (too much time on their hands) Chicken Dinner's Avatar
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    Man, I should have gone into teaching because that sure looks like a good way to spend the summer!


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  12. #12
    pUMpHEAD SYSOp Thumper's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Chicken Dinner View Post
    Man, I should have gone into teaching because that sure looks like a good way to spend the summer!
    You should try retirement!
    "Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow-mindedness" - Mark Twain

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    Senior Member (too much time on their hands) HideHunter's Avatar
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    *Very Cool*! congrats all around...
    If you turn a dog loose to hunt – you’d better to be ready to deal with what he trees.

  14. #14
    Senior Member (too much time on their hands) Big Skyz's Avatar
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    It was a fun week or two. It may seem like all I do is have fun, but the truth is that this great couple was preceded by 2 1/2 months of Hell. I won't go into details and will just say I am very grateful for the good two weeks to help counter balance life a little.

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