# Share a story: your most memorable catch of 2015



## TheCream (Mar 19, 2009)

I thought this could be fun and a good way to combat cabin fever. Share the tale of your most memorable catch from 2014.

Mine was back in early spring. We had a warm spell so I decided to try the local carp flat from my kayak, hoping for some early season feeders in shallow water. I was push-poling (more or less) with my paddle in a shallow bay, a carp targeted, when my earlier mistake reared its ugly head. When I got on the water I put my cell phone in a dry box against the hull of the boat, and forgot to silence it and turn off the vibrate function. So there I am, stealthily approaching a big tailer...when my phone rang, and vibrated against the hull of the kayak. That fish took off like a U-boat running from depth charges, leaving a wake behind it. About the time I got the phone under control, I looked back over my shoulder and a good carp I didn't see that I had actually paddled past was somehow not spooked and was about 25' behind me over my left shoulder. I quickly made a cast past the fish and did the "drag and drop" right on the fish's nose. As the fly was falling, I saw the line twitch and stuck him. The sleigh ride was on, and it was a lengthy fight before I finally got the fish to the net. This one taped right at 30" and ended up being the biggest carp I landed this past year. The year before I got a 34" common carp from the same area, so there's bigger fish there.




























Share away, folks!


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## FL-boy (Feb 12, 2013)

Mine came in October on our week long trip to the Oak. Started fishing Monday morning and caught good kings, but I was after my first steelhead. Took me until Friday, but I finally got my first, and it was just over 7 lbs.











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## lorainfly24 (Jun 21, 2014)

In the mid spring I had just gotten my first two handed rod and was finally comfortable enough with it to get out and swing for some chrome. I went to a new spot on the upper V with a flow rate of about 300 and very stained water, but I was so eager to get out and try my new set up it did not matter what the conditions where. Where I walked in from I was overlooking a good pool and decided to start there. I got in and started working the pool from the top down. As I was doing so I caught a fish rising further down the pool near the tail. So I worked my way carefully down the pool trying to make all the perfect casts and when I almost got to the spot where I saw the fish I got a big bump....bump...bump....and take. The fish was on and the fight was beautiful. After I landed and held the fish in the water I have never had that feeling from catching a fish before. The only thing I can relate to it would be like shooting a nice buck while hunting. but it was an incredible feeling and that's what got me hooked on spey fishing.


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## Mr. A (Apr 23, 2012)

I caught the flu on new years, took some tamiflu. Felt real good for about 4 hours and fever spiked. Went back to the doc and found it turned to pneumonia. Not my "favorite" thing of 2015 but it all I've caught so far.


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## nitsud (May 22, 2010)

Fun thread, nice catches!

It had been a long, wet spring for us, and I was on the verge of changing jobs. Part of my worldview is that people should take some time off between jobs if possible, and I planned for a week where I didn't have anything to do. Just a week off, in the middle of summer, with the kids at daycare, and nothing substantial to do. The fishing gods smiled on me as the flows dropped, and I caught fish on each day of my vacation, after repeated failure in the spring. The most memorable was this striped beast. It came from the fast current near a rocky chute. I watched it peel itself off of the rock wall to follow my fly and strike with a splash. It bulldogged upstream in heavy current, using the weight of the water to apply pressure on me like an old pro. The fight was short but intense on the 9 wt, and after some pictures, the fish was sent on its way. Not the biggest fish I caught this year, but up there, and certainly the most memorable.

It turned into a crazy good year, my best ever, by a wide margin. Here's to 2015 being better for all!


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## toobnoob (Jun 1, 2010)

My most memorable outing this past year was fishing a small tributary near my house. I had some luck targeting quillbacks the week prior with my 3 wt and decided to take a quick run to see if I could hook up with a couple more. I pulled a few smallies and chubs drifting a stonefly. I was working a current seam when my indicator disappeared so I tightened up on the line and all hell broke loose. Clearly not a quillback but a 23&#8221; carp. Not a big carp by any stretch of the imagination but on a 8&#8217;6&#8221; 3 wt with 6x tippet it was one of the most difficult fights I&#8217;ve had. It took a while but I finally wore it down enough to get ahold of the tail in the shallows. Man what a fight, I came close to losing that fish many times but that tippet held (and my knots).










The quillback from the week earlier.


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