Salmonid insanity!

[MichaelVerdirame]

Yes this is a post about salmon! But not what you were expecting

It has been a while since I've posted on OFF. Recently, I started species hunting: fishing for diversity rather than catching the same species over and over and over and over (ie bass) hahaha. I've taken a real liking to the challenges it poses and the different techniques I have to learn for each and every fish. It adds a sense of adventure, exploration to my trips. What can I say, I'm really enjoying it... anyways on with the report!

I had originally set out to catch a particular minnow which I have not yet identified. I had caught a minnow with bright red fins earlier in the year at this spot, and I wanted to revisit it to add it to my lifelist with a picture. Two trips later, I have failed to find this particular fish... but I have come across so much more!

I was lucky enough to happen upon a smorgasbord of salmonids (among a few other things). A size 20 parachute adams dry fly and a small bit of worm on a small hook were my tickets to the following fish.

I've taken a crack at the identifications myself, and your help is very, very welcome =). I have more pictures of each fish than I initally posted, in case we need more to clarify.

The first evening I happened upon a few resident rainbows, a common shiner, and this made my night:

At first, I was confused by all the spotting. I showed the picture to Ken (Muskiebait) and he told me it was a Brook Trout! Why of course it was! I had not expected to find a pure brook trout where I was fishing, lucky me!

It had some sort of parasitic infection, and it had it bad. Regardless, looking past the black spots you can see just how gorgeous this fish was:

 

[MichaelVerdirame]

On my next trip to the same spot I started off by sight-fishing this white sucker:

More than 60 scales on the lateral line... so it has to be a white sucker right?

I returned to the pool I had caught that brookie to find resident rainbow after rainbow. I noticed some micros in the pool and tied on my size 24 hooks to get what I think is a Blacknose Dace:

Blacknose Dace? New species for me! (I just have to figure out what exactly it is!).

I worked my way upstream, catching rainbows along the way:

and then... in a shallow and fast eddie, I hooked into something different! Could it be... a SALMON of sorts! I noted the deeply forked tail as indication of a salmon.

It's either atlantic, chinook or coho since those are the ones that are stocked.

I was stoked! I had never caught a salmon parr before! I caught another one out of the same lane but it shook out of my hands before I could get a sharp picture...

 

[MichaelVerdirame]

I've read that salmon parr prefer faster water than trout parr. Well, in another shallow area further upstream I got this guy:

Again, another deeply forked tail, but different colouration. Another salmon of sorts!

I hope to get some help in identifying the 3 salmon that I was able to catch. I have more pictures, but I was very preoccupied in getting these stocked fish back into the water. They're my tax money after all! hahahah =)


edit: sorry about the crooked images... facebook rotation isn't working tonight for some reason! will fix soon.

 

[Dugger]

Good lordy that Speck is gorgeous!!! Is your creek known for Specks??? What a fantastic catch!

 

[MichaelVerdirame]

Good lordy that Speck is gorgeous!!! Is your creek known for Specks??? What a fantastic catch!

Thanks =)

It's the biggest one I've caught, with lots of red dots. Can't complain, it was a nice fish to lay my eyes upon! I didn't want to let go of it, I just kept staring at it underwater LOL. And the best part was that it was completely unexpected, and probrably one of the few in there... because all i've ever caught there this year are suckers, minnows, and rainbows.

edit: wow and that's 300 posts for me on OFF... whoo hoo!!! I joined this forum about 13 months ago.

 

[FishingNoob]

WOW! Those are some gorgeous fish and the speck if absolutely breath taking!!! I think the parasite makes it look cooler, but then again I've never seen a speck before.

Where you using a fly rod?? What bait did you use for the dace?

I don't think I've ever seen a size 24 hook, how small is the eye, must be like threading a needle..

Great Report! How was your trip to california??

 

[MichaelVerdirame]

WOW! Those are some gorgeous fish and the speck if absolutely breath taking!!! I think the parasite makes it look cooler, but then again I've never seen a speck before.

Where you using a fly rod?? What bait did you use for the dace?

I don't think I've ever seen a size 24 hook, how small is the eye, must be like threading a needle..

Great Report! How was your trip to california??

LOL the california trip is incoming! I gotta clear up all the smaller reports first to make way LOL =).

Fly rod, no haven't invested in a fly rod yet. I'm using a small clear or wood float a foot or two up the line to add weight to the fly so that I can cast it. It works well for small trout, it might not be able to fool the big ones though... haven't tried or compared.

The dace was on a bit of worm .

The worm works better for the trout, it has the whole package... looks and smell. The fly is just plain FUN to fish... to watch the fish rise up and smash it... it never gets old. At the same time a good amount of fish will rise up to take the fly and turn around last scented... because the fly isn't SCENTED like the worm... I think they notice something wrong. I wanted to tip it with a bit of worm.. but that would ruin the fly!

anyways... worms are magic fish bait ... LOL

Size 24 hook is tiny, and bends easily. I've tied on only to bend it after getting it stuck in my shirt LOL. It's not THAT hard to tie on, but I'm in my 20's... probrably gets harder later on LOL. The eye fits 6lb fluoro

edit: believe it or not... size 24 is still too big for a few fish I've encountered... and I curse myself for not being able to find something smaller in the stores LOL... time to order online... bring on size 30!

 

[salmotrutta]

Those look like brown trout parr, but I am not going to rule out Atlantic parr 100%, because I've never caught Atlantic parr and they may look similar.

Were you fishing somewhere with stocked salar?

This is important for you to figure out - because if those are indeed Atlantics, you are not allowed to fish them and you would need to move on as soon as you start catching them.

I understand the excitement of catching parr, I was just as excited or more after catching my first small steelhead than I was after my first big one. There's something cool about catching miniature versions of some of your favourite fish. That excitement wears off quickly however, especially when you realize there's a huge chance that they won't survive being hooked at such a small size. The fewer one eyed steelies, the better (pun intended on the wink).

Looks like you're having some fun outings, nicely done.

 

[salmotrutta]

On my next trip to the same spot I started off by sight-fishing this white sucker:

More than 60 scales on the lateral line... so it has to be a white sucker right?

What you wanna do when you catch a sucker like that, is head immediately to your favourite pike and/or muskie destination.

 

[MichaelVerdirame]

LOL I don't have a favourite muskie/pike destination . But I may find one in the future .

Thanks for the heads up about the Atlantics. I know they're closed season all year long. After getting some ID advice I found out they're all Atlantic salmon.