Skunked on Opener? Vent here...

[myspacedave]

Hey all!

If you're like me, you went out excited, geared up, maybe a little tired from work the night before, but ready.

I spent my opener up on Huron tribs, in clear, low water. Seems people were catching some shakers but nothing really of mention for the boards. It was nice to experience some smaller sections of the river I fish, get into some nice little pools and runs. One fly angler told me the fish might be caught in transitioning from pools. They were catching in fast moving water (runs) he said due to them making a quick decision to take the bait, where they may be more finicky to take it in slower, clear water.

An older couple that didn't speak English very well asked me about a shaker they kept (rainbow). They thought it was a spec. He had it in a grocery bag in his lunch bag. He took out the fish which I presumed was dead, and revived it! I don't think he was a douche, just stupid.

I didn't realize I was on private property till the owners told us we were on their land, but was totally cool with it. A CO came by and said hello and wished us well.

I read a bit of what some of your experiences were like out east, but if you want a safe place to vent your opener frustrations, or even share some of your success stories, I'd love to hear about it.

Tights lines guys and gals!

 

[Kingchaser]

I tend to have a love hate relationship with opener. So my opener went like this I tied about 250 bags as my close friend fly fishes and I brought my step father who uses a spinning reel and a float but won't buy roe lol. I'm fine with tying the bags gets me excited. So Saturday morning no one would wake up early then all slept in and left me waiting in anticipation just to get to the river and be let down but not being able to find a spot. Once I got a spot i lost a fish and got one. I had several hits that I set the hook on and there was nothing there but my bag was destroyed. Which leaves me to wonder if there is something I'm not seeing before my float drops. I brushed up on my Russian and on a many Russians who feel the need to cuddle when there is a whole river to fish. So Sunday comes and no one wants to get up again so I just make a crazy amount of noise and make sure they get up. We head for a specific few pools only to find that people had slept on them that night. So we got the same spot we had the day before and I missed one and then had people show up and crowd us again. My friend decided to try his pin out since he got skunked the day before and he lost one. Due to the over crowding I started to play with my friends fly rod in some shallow riffles and caught an Atlantic which I have never caught and I have never used a fly rod. It was a stocked 6" fish but was nice to see. We moved and my friend caught another Atlantic and fishing was slow and nothing to report for the rest of the day. I learned many things about my rig and opener as I do every year. All in all had fun and caught a fish on my new Milner which was a dream to use.

 

[miles]

Some Huron tribs were stacked, others slow. My opener was fun floating down a river till an oar lock broke going into a set of rapids. With a few km of white water ahead of us and no way to take the boat out or go back we had a hairy ride down trying to control a 16' boat with a couple paddles. Lucky I had a buddy with me who is a pro fly guide on the river and spends a lot of time in a drift boat. Some nice steelhead and browns were taken swinging flies as well

 

[rich_ace_G]

My Dilemma, I was fishing a nice pool, hooked on the first bead but got spit, nice fight though, as soon as i got a hook up, 2 guys fishing upstream from where i was, mind you they have the pool to themselves too. they moved to where I was on a tiny pool and we're pretty much 5 ft from each other. I would understand it if water was crowded. but it was surprisingly not. c'mon now.

 

[BERRRG]

Fished a couple of Huron tribs. First opener. Was expecting a ton of people and there sure was. Apparently fish were caught before sunrise and then as other people have said, it completely shut off, almost nothing was caught after sunrise. Could see several large and darker bows resting in a pool amongst a bunch of suckers, not feeding unfortunately.

Caught only one sucker and had a few fish on too but pretty sure they were also suckers.

 

[Originalfives]

Went out east after work on Sat afternoon and managed to land two. I didn't think I was going to get anything with all the pressure in the morning and the sun beaming down. Went out west Sunday and landed 7. Best part about Sunday was that there was no one around.

 

[Chrome Bullets]

I fished an east trib Saturday. Started at an easyily accessible spot.... so many people around d and was very hard to find a spot. I drove 3 hrs for this? No not happening.

I jumped in my car and went for a long drive up river. Found a side road leading to the river, parked, jump out and started walking though bush and crap for another 2 hours until I stopped seeing people... around the next bend I could hear splashing so I figured someone was landing a fish. Nope found a pool with I swear about 100 fish. Ive never seen that many in one spot before it was awesome. I ended up landing 20 then ran out of hooks and tippet line due to getting broke off and wrapped in logs from fish after fish.

Sunday headed to a west trib. Water was super low and super clear. Made it kinda easy cause I know where they were not sitting. Walked another 2 hours and only seen 3 guys which was good. Ended up with 4 more by the end of the day. There were sitting in the slightly deeper water where I couldn't quite see bottom.

I attached a few pics....there were so many and don't want to spam the page with pics.

 

[bigugly]

Awesome job Chrome Bullets!!

 

[BERRRG]

Nice Chrome Bullets. If that's not legwork, I don't know what is haha.

 

[NMCMLK]

I drove 3 hrs for this? No not happening.

I jumped in my car and went for a long drive up river. Found a side road leading to the river, parked, jump out and started walking though bush and crap for another 2 hours until I stopped seeing people... around the next bend I could hear splashing so I figured someone was landing a fish. Nope found a pool with I swear about 100 fish. Ive never seen that many in one spot before it was awesome. I ended up landing 20 then ran out of hooks and tippet line due to getting broke off and wrapped in logs from fish after fish.

Way to go man! Inspiring

 

[rich_ace_G]

the opener bug sometimes gets the best of us. you see the fish so you don't want to look for a better spot, you're in for a long day. do the leg work and there are rewards waiting for you. a change is as simple as changing your offering. If roe bags don't work, change up, it could just be what you need. Anything who think Openers are too easy and you just go to the water and you'll catch fish, you're lying to yourself.

 

[tossing iron]

Sorry Dill.
Like shooting fish in a barrel.
Like chinnies .
First couple are fun.

 

[myspacedave]

I attached a few pics....there were so many and don't want to spam the page with pics.

This is a safe place to spam fish porn chrome. Post away! It makes me happy

 

[rich_ace_G]

Sorry Dill.
Like shooting fish in a barrel.
Like chinnies .
First couple are fun.

could be for the more savvy steelheader. but where I go and the people I see. they just have the wrong approach with steelhead. I'm always ready to bring on the kitchen sink when i'm out. flies, beads, roes, pinkies, spinners & hot n tots. I haven't gotten to the point of using more than 3 offerings yet this year. 1st or 2nd usually works. that's fly & beads.

 

[tossing iron]

For sure a learning curve.
I've to easily forgotten the first 2 openers in which I turned nothing.

 

[NatureBoy]

You put in the leg work and you were rewarded! Great post

 

[harse77]

At least someone was catching them! I had a great day on the water but not a single bite.

 

[myspacedave]

At least someone was catching them! I had a great day on the water but not a single bite.

Same bud. At least you enjoyed. Seeing chrome bullets' pics made me wanna go for a long walk

 

[[email protected]]

i would be in this club if it wasn't for an aggrressive little 12 inch bow

 

[Shawarma]

Chrome bullets, that picture of all those fish looks like a pretty dreamy situation and it was well earned!