Ultralight
01-21-2010, 02:25 PM
Well, finally attended my first Team 57 event at today’s Ruby Wed. I wanted to post grateful thanks here for a great introduction. Rather than a post about fishing, this is really a post about GREAT PEOPLE! (Though in other threads, you can see that the fishing was good.)
I wasn’t expecting to catch too many fish as I’m not familiar with SARL, although I was hoping not to get skunked. The trip, for me, was more about meeting some people from this forum.
First, thanks to Dana for hosting this. Arrived at 5am and registration was on – ended up chatting with Dana and his sweetie, Donna, for about 15 minutes. Enjoyed the easy conversation, reflecting the easygoing tone that is also here on this forum. The lunch, free cap, and subsequent conversations are all appreciated. You went the extra mile to get me my shirt. Oh, and the fact that Dana stocked, in addition to SARL’s normal stocking, almost another thousand lbs of trout in Chris’ Pond on Tuesday evening for this event.
Then it was off to fishing at 5:30am. In the dark, I randomly picked a spot and ended up next to Trout9, who was next to Tat2 Fishhead. Almost immediately, Tat2 Fishhead was onto fish. Then Trout9 hooked up, also in the dark.. Between the two of them, a number of fish was landed before sunup.
As for myself, I was running a big fat zero while the two guys were repeatedly hooking up. Daylight came and still nothing. At that point, Trout9 who was directly next to me voluntarily offered some tips and his orange bait – both of which I gratefully accepted. I had different colors but not orange and it apparently really made a difference. Within minutes, I hooked up what was to be my large fish of the day. To say that I was appreciative is an understatement as I’ve often encountered fisherman who are tightlipped about what they are using. In fact, Trout9 even mentioned that he would be happy to share some of his fish if I wanted some. I did not take any as the day was still young. (Pic of Trout 9 below)
http://fishingnetwork.net/forum4/picture.php?albumid=428&pictureid=3305
Tat2 Fishhead was on fire through the day. He ended up with a couple of 6 lbs, and a bunch of 4 and 3 lbs fish between him and his wife. To make a long story short, I ended up going cold and ended up with two more dinks. In the middle of the day, as I was about to leave for a break, he yelled out to me, ‘GRAB the NET!’. It turned to be a 6 lbs Tailwalker. :EyePop: Since, I’ve never caught any trout larger than 2.6 lbs, that fish was HUGE!! Beautiful colors too. Turns out that he is a veteran of SARL and often has huge stringers. (You should ask him about his heaviest stringer ever – staggering!)
http://fishingnetwork.net/forum4/picture.php?albumid=428&pictureid=3300
So, I had to ask him if he would be willing to give me some tips. Was he ever generous! I got lots of invaluable tips and advice. Not only that, when he found out that I did not have a plastic worm of the right color, or the right split shot, he immediately rummaged through his tackle box and got me what I needed. Wow!
Truth be told though, I kept thinking about how amazing it would be if I could return home with a 6lb fish. Both my boys who compete each year in various derbies up here where winning fish are often in the 2+ lbs category, would be absolutely bugged eyed!
As Tat2 Fishhead was about to leave around 2:30pm, he made one more cast and almost immediately hooked up with another big Tailwalker that turned out to be 6 lbs, 2 oz. :EyePop::EyePop: A bit embarrassed but, still thinking about the reaction I would get out of my family with a 6 lbs fish, I asked him if I could just buy the fish off him…..:) (First time I ever stooped this low….promise….but you know, it’s a 6 lbs 2 oz Tailwalker after all….J) His next replied really summed up the day for me, ‘Nah, you can just have it. In fact, I’ll give you the whole stringer.’ YOWZER! We’re talking a mighty fine stringer of 10 fish! I asked if he was serious. He was.
http://fishingnetwork.net/forum4/picture.php?albumid=428&pictureid=3301
We hit the weighing station where he had some jackpot competition going on with some buddies. His top five fish of the stringer was almost 21 lbs with the two 6 pounders. :EyePop::EyePop::EyePop: After weighing, he said, ‘They are yours’. I offered to at least reimburse him for his fishing fees but again, he waived it off.
I’ve never had so much fun coming home from a fishing outing. Coming into the house, I first came in with the five smallest fish and with a fanfare, dumped them in the sink. My wife, the ever loving and supportive princess of my life, said, “Nice fish”. I could tell that she was wondering if it was worth dirtying up her kitchen for that. Then I came back with another bag of five more – most of which are larger than what we normally catch here. Now, this got the attention of the whole family as they gathered around the sink. Then out again and back with a 4+ lb. This got my boys really hollering. Of course, I wasn’t done. Out again and back with the 6 lbs. At this point, they were pretty much speechless. Of course, I wasn’t done. Finally out one more time and back with the 6 lbs 2 oz. This completely filled up the right side of our kitchen sink.
At that point, you could cut the excitement with a knife. I think the boys were thinking Moby Dick next. :Rolls Eyes: (You know, that whale store we had to read in high school…LOL.) Of course, lots of questions were flying. So you know how it is – I had to regale my boys with the epic battles of how I fought with these on 2 lbs test for 30 minutes each….. :ROFL::ROFL::ROFL: Kidding aside, I gave them the whole scoop including how I could not fit the fish into my small cooler. We had a great time as I recounted the kindness of the two guys whom I got to fish next to.
Trout9 and Tattoodfish, thanks for making my family’s day! And Dana, thanks for setting this up.
http://fishingnetwork.net/forum4/picture.php?albumid=428&pictureid=3302
One more note. I also had some great conversations with Craig, whom I found out later to be one of the owners of SARL. Really appreciate all the information about SARL, fishing techniques, and history of some of the fisheries. I enjoyed the detailed conversation.
About the only fly in the ointment is due to my own carelessness. My prototype loaner rod slipped out of my car in the rod bag. I did not see it until I was walking back to the car, just in time to see a service truck run over the rod. Ouch. However, it is completely my fault so not bothered by that really.
By the way, what about the trout? Well, the Tailwalkers put up great fights. The two 6 lbs made repeated surges. So many times, TAT2 would bring them close and just as I was about to scoop them up, the fish would surge again into deeper waters. The second one made some long surges as the line pulled taut. It really was a bit nerve wrecking in the best way possible. This is part of great fishing. (I read that another member did loose a large one because he had to try netting it alone.) Even the littles ones put up a nice bend on the rod. I caught one that jumped cleared the water a couple of times which is quite different from most trout that just goes down and deep. Needless to say, the beauty of the trout speak for itself in the pictures. What you guys don’t see is at the cleaning station. Well, some of the fish I cleaned really is as pink as wild Salmon. (Each year, my family pick up at 60 lbs of wild Salmon every time Staters Brothers bring them in. We love fish.) This is a total surprise. The two largest ones also were especially firm fleshed. One can really tell that theyare quality fish when cleaning them.
Apologies about the length of this public thank you but wanted to give enough details to give some punch about the experience. Bottom line, Team 57, THANKS for making fishing much more than just about fish. :LOL:
Thanks,
UL
ps: Apparently Santa Ana posted a Youtube video including the first 6 lb in the opening scene.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIFeVVpxszo&feature=player_embedded
I wasn’t expecting to catch too many fish as I’m not familiar with SARL, although I was hoping not to get skunked. The trip, for me, was more about meeting some people from this forum.
First, thanks to Dana for hosting this. Arrived at 5am and registration was on – ended up chatting with Dana and his sweetie, Donna, for about 15 minutes. Enjoyed the easy conversation, reflecting the easygoing tone that is also here on this forum. The lunch, free cap, and subsequent conversations are all appreciated. You went the extra mile to get me my shirt. Oh, and the fact that Dana stocked, in addition to SARL’s normal stocking, almost another thousand lbs of trout in Chris’ Pond on Tuesday evening for this event.
Then it was off to fishing at 5:30am. In the dark, I randomly picked a spot and ended up next to Trout9, who was next to Tat2 Fishhead. Almost immediately, Tat2 Fishhead was onto fish. Then Trout9 hooked up, also in the dark.. Between the two of them, a number of fish was landed before sunup.
As for myself, I was running a big fat zero while the two guys were repeatedly hooking up. Daylight came and still nothing. At that point, Trout9 who was directly next to me voluntarily offered some tips and his orange bait – both of which I gratefully accepted. I had different colors but not orange and it apparently really made a difference. Within minutes, I hooked up what was to be my large fish of the day. To say that I was appreciative is an understatement as I’ve often encountered fisherman who are tightlipped about what they are using. In fact, Trout9 even mentioned that he would be happy to share some of his fish if I wanted some. I did not take any as the day was still young. (Pic of Trout 9 below)
http://fishingnetwork.net/forum4/picture.php?albumid=428&pictureid=3305
Tat2 Fishhead was on fire through the day. He ended up with a couple of 6 lbs, and a bunch of 4 and 3 lbs fish between him and his wife. To make a long story short, I ended up going cold and ended up with two more dinks. In the middle of the day, as I was about to leave for a break, he yelled out to me, ‘GRAB the NET!’. It turned to be a 6 lbs Tailwalker. :EyePop: Since, I’ve never caught any trout larger than 2.6 lbs, that fish was HUGE!! Beautiful colors too. Turns out that he is a veteran of SARL and often has huge stringers. (You should ask him about his heaviest stringer ever – staggering!)
http://fishingnetwork.net/forum4/picture.php?albumid=428&pictureid=3300
So, I had to ask him if he would be willing to give me some tips. Was he ever generous! I got lots of invaluable tips and advice. Not only that, when he found out that I did not have a plastic worm of the right color, or the right split shot, he immediately rummaged through his tackle box and got me what I needed. Wow!
Truth be told though, I kept thinking about how amazing it would be if I could return home with a 6lb fish. Both my boys who compete each year in various derbies up here where winning fish are often in the 2+ lbs category, would be absolutely bugged eyed!
As Tat2 Fishhead was about to leave around 2:30pm, he made one more cast and almost immediately hooked up with another big Tailwalker that turned out to be 6 lbs, 2 oz. :EyePop::EyePop: A bit embarrassed but, still thinking about the reaction I would get out of my family with a 6 lbs fish, I asked him if I could just buy the fish off him…..:) (First time I ever stooped this low….promise….but you know, it’s a 6 lbs 2 oz Tailwalker after all….J) His next replied really summed up the day for me, ‘Nah, you can just have it. In fact, I’ll give you the whole stringer.’ YOWZER! We’re talking a mighty fine stringer of 10 fish! I asked if he was serious. He was.
http://fishingnetwork.net/forum4/picture.php?albumid=428&pictureid=3301
We hit the weighing station where he had some jackpot competition going on with some buddies. His top five fish of the stringer was almost 21 lbs with the two 6 pounders. :EyePop::EyePop::EyePop: After weighing, he said, ‘They are yours’. I offered to at least reimburse him for his fishing fees but again, he waived it off.
I’ve never had so much fun coming home from a fishing outing. Coming into the house, I first came in with the five smallest fish and with a fanfare, dumped them in the sink. My wife, the ever loving and supportive princess of my life, said, “Nice fish”. I could tell that she was wondering if it was worth dirtying up her kitchen for that. Then I came back with another bag of five more – most of which are larger than what we normally catch here. Now, this got the attention of the whole family as they gathered around the sink. Then out again and back with a 4+ lb. This got my boys really hollering. Of course, I wasn’t done. Out again and back with the 6 lbs. At this point, they were pretty much speechless. Of course, I wasn’t done. Finally out one more time and back with the 6 lbs 2 oz. This completely filled up the right side of our kitchen sink.
At that point, you could cut the excitement with a knife. I think the boys were thinking Moby Dick next. :Rolls Eyes: (You know, that whale store we had to read in high school…LOL.) Of course, lots of questions were flying. So you know how it is – I had to regale my boys with the epic battles of how I fought with these on 2 lbs test for 30 minutes each….. :ROFL::ROFL::ROFL: Kidding aside, I gave them the whole scoop including how I could not fit the fish into my small cooler. We had a great time as I recounted the kindness of the two guys whom I got to fish next to.
Trout9 and Tattoodfish, thanks for making my family’s day! And Dana, thanks for setting this up.
http://fishingnetwork.net/forum4/picture.php?albumid=428&pictureid=3302
One more note. I also had some great conversations with Craig, whom I found out later to be one of the owners of SARL. Really appreciate all the information about SARL, fishing techniques, and history of some of the fisheries. I enjoyed the detailed conversation.
About the only fly in the ointment is due to my own carelessness. My prototype loaner rod slipped out of my car in the rod bag. I did not see it until I was walking back to the car, just in time to see a service truck run over the rod. Ouch. However, it is completely my fault so not bothered by that really.
By the way, what about the trout? Well, the Tailwalkers put up great fights. The two 6 lbs made repeated surges. So many times, TAT2 would bring them close and just as I was about to scoop them up, the fish would surge again into deeper waters. The second one made some long surges as the line pulled taut. It really was a bit nerve wrecking in the best way possible. This is part of great fishing. (I read that another member did loose a large one because he had to try netting it alone.) Even the littles ones put up a nice bend on the rod. I caught one that jumped cleared the water a couple of times which is quite different from most trout that just goes down and deep. Needless to say, the beauty of the trout speak for itself in the pictures. What you guys don’t see is at the cleaning station. Well, some of the fish I cleaned really is as pink as wild Salmon. (Each year, my family pick up at 60 lbs of wild Salmon every time Staters Brothers bring them in. We love fish.) This is a total surprise. The two largest ones also were especially firm fleshed. One can really tell that theyare quality fish when cleaning them.
Apologies about the length of this public thank you but wanted to give enough details to give some punch about the experience. Bottom line, Team 57, THANKS for making fishing much more than just about fish. :LOL:
Thanks,
UL
ps: Apparently Santa Ana posted a Youtube video including the first 6 lb in the opening scene.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIFeVVpxszo&feature=player_embedded