When do you catch bigger fish?

[Toad Hunter]

Thought I would start a topic to get some more discussion going.

So, when do you guys catch your biggest fish? Summer, Fall, Winter, Spring? And Why?

I find that I tend to hook and land more large fish in the Fall and Winter months, compared to the Spring and Summer. However, the biggest fish of the season usually come Mid-Late Spring.

I feel that the Fall and Winter months keep most people at home or in the woods hunting, and the fish don't receive much pressure. Leaving them unspooked and dumb.

Rarely will you see a great hatch of anything, so fish are more often than not opportunistic and will take an array of fly patterns.

I think the spawn also leaves fish with the need to feed heavily to regain energy and weight to sustain winter.


There are more reasons in my mind, but wanted to see what everyone else thinks.


Best,
Mike

[kyle]

Usually streamers in the fall produce a lot of my big fish but spring is also a good time for big fish on dries.

[AaronJasper]

I was talking to Davy about this at length the other night. We get a big trout when they "screw up." we usually get them during periods of heavy hatching because they will position themselves in a place where we can get at them. That is why we see so many big fish caught in the spring. The hatches are heavy during that tine frame. The water temperatures are also perfect. These two factors are perfect for a big fish making a mistake and an angler being able to capitalize on it and catch a trophy.

[kyle]

HENDRICKSONS!!!!

[Magnet]

Great topic Toad Hunter. I am sorry if I ramble off topic a little but you triggered a couple of thoughts that come to mind. I have hooked quite a few large trout during all seasons. It is getting them to net that has consistently eluded me. I have watched Aaron land a 24-nch brown on an SLT 8ft 9- 3 wt in Montana so I know there is subtle technique involved with end game tactics.
Big fish will feed in the winter as well as the other seasons except you have to pretty much bonk em on the head to provoke a take.
Tell me if you think this is true with the way we fish. In the winter, the way we think as anglers is so different than the rest of the year. Instead of fishing a stretch of water and making it happen right there as you move and cover considerable amounts of varied holding lies and adapt to that which is in front of you, we look for what we think of as stack up water, then fish that one spot thoughly without moving much, get into our car and move to the next spot that meets the same criteria. We might move my car during a typical winter excursion 5 or 6 times and cover quite a few miles of river. Where as during the rest of the year we might park our car and not get back into it till its time to go home. I never target big fish. Isn't it true that, "If you fish, they will come." Just not to my net unfortunately. Lol!

[Toad Hunter]

Magnet, We can wander as far off topic as possible. So long as it's about fishing My dad and I would fish with a friend who always stood in one spot for the longest time. We always told him to move on and find new water. His reply EVERY time was "Fish Swim". lol. Kind of in line with your comment.

Kyle,

Strangely enough, virtually all of my big trout on dries were during the Hendrickson hatches. There are a few Limestone streams in NY that give you a good shot to take several trout over 20" in one afternoon. I always found the big boys to still be bunched up in their wintering holes during this hatch! What an awesome sight to see several 20"+ browns sipping down #14 Hendricksons. Can't wait!!!

Mike

[Davyfly]

I will also argue this one.
You have to be doing the right thing at the right time.
I am pretty sure l posted something about this in the past, but again.
MY river does hold unreal numbers of trophy fish and l know where many of those fish reside.
You can fish days if not weeks in those zones with no interest, then on the right day you catch them, it you fish the right flies the way they wish to take them.
Now l have no doubt that during these times those fish also feed on aquatic food sources, other than the colder winter periods when much of the food base is dormant.
Often as not in the case of Browns it is a seasonal issue related to daylight hours and when the abundant food sources are available, which induces a feeding mode. A aggressive mode is a little different.

At the end of the day its time on the water.

DW

[AaronJasper]

I agree with Davy here. The more you go and the more techniques you learn the more likely you are to take big trout. You can't always think of streamers as a big fish tactic. While it's true that you reduce your catch of smaller fish, streamers do not always catch the big fish.

Yesterday Mike and I fished a limestone stream. We fished indicator rigs in the slow water. We hooked a lot of fish in this pool. We could have fished streamers in this pool, and I have before with limited success. Long story short I landed 4 trout from 20-23 inches out of this pool. I don't think that any other method could have produced even one of those fish.

[Walshmiko]

I would have to say in the fall I get my largest fish(not due to skill) Just because it seems like every fish in the river is on the feed before winter.. They just seem more willing, and often give you a second crack if things go sour the first go around...

[Silver Creek]

In Wiscosin it is fall, when the fish migrate in from the lake to spawn.

Ignoring migration, I would say there are two factors. One is location - you need to fish a system that has big fish to catch big fish. That's pretty obvious.

And the second is at night. Dell Canty, who practically invented float tubes and who is famous for landing huge browns out of Flaming Gorge Reservoir 30 years ago would catch his large ones after midnight. He has the Utah Rainbow state record from 1979 at 26 lbs 2 ounces

http://wildlife.utah.gov/fishing/recfish.php