FishUSA.com Fishing Tackle

Author Topic: early Autumn Landlocks  (Read 3904 times)

TightLinesMaine

  • Sr. Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 1,499
early Autumn Landlocks
« on: Oct 16, 2019, 09:46 AM »
Wouldn't be a proper start to the Fall season without some Landlocked Salmon on the fly rod!  I unfortunately fractured my left heel last month so I got a slightly later start than I wanted (couldn't walk more or less for two weeks, forget fishing) but I caught the tail end of the season fortunately and it worked out in the end.  This was probably the toughest season for salmon here since I started fly fishing; the water was colder than average thankfully but the flows were much lower than average making the fish extremely spooky, and at at the tail end of the season the water was very stained from debris - extremely "tannin".  Nevertheless, I persisted and found some willing fish to chase streamers.  Went 2 for 3 with hookups landed, and had several other looks & follows that would lazily bite or turn away at the last second.  Both fish I landed were extremely acrobatic, the smaller of the two was so energetic after a quick jump or two he actually shot toward the bank and cartwheeled out of the water and beached himself! I applied side pressure with the fly rod and got him back in the water quickly and fought him for a few seconds more before landing him in the net.  Neither fish were long battles - 20 seconds or so maybe - with the 6 wt. rod (didn't even need to get either on the reel as they weren't that big) I've noticed the more jumps they do the faster they tire themselves out.





Believe it or not, my worst start to fall fishing in several years but I'll gladly take it all things considered!

zwiggles

  • Sr. Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 1,584
Re: early Autumn Landlocks
« Reply #1 on: Oct 16, 2019, 09:57 AM »
That’s a tough break for this time of year, but nice job still getting after them once you were healed up!

lowaccord66

  • Sr. Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 6,230
Re: early Autumn Landlocks
« Reply #2 on: Oct 16, 2019, 10:25 AM »
Great report.  I've wanted to get after them with my fly rod for some time....

Jim C.

  • Sr. Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 3,731
  • Up the creek...and loving it!
Re: early Autumn Landlocks
« Reply #3 on: Oct 16, 2019, 06:34 PM »
You always get your salmon, Randall!  I was looking for this post 8)

Sorry about your heel.  Fishing-related or no?  You made it work anyway.  I've been dealing with a knee and ankle myself..one fishing-related and one not.  The doc said I might heal better if I slowed down ::)

fish wayniac

  • Sr. Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 1,172
Re: early Autumn Landlocks
« Reply #4 on: Oct 16, 2019, 06:57 PM »
Randall, Nice looking Salmon. I liked the story of the Salmon jumping on the river bank. Sounds like you got some feisty ones . Awesome! 

TightLinesMaine

  • Sr. Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 1,499
Re: early Autumn Landlocks
« Reply #5 on: Oct 16, 2019, 09:57 PM »
You always get your salmon, Randall!  I was looking for this post 8)

Sorry about your heel.  Fishing-related or no?  You made it work anyway.  I've been dealing with a knee and ankle myself..one fishing-related and one not.  The doc said I might heal better if I slowed down ::)

Ironically only after when I pretty much gave up hope of landing one before the closure here, I landed two, back-to-back days, just in the nick of time.

Fractured it skateboarding at a park; landed super awkwardly off of a 4 stair set.  I was having a lot of fun just getting super back into skateboarding too after a nearly 2 year hiatus.  I have too many hobbies I guess    ::)  let's just say i'll be on another skateboarding hiatus for a while, fishing will have to do!  :laugh:  i can walk normally & just about pain free now finally, just can't run/jump yet.  Doc said i lucked out in that there was no joint damage, just a decent crack at the bottom of calcaneus along with a hematoma.  Good luck with your issues though Jim, hopefully not too serious, this forum wouldn't be the same without your monthly reports.

Randall, Nice looking Salmon. I liked the story of the Salmon jumping on the river bank. Sounds like you got some feisty ones . Awesome! 

Yeah thanks Wayne, these landlocks are pretty wild fighters.  Both spent a lot of time in the air, but yeah the one that went airborne and landed on the bank was crazy, i thought for sure i wasn't going to land it; i've seen little 6" trout do similar acts but certainly a first for me for a fish of this size.

seamonkey84

  • Sr. Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 1,210
Re: early Autumn Landlocks
« Reply #6 on: Oct 16, 2019, 11:46 PM »
those are some nice ways to close out the season on that river!  I’m going to make more of an attempt later in the other river, but we’ll meet up for a trip river or boat pretty soon hehe.
"You know when they have a fishing show on TV? They catch the fish and then let it go. They don't want to eat the fish, they just want to make it late for something." - Mitch Hedberg

stguy

  • Jr. Member
  • **
  • Posts: 443
Re: early Autumn Landlocks
« Reply #7 on: Oct 17, 2019, 08:16 AM »
We have something else in common Randall...in the late 70's and 80's my dad and I built a 12' high 20' wide half pipe in our back yard in Brunswick, nobody in Maine had any idea what it was, even without social media it didn't take long for word to get around about it though, I remember crowds of kids and parents coming to check it out and skate on it, even got to skate with guys like Stacy Perralta.

And then I started riding on it on my BMX bikes and roller skates, people thought I was insane back then and now it's an Olympic sport, in my mind I kinda take credit for starting some of that stuff.

Nice salmon too!!

I'm getting out this weekend, may be my last trip of the season.

TightLinesMaine

  • Sr. Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 1,499
Re: early Autumn Landlocks
« Reply #8 on: Oct 17, 2019, 10:09 AM »
We have something else in common Randall...in the late 70's and 80's my dad and I built a 12' high 20' wide half pipe in our back yard in Brunswick, nobody in Maine had any idea what it was, even without social media it didn't take long for word to get around about it though, I remember crowds of kids and parents coming to check it out and skate on it, even got to skate with guys like Stacy Perralta.

And then I started riding on it on my BMX bikes and roller skates, people thought I was insane back then and now it's an Olympic sport, in my mind I kinda take credit for starting some of that stuff.

Nice salmon too!!

I'm getting out this weekend, may be my last trip of the season.

that's super cool Glen! 12' high is insane! 6 to 7 feet ramps/half pipes are about as much as I can handle these days. You met Stacy Perralta?! Reminds me of seeing Lords Of Dogtown in theaters in 2005 (he wrote at least parts of it).  I've been skateboarding much longer than I've been fishing, so yeah, that's a really cool story! and you're right, skateboarding finally made the olympics, should be cool to see.  I always enjoy catching the x-games on TV when I can.

those are some nice ways to close out the season on that river!  I’m going to make more of an attempt later in the other river, but we’ll meet up for a trip river or boat pretty soon hehe.

yeah Chi, I too am excited for the "other river"  ;D

stguy

  • Jr. Member
  • **
  • Posts: 443
Re: early Autumn Landlocks
« Reply #9 on: Oct 17, 2019, 06:02 PM »
I got to meet a bunch of the guys that went pro, Kent schiffman was a friend of mine and spent a lot of time at my house when he lived in Portland, he was in a few magazine articles and most of the pictures of him were on my ramp, I think he and I were the first ones ever to ride bikes on a half pipe.

There was a big skateboard park in Nashua, (I think), back then and we went there to see the pros and got to meet most of them.

My dad has hundreds of pictures but they are all slides, long before digital pictures. He's not getting around very well these days but I'll try and dig them up with him and get some pictures of the pictures.

TightLinesMaine

  • Sr. Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 1,499
Re: early Autumn Landlocks
« Reply #10 on: Oct 17, 2019, 07:50 PM »
I got to meet a bunch of the guys that went pro, Kent schiffman was a friend of mine and spent a lot of time at my house when he lived in Portland, he was in a few magazine articles and most of the pictures of him were on my ramp, I think he and I were the first ones ever to ride bikes on a half pipe.

There was a big skateboard park in Nashua, (I think), back then and we went there to see the pros and got to meet most of them.

My dad has hundreds of pictures but they are all slides, long before digital pictures. He's not getting around very well these days but I'll try and dig them up with him and get some pictures of the pictures.

That would be amazing! Fascinating stuff Glen.  And yeah NH has several parks, Dover, Rye, Rochester, and looks like Nashua too.  A friend of mine frequents some of them.

franklin fisher

  • Sr. Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 537
Re: early Autumn Landlocks
« Reply #11 on: Oct 18, 2019, 05:05 AM »
  Nice catch.  Good to see you are back in action.

taxid

  • Sr. Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 6,597
Re: early Autumn Landlocks
« Reply #12 on: Oct 18, 2019, 05:35 AM »
As always thanks for sharing Randall!

Just one question: The top fish appears to be a male, but the males I have caught in Maine has more of a brownish cast like a brown trout. Could it be because I caught them in a lake with tannin colored water? Or the male you caught is not as far along in the spawning phase? Or they are both females?

Like the following picture: (Picture pulled off the Internet).

“The trouble with quotes on the Internet is you never know if they are genuine.” —Abraham Lincoln

TightLinesMaine

  • Sr. Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 1,499
Re: early Autumn Landlocks
« Reply #13 on: Oct 18, 2019, 10:36 AM »
As always thanks for sharing Randall!

Just one question: The top fish appears to be a male, but the males I have caught in Maine has more of a brownish cast like a brown trout. Could it be because I caught them in a lake with tannin colored water? Or the male you caught is not as far along in the spawning phase? Or they are both females?

Like the following picture: (Picture pulled off the Internet).



nope you are correct, the top fish is a male, bottom fish is a female.  I only know it's a male because it had a small kype (can't see it in that picture though because it's mouth is closed).  Males also typically get darker colored then the females (hence the black-ish fins)

both salmon are wild/native.  The salmon here have a very broad range of color variations.  I think the color pattern variations depend on age class/maturity, how long they've been in the river, and life history/origin.  Probably other environmental factors at play too.

seamonkey84

  • Sr. Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 1,210
Re: early Autumn Landlocks
« Reply #14 on: Oct 18, 2019, 11:26 AM »
That river is very tannic. Here’s the only one I’ve ever caught from there, not the brown trout look at all


While in the outlet of the same lake, where I believe mostly the stocked fish go, the water is gin clear and they look more like browns.



"You know when they have a fishing show on TV? They catch the fish and then let it go. They don't want to eat the fish, they just want to make it late for something." - Mitch Hedberg

 



Iceshanty | MyFishFinder | MyHuntingForum
Contact | Disclaimer | Sponsor
© 2004- MyFishFinder.com
All Rights Reserved.