Fishing Forum

I hit the south fork this afternoon and did O.K. I only fished for about and hour and a half, I forgot to bring gloves !! I caught 4 real nice trout, 2 browns and 2 cutts, the biggest brown was just over 21" and we had quite a battle. I was using a 3" Berekely Gulp minnow,smelt color, hooked thru the head with a split shot about 16" up the line. This is a rig to catch some really big fish !! I'm still perfecting this method but everytime I have used it it produces !! Big fish eat little fish...not bugs !!
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apparantley you have never fished the southfork with a flyrod rubberlegs and zebra midges in the winter.
BIG FISH EAT TONS OF BUGS!!!!!!!
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Thanks for the report and the information. I am going to try the berkley gulp minnows on a couple places where I know the fish are eating minnows.

That being said I disagree with your statement in general. I believe it just depends where you are, what time of year it is, and even the individual mood of the fish at the time what they are feeding on. For example studies have proven that the big Henrys Lake fish eat 97% scuds, leeches, nymphs etc... in other words only 3% of their diet is minnows. So not all big fish eat fish.[]

That point being made I agree on SouthFork I go to minnow patterns for the bigger fish on average.

Windriver
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We went up on the South Fork on Tuesday the 23rd. Also did ok, nothing too big, but we caught plent of fish.
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Pearl Tube Jigs work pretty good as well!

Thanks for the report my friend!

Don
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Windriver's got it right. Time and place. Big browns do like meat in their diet, but it isn't always available when they're hungry. The brown in my avatar was caught on a size 14 scud.
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You fly guys are so sensitive !!! It's only fishing. i always enjoy the fly verses spinning debate. I knw you can catch some nice trout on flies, look at Flygoddess's monster Henry's lake hybrid. I saw a pic of a 18 lb brown from Soda lake in Pinedale,WY..caught on a sculpin pattern, so sure it can be done. But day in, day out, I think a large trout will ALWAYS go for the easy minnow meal. My point is when a flyfisherman gets to a spot, you have to determine what insect pattern to try. This could change constantly. I know what they will eat before I even get out of the truck !! And I'm not trying to start any arguments, I think all types of fishing are fun...and that's why we fish.
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Amen, Jacksonlaker!!! Mike
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New to this site kind of. I've been watching and reading on here for about 2 months now. Mostly the Utah sections.
Anyway, when you are talking about South fork are you reffering to the reservoir just outside of elk and if so would you be willing to share the current fishing conditions out there? We are planning on head that way this next weekend. Its been about 6 years since we were last out there.

Thanks. (sorry to hijack your thread.)
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From a biological standpoint trout will feed on whatever is readily available and whatever provides the easiest meal. In turn they will also feed on whatever uses the least amount of energy to feed on. That's the reason you see most diets of trout are heavily weighed towards insects. It takes substantially less energy to sit at the bottom of a tail out and wait for food to come to you than it does to chase after a bait fish.
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[fishin] Most of the reference to the Southfork or SF on this site are to the South Fork of the Snake River in Eastern Idaho. (Between Jackson Hole and Idaho Falls) The water levels below Palaes Res. are as low as they will be for awhile, and most of the river is accessible to waders. alot of the boat ramps are still snow and ice covered. Nymph fishing (brown rubber legs with midge droppers work well)
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You troublemaker Tom. []
You're probably a lake troller too![shocked] [laugh] [inline stirpot.gif]

And . . . I know what bug I'm going to need on the river a year in advance of getting there, long before the truck even thinks of heading to the river. I can tell you right now what "insect pattern" (otherwise known as a "fly" to us mere mortals) I'll have tied on for nearly every river I'll fish throughout the season. I don't need to see the river or anything to determine that. So there!
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Me and my fairy wand are sensitive to such things, you know. Now, I'll get back to making some more delicate little 1 oz. lead heads with 5/0 hooks, and sorting my steelhead stuff. [shocked]

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I'd have to agree with JacksonLaker and TarponJim on this one. A purist isn't a fly fishermen. It is the person who masters every fishing method and works all to his advantage. While fly fishing is probably the easiest method, you are fishing with the predominate easy to find fish food, it rarely produces the largest fish in the greatest numbers. I recommend mastering all types of presentations and then practicing good stewardship by using single barless hooks, water releases without handling and leaders that will bring the fish in before tiring causes unitended mortality.

Now, go ahead and blast away!
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[quote MMDon] I recommend mastering all types of presentations and then practicing good stewardship by using single barbless hooks, water releases without handling and leaders that will bring the fish in before tiring causes unitended mortality.[url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/images/gforum/happy.gif[/img][/quote]"][/quote][/url]
That's the most intelligent sentence I've read on an internet forum in . . . geeze, maybe ever! Seriously. That says it all. Perfect!
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