I hit the soth fork again, fished from 3 till 5:30 caught 7 including a monster 24" hooked jawed brown trout. It was my biggest on a river so far. Once again the fish hit a Berkely Gulp minnow. I watched it come up from the bottom and inhale the minnow like a largemouth!! I noticed dozens of cutthroats feeding on small bugs, but they wouldn't eat the gulp. The browns would inhale the thing, it was hard to get the hook out, they would not let go !! Now that the weather is getting nice I am going to try for a 28" !! On a side note I caught the big brown in one of the most heavily fished areas of Swan Valley.
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Nice! How are you rigging the gulp minnow? I have used them through the ice on a drop shot rig with marginal results. I mostly throw flies on the S.F. However, a few people I like to fish with don't, so I am always looking for new ways to get them into fish. Thanks for your report and advice.
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I am rigging them by using a #2 octopus hook, and threading the head of the minnow onto the hook. A baitholder hook would probably hold the minnow in place better, but I have not tryed that yet. I am putting a small split shot about 16" up from the minnow. Cast it upstream, let it sink for a few seconds then twich it and stop, twitch and stop. It really looks like a live minnow that is injured. I have fished the gulp minnows off a jig head and have done well, but this rig rarely gets hung up. I used to fish smal suspending minnow baits like husky jerks, but this is way better. You can fish it deeper and slower, which is key this time of year.
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Nice man!! Did you take a camera? How big of shot are you using?
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I brought a camera and left it in the truck like a dumb. I did release the fish, so one of you guys can have the thrill like I did !!
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Thanks, I'll give it a try. I agree, those little dudes look real as can be. If you have figured out how to keep the gulp alive buckets from leaking and bringing the funk to your gear let us know that too. [
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I'm sure he is using the three inch gulps that come in zip lock packages. It would not be practical to carry the buckets around. SO WHAT SIZE SPLIT ARE YOU USING??
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sounds like an awesome fish. wish we could have seen pictures of the brute. by the way this is a family forum lets keep swear words out of the conversations. thanks bud.
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Sounds like a great day and i will have to try some of those as my daughter isn't quite a fly fisher yet and she really like to drift a fresh minnow but it doesn't stay on a real long time.
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I am using the packets, not the leaky bucket !! Here is a bad pic of how I rig it. As for split shot size, I was using about a 1/8 ounce.
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