2011 fish of the year

[idahoron]

This thread is for us to pick one picture of your fish of the year. In my case it was a tough decision to make. I like catfishing so much that I wanted to pick my best cat of the year. It was an amazing year for me. I had many FANTASTIC trips for several different species. When it boils down this is my fish of the year Pontoon Sturgeon AKA the Nantucket sleigh ride. Ron


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[jeremypeace]

Sure do wish i knew how to post a picture from my phone. The catch wasnt even mine but my dads.. he caught a 30" 20lb carp. And my wife's catch of a 12" perch. I however havnt really caught nothing to special. Maybe my 18" lmb. Wish i could share the pictures. I dont have a computer to share them..
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[cpierce]

It is a hard decision to choose just one.

I picked this one because it was such a beautiful cutthroat, and it totally floored me when I caught it. The stream wasn't that big, and the spot this fish was holed up in was a brushy maze that took an amazingly lucky cast to get it to the fish. After I released the fish I waded up the pool to retrieve one of my flies ( first cast wasn't so lucky! [blush]). When I got to my fly, I found two other flies there also that someone else had donated to the same branch. [laugh][laugh]

I wish I had gotten a picture that really showed the colors and vibrancy of this fish.

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I thought I would add another view of this same fish. Measured along my fly rod it was about 22 inches. It sure was a fun catch!

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[cpierce]

Ron, that sturgeon is a great catch from a pontoon. If I had a catch like that I would choose it too!

Jeremy, I think I remember seeing the picture of your Dad's fish. Maybe you can look back in the posts and link to it. I would love to see your LMB too.
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[Kodiak1]

This king salmon hit within minutes of hitting the water. He took a kingfisher lite spoon. Emptied the spool of my saltwater reel in no time. I was fighting him while Kali was chasing him all over the ocean! 20 minutes later, she caught his twin, and the Keystone Kops routine was reversed. A good morning with 5 kings and tons of pinks. All but 8 were released. Lunddude, frequent contributor on this site, made it even better by trolling with us, and sharing info. The king weighed in at 25# on the mechanical scale, and 27.5 later on a digital scale. We were back at the docks by 10:30. I've been fishing Sekiu since the 60's, but last year was one of the best. Mike
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[Chris_S]

I'll be the first to cheat. 2011 has felt like two very different years. In February I fished twice - first time a skunk and the second I was blessed with sharing a moment with this 8 foot sturgeon.

<img src="http://i964.photobucket.com/albums/ae123/cshrader03/Sturgeon.jpg">

Six months later after a 6 month tour to Afghanistan I was blessed once again with a crankbait bite beyond anything I have ever seen or experienced. 8 keeper smallies on 12 casts and about 40 keepers on the day. A great memory for Dad and I.

<img src="http://i964.photobucket.com/albums/ae123/cshrader03/Bass.jpg">
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[ilovesmallies]

heres mine since i only fish for bass. heres a buddies fish caught on a trip.
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[jabink89]

This was mine by far. It has been the only trout to take me to my backing in my life. And I have caught some beasts. I just couldn't get over how perfect this bow was.
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[idahoron]

Great pic's everyone lets see some more. Ron
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[iliketofish]

Great Post!
I'll join in. Mine was a coho salmon caught from the bank on a spoon in Lewiston in early October. I didn't get any official measurements or anything before the release, but I guessed him to be around 32 - 33 inches or so and about 12 lbs.

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[ChrisTheFish]

This is two pictures, but of the same fish. It wasn't the largest steelhead anyone has ever caught, but it was thick and beautiful.

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-s_Mk4AeeMzI/Ta...6-Edit.JPG

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WGSZu-EQPVM/Ta...7-Edit.jpg
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[Big_iceman]

These are from a trip down the snake river by our place in october we each landed several those being the best two. We lost a couple other nice one at the boat.
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[drowning_flys]

I ended up with lots of fish and memory's. The one that stands out the most was my daughters. I was so proud of her she did a perfect job landing it and the rest of the year every time someone caught a nice one she would say mine was bigger or to listen to her tell the story of how she caught it and where it was priceless to hear a 9 year old sound so grown up [cool]





Wife's best and im really thankful she was able to get out and fish this year with her 4 wheeler accident summer
before last










Great pic everyone Im glad we enjoyed time on the water with our friends and family and i hope you have an even better 2012
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[nijimasu]

great day. really great day.
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[flyfishingfool]

A lot of great pictures have been shared so far. This was my favorite fish of the year to catch. I watched him cruising the shore munching and put the sneak on him. I threw a crawdad looking wooly bugger and let it sink a few feet in front of him. A few seconds later my line started to straighten up and shot straight out. Took 15 minutes to land him with 0x and an 8 wt. Definitely the funnest fish I caught all year even if he's a little ugly.
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[gstott]

One fish is really hard to decide on. I guess my best specimen for a particular species would have to be the 14" perch I caught while drop shotting for bass.

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[Bronco66]

This was one of my most memorable cause I was trying out a hopper for the first time with my Fly Rod and I saw the water swirl under it and then disappear! I had no idea what I caught and was so scared I'd never know. So I babied it in! 5.4 lbs cat!
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[iwantabuggy]

My best catch of the year ended up being a Brookie. Never thought that would be the case.

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[Jimbojump]

My best was the giant smallie I slammed on topwater at Arrowrock...she was a beast!
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[muddyrudder]

I could not decide on which one so I put both. Bear lake cut or big walleye. It was a pleasure to catch each of them! i am looking forward to what this year brings. Sorry i am really going out of bounds and adding the Salmon River steel head on a fly rod also. It is hard to choose which was the most fun. Thank Idahoron for posting this, the memories from the year as i looked through the photos got me amped to get out again.
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