The fish you see when you close your eyes...my top ten fish of all time.

It's no secret I like to fish.  I picked up a fly rod for the first time at the age of twelve, I'm now fifty three, and I'm not even close to tired of it.  And thinking about fishing, while not as fun as actually fishing, often brings a smile to my face.  In fact, I have even discovered that thinking about fishing can be highly useful!   As I've gotten older, I don't sleep as well.   I never have problems going to sleep, but I sometimes have problems staying asleep.  So, when I wake up (usually between 3:00 and 4:00 a.m.), I've learned a technique that helps.  I choose some of my favorite fishing moments, and think about them, and soon enough, I'm drifting.  Sometimes, I try to make a list of the most memorable fish I've ever caught.  I usually only get a few fish down the list, and I'm sound asleep.

Today, I'm fully awake, but mostly homebound, trying to do my part and stay home.  I'm a little restless, I've got some time on my hands since the real estate market isn't booming, and if there were ever a time to make a list, this is it!  Although there are other things that make fishing trips memorable, the company, locales, food, etc., the fish are still the stars of the show.  These are ranked in no particular order.  I'll start each by giving the species, the size, the day they were caught, and if they were a quest, a target, or a surprise.  A quest is a fish you have pursued somewhat obsessively, a target is a fish that happened to be what you are actually fishing for, but the particular fish caught that day stood out, and a surprise is one of the wonderful fish that come like a bolt from the blue, that you could never have planned for.  And yes, as you scroll through, you'll notice this turns out to be a top twelve list. (Note, as this blog was written, it turned out to be a two parter, I'll share the first six today.

Fish number one:  Payara, Agua Boa River, Brazil
Date:  January, 2019
Size:  Not measured, maybe seven pounds
Category:  Surprise!

I've always been fascinated by the payara, or as some people call them, vampire fish.  It's not an original thought, but you can't help looking at that mouth, and just staring at the huge canines.  The fish actually have holes in their head that the teeth fold in to.  Last January, my wife and I were fishing on the Agua Boa River in Brazil.  It's a peacock bass destination, payara are quite uncommon there, and when they do show up, usually tiny.  But one day, my wife was retrieving her fly and there was a silver flash behind it.  The guide called out, "payara", and in her next few casts, she caught one.  It turned out there was a huge pod of them, and we hooked a couple dozen, although only four were landed.  They were amazing gamefish, each one taking to the air several times, so much like baby tarpon.  You might think the visage on these would give me nightmares, but thinking about them makes me sleep like a baby!

Fish number two:  Grass Carp, Hannen Lake, Iowa
Date:  April, 2001
Size  56 lbs, 11 oz
Category:  Definitely Quest

When I moved to Iowa, I devoted a lot of time trying to figure out how to get these guys to eat flies.  I couldn't find much information, and what I could find didn't translate well.  Once I did figure it out, I decided, for once, to get in "the book", the official record book that the International Gamefish association keeps.  The record for six pound tippet was approximately 25 lbs, I decided to wait until I got one that went over fifty and turn it in.  On a warm night in late April it happened, a giant sucked in the dry fly I was throwing, and when it went on the official scales, (three days after capture) it weighed 56lbs 11 oz and is still the record to this day.  I've caught some bigger ones since, but once through the somewhat tedious process that you have to go through to submit a record was definitely enough.  Grass carp remain the most difficult fish to entice to eat a fly that I have ever fished for.

Fish number three:  Striped bass, Lower Illinois River, Oklahoma
Date:  Summer 2018
Size  41 inches, somewhere between thirty and thirty one pounds
Category:  Target

In late spring, the striped bass move out of the main stem of the Arkansas River into the Lower Illinois, attracted by the cold water (The Lower Illinois is a tailwater), and probably, the huge stockings of catchable size rainbow trout.  Stripers are beautiful, hard pulling fish that whack flies aggressively, and I can't get enough of them.  Typical size is 3-12 pounds, but there are plenty of larger fish, and a few MUCH larger fish.  On an overcast day, I was chucking a large, eight inch, ep baitfish pattern, much like I would throw to pike, up against the far bank, letting it sink a bit, and then ripping it back fast.  A couple of strips in, I got whacked hard, the fish screamed up the river parallel to several snags, running beside them, but making no effort to get in them, reversed course and screamed downstream past several more, ulitmately choosing to slug it out downstream in a deep, snagless pool.  As big fish sometimes do, when it got close, it seemed to double in size.  Pulled my sewing tape out, and got a quick length girth measurement, before sending it on it's way.  Still gives me the chills thinking about it.

Fish number four:  Black drum, Hopedale, Louisiana
Date:  February, 2020
Size:  Bigger than 45 pounds, less than 50
Category:  Target

I had never caught a black drum, or even had the opportunity to throw for one.  Left the dock on this trip with the hopes to get a shot.  It turned out to be a brutal day of fishing,  windy, cold, cold water, and most disturbingly, muddy water,  and we poled all over, but in the first six hours of fishing had seen exactly zero fish.  The most exciting moment had been spotting a mudcloud where a fish had recently been.  But at 2:30, it happened.  In three feet water, the biggest tail I had ever seen protruding from the water in my life.  No heroic casts, but when the fly came close to the fish, it just ate.  And yes, I know it's ugly.  But...what a fish!  And what a way to salvage a day when you only see one fish!

Fish number five:  Steelhead, Kewaunee River, Wisconsin
Date, October , 1997
Size 39 inches
Category:  Quest

Steelhead are my favorite freshwater fish.  I love the way they hit a swung fly, I love what they do afterwards, and I love the way they look.  Half a lifetime ago,  I was on a quest to catch a 40 inch steelhead, something that in Wisconsin might be like looking for unicorns. ( I do know of one that has been landed)  On a cold, numbing, snowy day, I was swinging a small wet fly called a Night Dancer, through the gut of a deep pool.  Felt a pluck, another pluck, and then that wonderful, solid pull, that only those who swing flies can really appreciate.  The fish fought deep, with big headshakes, and no acrobatics, as is often the case for large bucks in deep water.  But when it finally hit the bank, it was a marvel.  Not a 40 inch fish, (an inch short), not the girth to be a twenty pound fish (probably a little over 18), but remains my best, and one of my best memories.  So long ago, that for the blog, I had to take a picture of the picture of the picture I have blown up in my den.

Fish number six:  Red tailed catfish, Agua Boa River Brazil
Date, January 2020
Size:  20ish pounds
Category:  Huge surprise (mostly)

I'm fascinated by red tail catfish, and really wanted one of thse beautiful creatures on flies.  But they are a VERY uncommon catch.  I happened to talking with my guide, and as we were floating in a lagoon, I asked how many red tail catfish had been caught on fly in his boat.  He said none.  He had guided this river for 12 years, 5.5 months a year, about 2000 days.  It didn't sound like my odds were good.  Two minutes later, he said, there's one!  And sure enough, there was one fifty feet out, two feet under the surface of the water, slowly swimming right at the boat.  Dropped the fly in front of it, gave it a couple of slowww strips, felt a pluck, and on the next strip he slammed it.  Yep, nothing amazing, pretty much just caught him.  But one of the very first fish that comes to mine, when I think about memorable ones! 

This is long....so I'm going to make this a two part blog.  Feel free to send comments or questions.  I still host a trip to the Amazon yearly and would love to chat about it with anyone that is interested.  And remember, if you have trouble sleeping tonight....think about your own top ten list!