Fishing Memories of 2016
Do you have Fishing Memories of 2016? We do!
Hawkins Outfitters is fortunate to have a very large repeat angler business. Most of these repeat anglers are friends, we’ve spent many days together in the boat. I often get asked “why did you and the guys on your team choose such a difficult job”? There are a number of reasons but one of the foremost is the memories we have from our days on the water with our clients. We are lucky enough to encounter the extra large fish, the unusual happenings and the funny things that happen fishing everyday.
We decided it would be fun to share with you our Fishing Memories of 2016.
Best Dry Fly Trout
One of my most memorable fish of 2016 was a 25 inch monster brown trout caught in the middle of the day in early June on an Isonychia dry fly! Mike, the angler has always longed for a truly large brown and he got one that day. The fish was known to me and for whatever reason that old guy rose and ate the fly. A terrific battle was on, we were fishing 4x tippet and in a very log strewn area. We managed to net the fish, snap a few photos and release him unharmed. Beautiful fish!
Chuck Hawkins
Best Muskie Story
One of my most memorable moments from the 2016 season happened on a muskie trip this fall. We had located a fish earlier in the day that was extremely hot. Later that day we decided to go back and target this same fish. As we worked through the run it seemed like we weren’t going to get a second chance. Then Ray from the back of the boat, on a figure 8, had the water explode right under his nose. The fish was on for a couple of headshakes and then gone. Out of nowhere, which is typical of these fish, we had our world lit up only to realize minutes later that the fish got his revenge by destroying the rod tip when he hit the boat on the take. It doesn’t get any more exciting than that!
Ed McCoy
Best Day in Alaska
Reflecting on the 2016 season brings up many fine memories. I think my favorite was fishing with Keri on Funnel Creek. It was Keri’s first time in Alaska. On the second day of her trip we went rainbow fishing on the Funnel. After a good hike we stopped on a high bank and could see the rainbows eating salmon eggs behind the spawning sockeye salmon. After catching our breath and a quick snack we proceeded to head down to the creek. Keri spotted the first fish, cast to it, and GOT IT! Lady luck strikes again. We spent the rest of the day walking down the creek taking turns only fishing to the trout we could see. It was epic. No doubt some of the best trout fishing I have ever had. Almost every trout we spotted ate! And that’s not always how it goes. After a great day on the creek, lunch on the river bank and a beautiful otter plane ride home it was the perfect day!
Jeff Topp
Best New Product
Best New Product that helped create so many memories for 2016 was the implementation of Synthetic Brushes into our everyday streamer fly tying. Not that Brushes were new for 2016 but the explosion of types of Brushes at your local fly shop gave all of us unlimited opportunities for sizes and colors. Russ Maddin’s Flash Monkey , really started to take off in 2016 as he demonstrated that this pattern could catch any game fish willing to eat a baitfish pattern.
New videos and step-by-step recipes will be released soon with more brushes in them, as we continue to fine tune new patterns with this great new material.
Jon Ray
Best Hatch
The Minnow Hatch,
In fall in Patagonia (March and April) many of the area rivers experience a migration of small minnows up from the lakes and dams. This creates a feeding frenzy like nothing I’ve encountered before. The rainbows in particular stage in riffles and devour huge amounts of these tiny minnows and get fat and mean doing so. The fishing is done with a six weight floating line and a very tiny little streamer. You cast at splashes, flashes, and they light you up. This is one of my favorite activities in Patagonia, think of little steelhead while wading and having them eat a swinging fly. Can’t wait to do it again this year!
Chuck Hawkins
Best 8″ trout turns to 20″ Story
Hatch times on the Manistee River always bring about some good fishing and some subsequent odd fish behavior at times. It was early June and Isonychia time on the Manistee. The surface bite was stellar on this day. After hooking a medium sized brown trout tight to the structure the rod all of the sudden surged and was under a lot more tension than an 8” trout would cause. That’s when we realized the little brown trout was “T-boned” by a 20” class trout and it would not let go. I have had this happen before, but on this day we actually landed the fish for a unique double-header opportunity.
Ed McCoy
Best Last Cast
One of the toughest parts of my guide day, is letting people know that this is the last cast of the day. Hard to be the bearer of bad news, the trip is coming to an end. Often people will ask me if “anybody” as ever hooked a fish on the last cast. I respond Yes it has happened. Well now Ann and her father Mark have set the bar even higher for the “last cast of the day fish”. Two Years in a row Ann has hooked and landed a steelhead in December on her last cast of the day. This year Ann landed this nice December steelhead using an Indicator, fishing pocket water for trout near Tippy Dam. Great job Ann. One of my best memories for the 2016 steelhead season.
Jon Ray
2016 HighLights
