AR w/pics

[Jgoding]

My brother and I hit the river this evening. Got there kind of late but he hooked this fish in under 3 minutes into fishing. Not the biggest but it sure was shiny and wild.

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e336/jgoding/IMG_0264.jpg

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e336/jgoding/IMG_0265.jpg

I also went out yesterday and was lucky enough to get this fish to hand. Hatchery fish around 17" put back after some quick photos.

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e336/jgoding/IMG_0262.jpg

I didn't catch anything but small squaws. Didn't really see any fish working at all either but it seems that it's the norm the last few years.

[Andris]

Nice fish, but I especially like the duck calls.

[huntindog]

did that fish come in to the feeding chuckles or was it the hail calls that did him in.

[Scott V]

I don't have a duck call but I have a turkey call made from the bone of a turkey, will that work just as good?

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

I didn't even notice the duck calls..................pretty cool.

[SHigSpeed]

What kind of skull is that second fish up next to?

Hmm...

_SHig

[Jgoding]

Ha ha, the duck calls.... My bro is a true redneck.... the AR ducks love him too btw. Last year I felt bad because he called this duck into the parking lot and it sat in the middle of the road holding people up for a little bit while it was trying to figure out where the other "duck" was.

Shig, no skull there, that was just some dried up algae/moss mat on the bank, but looking at it, it does look like an animal skull. Did see a nice 3X3 last night too (still yet to see his two bigger brothers that we've seen in the years past), lots of quail as well, and a family of otters drifted by.

[Kevin Goding]

The AR is great practice for duck calling, and last night was very interesting. Already saw some migrators, and the birds were very vocal last night. Was nice to get a good steelie to hand as well, and another smaller one about 10 inches, which is more common for me haha. My only concern right now is the water temp, I bet the water was around 23 C yesterday when we got there, and that fish tired fast after one really strong pull. The adult fish will probably be ok, but the smolts usually take the brunt of warmer temps. Hopefully things cool down a bit and seems like it'll be a good run this year.

On a side not bro, what makes you think that fish you caught was a ''hatchery fish"? Unless thats part of the rock I think I can see the adipose fin.

[Jgoding]

Nah, he was clipped for sure. You should tell everyone what kind of duck calls those are.

[Kevin Goding]

Nah, I won't post what brands they are here. If people want to know what kind they are, they can PM me. If it's clipped though, isn't it completely gone? In the pic it looks like it's there to me.

[Jgoding]

It was gone, I think that's the edge of the rock messing with you.

[wjorg]

Warm water, out of water, dry fish, dead fish.

Call me a bad man, but Im sorry. "Good thing it was only a Hatchery."

[Dustin Revel]

you're a bad man... hatchery fish are fish too!

[Charlie Gonzales]

Are you guys gonna start up on every thread? Bills already asked for civility but you just cant hold back can you? I have fished with the Goding family enough to know they take of their(our) resources. Give it(us) a break!

Now back to the thread.... I'm not surprised to see Kevin with his calls around his neck, in fact I have never seen him without them. But this is the first time I have ever seen him without his camo on.

[wjorg]

I like Guppy's photos with the fish in a net still in the water. He says they are small fish but I think they are giant fish in an even bigger net.

Sorry to offend anyone. I am passionate about keeping "Steelhead" in the water that are gonna stay in the water. Especially if you dont want them to do the upside down meditation cruise downriver. Oh scew it, feed the stripers, they are on the decline. I am not posting to attack the Goding family.

[David Lee]

.... I'm not surprised to see Kevin with his calls around his neck, in fact I have never seen him without them.

CG -

Little-known fact - Kevin drags them along everywhere to disguise his farting , and to describe Jeff's casting in great detail . Honest !!

Just (insert curse word of choice here) with ya .... !

Walter -

Trolling season starts early this year ??

David

[wjorg]

I had to look up what trolling was since I havent fished that way for a while. I have to say I haven't always shown the lighter side and said, "nice job, way to go!" "All right buddy" Usually I leave it alone, from my perspective. Maybe not from "yours"(not you David).

Im not trying to post with the "primary intent of provoking other users into an emotional response."

I just dont agree that taking a fish out of water that you intend to put back in the river alive, is taking care of Our resources. I am sorry.

I just left a state where people threw wild fish off 15 foot cliffs into the river because they were pissed they wern't "keepers." How backwards is that? What I saw in this post was hardly near that, but I disagree fundamentally now(havent always, I have my hero shots) with removing the fish from the water. If you post your accomplishments in a public forum, you are open to public criticism.

We can have the secret ISP address and have our secret fly fishing board. Please don't ban me for my passion for steelhead.

[Steelie-Stalker]

Nice job Jeff and Kevin! Any fish on the swing is an awesome fish, sizeable or not.

[Jgoding]

I knew I might take some flak for those photos, I'm not offended. Wjorg has some valid points. I will keep the fish in the water from here on out as it's the right thing to do. To my defense, I landed those fish very quickly (less than a minute) banked them next to the water, reached in my pocket, grabbed my camera, snapped the photo, unhooked them and let em go. Kevin's fish was in the water except for the picture, and then released.

[Kevin Goding]

I have no problem with people being passionate about something. To be honest my first reaction to my brother's pic of his fish was "he didn't do that right" as well. I'll cradle a fish out of water with no finger pressure for a quick pic that's about it. The only fish I've ever kept on the American were shad, I treat it as a catch and release fishery. I'd only keep a fish if I thought it wasn't going to make it upon release.

As for the wimpiness of these steelhead, I'd disagree on that. These are resilient migrating fish we're talking about. They're made to run up riffles, runs and waterfalls and get banged around a bit and survive just fine. Most living organisms are pretty resilient by nature. I've worked with these fish in the laboratory setting as well, and they can take a lot of handling pressure no problem. Getting hooked and played is stressful too, but I'm a big fan of overgearing, I'm not into the whole "rod bend" action pleasure. I use a toad rod and heavy leader, these fights don't last too long.

Yes the water is a tad warm, but still a few degrees below lethal tolerances. As you can see I wade wet and my legs are pretty good thermometers. I've sampled just about every valley stream, ag ditch and major drainage area from the delta up to Redding in a pair of shorts and sandals (mostly, some areas I wouldn't risk direct skin contact) so have a pretty good feeling for water temps, and have seen fish kills directly related to temperature. Sure the fish got in some shallow water near the bank, but I was below the run in a bend in moving water, not a pocket of anoxic stag 5-10 degrees warmer than the rest of the channel. Right after the pic I lowered that fish into the mild current and it swam up into the current after maybe a second, so I know it was fine.

As for the duck calls yeah I wear em outside fishing, it's great practice. I dont wear camo everyday either Charlie, just fishing or hunting, plus I was wearing the nice mesh ones to stay cool, and better than wearing a neon sign for all the fish to see. I will agree with David though about using them to cover up Jeff's casting at times, keeps you on your toes, although he hasn't hooked me yet.

To the above poster about catching fish on the swing, I agree 100%. Although, that's how I was taught how to fly fish, I'm not sure my dad has ever truely used a dry fly to catch trout on a stream. I always thought swinging flies through riffles was normal until I hit these boards. Watching a fish come out of the water to take a bouncing dropper is an amazing site.

[wjorg]

Well I have to say you two sure sound mature as well as educated on the subject. I appreciate your civility.

For my short original remark, I commented to Charlie in private that I chose not to lecture on gill fiber intregrity being inversely proportional to time out of water, etc for fear of sounding like a nag hag further. Either way I knew Id be regarded by the peanut gallery as either rude or a nag but so goes it.

I am glad you were not offended, it was never my intent. It's not like I havent dropped a damn fish in the sand myself.

[David Lee]

Well I have to say you two sure sound mature as well as educated on the subject. I appreciate your civility.


The Brothers Goding are two of the finest - great outdoorsmen with whom every trip is an adventure . I met their Dad once and I see where it comes from ....

Just my opinion .

D.~

[mark]

Nah, I won't post what brands they are here. If people want to know what kind they are, they can PM me. If it's clipped though, isn't it completely gone? In the pic it looks like it's there to me.

The one on the left looks like a Lares duck call. Outstanding calls....

Congrats on the nice fish also!

[Kevin Goding]

Actually that sounds like an interesting discussion to me Wjorg, from a scientific standpoint. It's interesting how as anglers we handle fish differently on our perceptions of their toughness. I wonder if something like a pink salmon would have tougher gills compared to a steelhead. Thanks for the good words David, but yes dad taught us right, as he was raised on wild game for most of his childhood. Yes the black call is a Lares, it was a gift from my hunting partner who got me started waterfowling two seasons ago. He is a big time call collector and his A5 is his favorite call, as it sounds good and is super reliable and doesn't wear out his asthmatic lungs.