What is your most memoriable fishing moment?

[Eugene Graham]

One of the greatest thing about flyfishing is being able to look back at some of the memories that you had in prior trips. I would love to hear what are some of your most memoriable fishing moments.

Mine would be spending time with my uncle who passed away shortly after at a private lake bass fishing. Even though all of the fish we caught were small, the time spent with him will always stand out.

The second most memoriable fishing moment was with Bill Kiene at a small bass pond. I nailed an at least 6 lb largemouth on a popper and 7 wt rod. He was a hard fighting fish, that I had to fight for quite a while. I can still picture the HUGE mouth he had.

Eugene Graham

[David Lee]

Eugene , I'm sorry for your loss ....

Almost too many memorable days ... Pit river Rainbows that did things that fish physically shouldn't be able to do , My first Stripers on the fly - all little ones , but I'd dreamed of catching them for so long that the size didn't matter ....
Hundreds of days chasing Smallmouth on creeks and small rivers , my only company was Damselflies and birds . Stalking SPOOKEY Carp and having the hair on my neck stand up when they looked at the fly . Fishing with friends (I mostly fish alone ...) .
And tomorrow - always tomorrow !! David

[Rob]

I have had so many Menoriable outings with my boys. But their first fish on a fly was cool. Their biggest fish on a fly was also great. I have so much fun when they go with me . The days we get skunked are even a blast. The coolest thing is when we are on our way home from a fishing trip and one of my boys reaches over and grabs me by the arm and says , dad thank for taking me. That's the BEST!

Take care.
Rob

[Gregg Machel]

Half way through my vacation last summer in August, after dropping the wife and older son off at the airport in Minneapolis to fly home, my 10 year old son and I were deciding where to go next. We knew we wanted to go fishing somewhere nice, but were not sure where to go. Well, I thought back to the movie that got me interested in fly fishing ... you guessed it, A River Runs Through It, and Montana was calling my name. We spent the next day and a half driving to Missoula, MT, and almost made it non-stop. After arriving in town and getting some tips and a few flies from the local shops, we found a campsite and pitched our tent about 20' from the Blackfoot River and spent the next week fishing up and down the river! This so far has been the most memorable fishing moment(s) so far. Oh, and to top it off, we were way out in the country with hardly any lights at all (only passing cars on the highway) and the meteor shower was in full swing. We laid in the back of my pickup truck and just watched the show. These are moments that will never be forgotten.

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

I have many old memeories.

Most are with my dad, uncle, brothers and good fishen' buddies.

Won a trip to Bristol Bay Lodge in Alaska in 1976.

Went in with a helocopter with Joe Shirshac and friends to camp on the famous Dean River in BC about 20 years ago for two weeks.

Went of a free trip to New Zealand with a dozen other dealers for two weeks to 4 top lodges on both islands.

Fished Christmas Island 13 time sense 1985.

Sage rod company invited me to go on their privite Sage trip to Christmas Island. Fished with Lefty Kreh. We sat around and listened to Lefty and Evon Chouinard, owner of Patagonia, plan a trip to New Gueni with CNN. Tough job but..............

Went about every place in Belize and the Mexican Yucatan for the past 20 years.

Went ot Venezuala about 20+ years ago for baby tarpon at Rio Chico.

About 100 years ago went for two weeks up the Oregon coast with Craig Zeigler in search of Silver.

Fished the lower Eel River from prams during the draught of the late '70s with Al Peryman for salmon and steelhead.

Fished the Gualala and Garcia Rivers in the '70s with my old friends who fished it for the past 50 years.

Went for two weeks to Montana with Don Rotsma and Rick Jorgensen about 20 years ago.

Went about 20 years ago for 10 days to Marathon Key, Florida with my fishing partner Neil Hansen where we fished with top guide Nat Ragland. We also went to a big all day party at Steve Chapell's house where we met Billy Pate, Rick Rouoff, John Emery, Bill Levy and many other great salt water fly fishers.

A few years back went with a group of friends to the Kamloops area of BC with Chris Pasley. Met Brain Chan, the area biologist for 30 years.

I have been in the fishing tackle business for 40 years now in Sacramento and I was real lucky to be taken to a lot of great places with some great anglers.

[Victor Yee]

Gee, I wish I have as many as Bill...There is one that got me thinking... I'll get to that shortly. A few summers ago on the Provo River in Utah. I fished a pocket,- expecting a grab. I set up when I saw my indicator go down. I feel alot of weight... Maybe a snag? I start pumping the rod as I go towards the "hook up" trying to free the snag. As I near the pocket, the brown trout of maybe 26", with a girth... I mean fat!,- explode out of the water, scaring the living hell out of me. It immediately took me to the brushes and I could not turn the old bugger losing that fish in just a flash. Since going to the double nymph set up and actually foul hooking more than before, my question is this: I've hooked some very large fish thru the years and have wondered, if the fish just sits there, moving side to side not realizing they have been hooked, is it because they are so big that they don't feel a thing or, is it because they have been foul hooked in the tail or something and does not react the same way as being hooked inside the mouth? I've lost most of those fish because the double nymph usually gets me hung up...

[Adam Grace]

My most memorable fly fishing moment is my first experience catching a fish on the fly.

I was fishing the east side of the Sierras with my buddy who already fly fished. Across the road from our campground was a small little high elevation clear lake. We saw a pod of trout, most likely recent planters, they were easy to spot in the clear water. After casting three or four different flies I tied on a bead head prince nymph. I watched the trout swim over and grab the fly and I hooked into my first fly rod fish. I remembered how much different it was to strip in the fish compared to reeling it in. I was so proud and very excited. A great moment for me.

At that same little lake I remember seeing a fly fisherman out in a float tube, first time seeing a float tube. I remembered thinking how cool that guy was to be fly fishing in a specialized fishing tube. I wanted to be a cool fisherman like that guy.

Thanks to Bill and the others at Kiene's, I am now that guy.

Pretty Cool!

[Gregg]

Tough choice...

Either hooking into my 1st half-pounder at Watt with Adam and my Dad, Jim, or getting soaked by the rain at the "secret spot" in Auburn with Adam and laughing during every minute of it.

The half-pounder was the first "real" fish I had tied into, and my first solid grab and hookup on a dry. Plus, it was getting dark so it added to the excitement. Adam and my Dad coached all the way through to the release. I grinned about that fish for weeks.

Getting soaked in Auburn was just funny because we were catching plenty of fish, but getting absolutley soaked by the consistant light rainfall. We climbed out of the canyon looking like drenched rats, devouring trail mix in the car while the heater blasted. The fish weren't so much the most memorable part, just the whole experience. When I think of going fishing, the actual "catching" only makes up for part of my excitement. It's the time I get to share with friends and family that make the whole experience so worthwhile.

[Darian]

Hello everyone,..... It seems that there're many memorable moments or opportunities for same in a lifetime of fishing.....

The one that stands out, recently, is a trip to East Cape, last June, where my fishing buddy and I hooked up, simultaneously, on two Striped Marlin. Each Marlin crossed over the other to STRRRRIIIIIKE. It was IMPRESSIVE....

It was a first for both of us. Lost one and fought one for approximately an hour and forty five minutes..... Got 'im close; the panga captain had his hand on the swivel and the hook PULLED OUT ARRRrrrrgh Oh well, it would've been released anyway. The captain estimated the size at 6' and approximately 120 lbs. It was one of the most beautifully colored fish I've ever seen.

When the fight was over, I was completely spent..... Can't wait to get back there and, needless to say, I've got some good looking and right size Mullet Patterns ready to....