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Picture Of The Month



SD2OR with a trophy fall walleye

Topic: First Sailfish from a Kayak!  (Read 2949 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

uplandsandpiper

  • Guest
It's something I've dreamed about doing for a very long time....

With a couple days off and the rain finally forecast to stop I loaded my new 2017 Hobie Revo and made the two hour trek to Lake Rogers in western Montana. My target species was the "Sailfish of the North", Arctic Grayling. I have a history with this species having backpacked an inflatable kayak and 2 days camping gear some 12 miles into the north Cascades only to find the lack completely frozen in mid-July. That experience left me bitter and I've long desired to connect with this species since.

I arrived at the lake to find a brisk 15 mph south wind whipping across the lake but I knew with minimal effort I could make for the far shore and shelter in the shadow of the surrounding mountains. I trolled a black woolly bugger on my 5 wt glass Echo and a copper Kastmaster on my Tica Super Ultralite across the lake without a bite. As I neared the far edge the spoon rod went off and I landed a chunky Westslope Cuttie.



Over the next 6 hours I continued to landed one cuttie after another with several very large chunky fish putting my ultralite fly and conventional gear to the test.



Each time I hooked a fish the anticipation grew that I might have a grayling and the realization it was a trout brought the realization that I might fail at achieving my goal. In the last hour of light I hooked a fish that fought hard pulling my gear into the deep weed beds and as I drew it close to the kayak I saw the flash of a large dorsal fin! A quick swoop of the net and I had landed my first grayling.





I caught three more grayling before heading out for Kalispell for the night, game 7 of the world series, and a whole lot of beer (my head still hurts!). The next morning I headed back out to the lake just as a freezing fog lifted from the foothills. I immediately started catching grayling with several doubles but most were under 12". I headed for the most productive waters from the previous day and connected with a toad of a cuttie on the fly rod.



After that fish I started back towards the launch but managed another large grayling to cap off my Montana Sailfish adventure! I am having a great time exploring my new home. There is just an incredible amount of water up here. It could take a lifetime.








LawyerBob

  • Rockfish
  • ****
  • Location: Beaverton, Oregon
  • Date Registered: Jun 2015
  • Posts: 187
Awesome--congrats!


pmmpete

  • Sturgeon
  • *******
  • Location: Missoula, Montana
  • Date Registered: Jul 2013
  • Posts: 1989
Those are pretty porky cutthroats!  I've never fished for grayling in Montana, but have caught and eaten them on rivers in Alaska and northern Canada.

I like the subject line of your posting.  You should use photoshop to produce a picture of what appears to be an 8 foot long grayling mounted on the wall in your living room.
« Last Edit: November 04, 2016, 10:31:49 AM by pmmpete »


polyangler

  • Sturgeon
  • *******
  • Location: Lacey, WA
  • Date Registered: Jun 2009
  • Posts: 1844
Very cool! Congrats on yet another species!

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[img width=100 height=100]http://i785.photobucket.com/albums/yy131/saltyplastic/NEMrod


dberd

  • Salmon
  • ******
  • Location: The Couv
  • Date Registered: May 2011
  • Posts: 696
 Congrats on another species...beautiful fish! Are they good table fare or just catch and release hoping to increase numbers?
GREAT  photos as always!
" History shows, again and again, how nature points out the folly of man"  BOC


uplandsandpiper

  • Guest
Congrats on another species...beautiful fish! Are they good table fare or just catch and release hoping to increase numbers?
GREAT  photos as always!

Purported to be excellent table fare but I let them swim to be caught another day.


pmmpete

  • Sturgeon
  • *******
  • Location: Missoula, Montana
  • Date Registered: Jul 2013
  • Posts: 1989
Are they good table fare or just catch and release hoping to increase numbers?
I think grayling are similar to trout, but not quite as tasty, and with not quite as nice a texture. I think they are OK to eat, but nothing to rave about.


Idaho Brit

  • Lingcod
  • *****
  • Hobie Tandem Island, Hobie Outback
  • Location: Spokane
  • Date Registered: Jun 2016
  • Posts: 311
Great report. Fantastic photos. What camera do you use for the close ups?
"Believe me, my young friend, there is nothing -- absolutely nothing -- half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats." Said the water rat.  The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame,


uplandsandpiper

  • Guest
Great report. Fantastic photos. What camera do you use for the close ups?

Olympus TG-4


Sailfish

  • Lingcod
  • *****
  • Location: Monterey County
  • Date Registered: Apr 2008
  • Posts: 215
Whew...I thought you caught me  ;D  Congrats on the beautiful catch!
"Life is not about waiting for the storms to pass...it's about learning how to dance in the rain."


reelmccoy

  • Perch
  • ***
  • Date Registered: Nov 2015
  • Posts: 96
Great story and fantastic fish! 


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