Guest Blogger: Joe Dellaria, Woodbury MN

This is a true story that happened over the last six months. I can still hardly believe it, but I am quite certain I caught the same trout three times in this time period! And not just any trout, but a reasonably large one. The main points are:

• 1. Catch-and-release works! It can provide the opportunity for the same fish to be caught again and again.
• 2. The fish was caught in three very different weather and water conditions. Just fish when you get a chance – good things happen for those who are persistent.
• 3. The fish was caught on three very different flies. Big fish are apparently opportunists and can be caught on many different types of flies (or at least this one).
• 4. Perseverance pays. In each instance, I was not very successful for the first 1 ½ - 3 hours. But I kept going. In each case, it led to catching a very nice trout.
• 5. The trout grew ½” every three months. I had no idea this was the case!

Read on as I recount how the stories unfolded for each time I caught what I believe is the same fish. Look at the pictures of each fish; then you can decide for yourself. Unfortunately, I did not anticipate catching the same fish three times; hence, the pictures were not taken in the same orientation. As I was writing the blog, I realized it would have been helpful if the pictures were laid out the same way. The problem was I took the picture of the first fish in the net. The curve of the fish and being surrounded by the net confounds making a good comparison. I had the advantage of seeing all of them in the water and handling them – so it is easier for me to see they are the same fish. Hopefully you will agree.

THE BEGINNING OF THE STORY

My standard operating procedure is to release any brown or rainbow trout that is 15 inches or bigger. The rationale is straightforward: 1. If you want to catch fish bigger than 15 inches, you have to let these go, and 2. These are the fish you want in the gene pool so you can catch even bigger fish over the long haul. 

I have to admit there was one exception to releasing a good-sized fish. It was a 12-inch brookie, which is one of the bigger I have caught on my favorite river. I caught it on 4 successive trips to the same stretch over the course of a couple of months. I knew it was the same fish as someone had torn the corner of its upper lip so it was unattached on one side. The 4 ^th time I caught it, I realized this was the village idiot and it was best to remove it from the gene pool. Its progeny would all be caught and be dinner too quickly. It made a delicious supper that night! 

If you just want to see just the facts, I made a table at the end of this blog summarizing the size of the fish, the date it was caught, the fly it was caught on, weather and water conditions, and the best picture I have of the head. Additionally, I have included a picture of each fly separately and all three flies together after the table. I think it is fascinating that three completely different flies caught the same fish!

CAUGHT ON JANUARY 29, 2024

In Wisconsin, where I do most of my trout fishing, they instituted a preseason catch-and-release season from the first Saturday in January until the first Saturday in May when the regular season starts. We had an unusually warm January this year which I chose to take advantage of on January 29 ^th . I fished the usual spots and caught a few fish. It was comfortable and there was enough light left to make the ¾-mile cross country hike to get to “the stretch.” I was motivated to do this since I have caught and lost several fish between 17” to over 20” there. One of my least favorite memories was the day I hooked and lost two 20 ⁺ -inchers within 15 minutes of one another. I have dreamed of settling that score ever since. 

Having arrived at “the stretch,” I perused the water before getting into the river. I noticed a single fish rising in the center of the deepest part of the run. I eased into the water and began working from the tail of the run towards the hole. As I worked my way upstream, I observed that the spawning redds from last fall were still visible. More importantly, I saw small schools of young-of-the-year trout fry swimming nearby. I switched to a #12 parachute Adams lead fly with a 36” dropper to a #12 Gray Hare’s Ear in the hope that the nymph dropper would look like one of the nearby baby trout. 

I finally arrived at the spot where I had first seen a rise and was pleasantly surprised to see the fish was still rising. There wasn’t anything obvious coming off so I decided to stick with the #12 Adams as it had a hot pink post which made it easy to see in the dimming light. On the first cast to the spot, the fish came up and nosed the fly with a closed mouth! I was thinking, “You stinking rascal.” The next cast was about two feet further upstream. I began retrieving the flies by alternately jostling my rod tip and stripping in the slack. This makes the Adams move 3-4 inches and causes the nymph to rise a few inches. A pause between the jostle and the strip allows the nymph to sink. This makes the nymph look like an injured minnow. After the second jostle, the fish took the nymph so hard the Adams disappeared with an audible plop. I was expecting a 10-12-inch brown at best, so when my rod doubled over on the hookset, I was surprised that it seemed to be a decent fish. 

It took several minutes before I got a glimpse of the fish – it was clearly a large fish and possibly 20 or more inches! The fish was exceedingly uncooperative the first 3-4 times I tried to net it; it made another run. I missed on the next two attempts and partially succeeded on the third. The fish barely fit in the net which was too shallow; the fish launched itself out of the net and back into the water. Fortunately, I recovered instantaneously from the heart attack that occurred as he landed back in the river and successfully netted him on the fourth attempt! The fish measured 19 ½”! While it wasn’t one of the bruisers I lost a couple of years ago, it was a tolerably big fish. The first picture shows the fish in my net. I, of course, released the fish!

Fortunately, I decided to order a bigger net immediately after getting home. Little did I know how good this decision was.

CAUGHT ON APRIL 8 ^TH , 2024

Fast forward to April 8 ^th when I fortunately was misled by the river height gauge on the river 10 miles to the east. It had rained over an inch the day before. I checked the river gauge and nary a bump in the river height showed the next morning. So, a couple of hours later I headed over to the river expecting it to be modestly cloudy. (If I had bothered to check river height gauge again, I wouldn’t have gone as that river went up 2 ½ feet! Glad I didn’t look.) Instead, my river was easily up 12 inches and initially I could see the bottom in 3-4 inches of water. I had just set up my first sinking tip line and bought a selection of Zoo Cougar streamers: white, olive, and black. The videos I had watched coached you to change the fly color after every 15 minutes. The idea is to find the “color of the day.” So dutifully I went through some of the best water I knew changing streamers every 15-20 minutes and cast my heart out for over an hour and a half. Nothing, not a bump, turn, or follow. 

I decided why not try the stretch where I got the 19 ½” fish, at least I knew he was there. So, once again I made the ¾-mile hike downstream to “the stretch.” No reason to peruse the water as you couldn’t see anything. I carefully eased into the water as I couldn’t tell how deep it was for sure. I waded about half-way across the river and decided it was time to switch to the black Zoo Cougar as it was cloudy and the sun was just above the horizon. I just wanted to get the fly wet and made a casual 20-foot cast to the shore and bam, a 13” brown nailed the streamer. So, I worked downstream for a while on that shore and got another 11” brown tight to shore. Then I started working upstream on the other shore and got to the deep section where I had caught the 19 ½” brown. Nothing – Drat! I decided to keep going since I still had some light and fished another 20-30 minutes with more nothing. 

I was about to call it a day when I got to a spot where the river narrows. On the far east shore there is a dead spot behind where the river starts constricting and made a cast to that shore. On the second strip I snagged bottom, or so I thought. I raised my rod tip to see if I could get off the snag by bobbing my rod tip when the rod started bouncing like a trampoline with a class of elementary kids on it. Fish on! The high water magnified the surges the fish made. At first, I was thinking at least 20,” as the fight wore on, I was starting to think it was a mid-twenties fish. I couldn’t see the fish for the longest time due to the cloudy water. I caught a glimpse of the fish on its run downstream and knew it was big but I couldn’t tell for sure. It was 10-12 minutes before I subdued it and slipped my new and larger net under an exhausted fish on the first try! I took it to shore and measured it at 20”! My knees were still shaking as I released the fish.

I went back to the same area and landed another 15” brown, had two more decent fish on that came off, and two slashes that missed the streamer. I looked up just in time to see lightning on the horizon and a distinct line of rain heading towards me so I hightailed it back to the car. Perseverance had paid off. I almost quit after the first 2 hours of nothing and after getting the two smaller fish then nothing.

CAUGHT ON JULY 10 ^TH , 2024

Fast forward another 3 months to July 10 ^th . This time I started at 6:30 in the morning, and worked upstream. I hit-and-miss fished my “greatest hits” spots until I reached “the stretch.” I worked from the tail and fished both sides thoroughly. This time I had on my “Killer Beetle” with a #8 Gray Hare’s Ear on a 36” dropper. I used the same jostle and wait retrieve I described for the first fish but did so about twice as fast. After 20-30 minutes nothing had happened. It was weird because the tail almost always yields a couple of fish. Fortunately, I caught myself as my mind started wandering and distinctly remember saying to myself, “Stay alert, this is when you miss a good fish.” Ten minutes later I cast just upstream of an overhanging tree and began the jostle/pause retrieve. About half-way back a fish surged at the fly and engulfed it with no hesitation. Usually, I get excited and pull defeat from the jaws of victory by trying to set the hook too early. But this time, everything was in slow motion. My mind went step-by-step: “Look, a big fish is taking the beetle. Oh, he has closed his mouth. Now he has turned. Perhaps I should set the hook?! So, I did! Bam, fish on. He ran every which way trying to get to different nearby snags. When this happens, I have learned to hold the rod low and parallel to the water and pull opposite of where the fish is heading. It has to be a steady pull but not too hard. Too much pressure and the fly pulls out or the hook bends. Too little pressure and the fish reaches the snag and it’s over. What a blast. Several minutes later I slid the net under a beautiful golden brown that measured 20 ½”! After reviving the fish and releasing it, I realized it had the same slender body shape, a very large tail, and a massive mouth just like the 19 ½” and 20” browns. As I walked back to the car, I realized I could compare pictures to see whether all three were the same fish. 

When I got home, I pulled up the pictures of the second two fish. The 20” and 20 ½” browns were facing the same direction so I could make a literal head-to-head comparison. Below are the close-ups of the heads of each fish.

Starting next to the eye and moving towards the second gill plate both fish have:

• - Four small spots going around the left side of the eye
• - A single larger spot to the left of the 4 spots
• - Four spots going from the top of the first gill plate to the bottom of the gill plate
• - Four half-spots going down the edge of the first gill plate
• - Four larger spots going down from the top of the second gill plate to the bottom of the gill plate and the spots decrease slightly in size going top to bottom

It seems pretty clear these two are the same fish. Unfortunately, the 19 ½” fish is facing the opposite direction. I have never compared both sides of a fish and do not know whether the spots should be the same on both sides. However, all three fish have the same long and narrow body with a large tail and a big mouth as shown by three pictures below.

COMPARING BODY STYLES OF THE THREE FISH

You will note that the coloration varies between each fish but the body shape is consistent. In addition, check the chart below. If you look at the spots on the gill plates of the 19 ½” brown they are very similar to the other two. Having handled all three fish and seen them in the water it is easier for me to believe they are the same fish.

One of the main points of this article is that catch-and-release works! After letting the fish go twice it grew an additional ½” each time and I was lucky enough to recapture the fish again. It is very interesting to note that the fish took a #12 nymph, an ~three-inch streamer, and an ~7/8” beetle. It was caught in the deepest section of the run with very little current, the head of the run in strong current during run-off, and at the tail of the run with modest current. It suggests that this big fish is a feeding opportunist who moves according to where the food is.

The best part of the story is I may have a chance to catch this fish again before the season ends at midnight October 15. If the fish’s current growth rate is maintained, the fish could be 21” by then. I am hoping no one else catches and keeps the fish before I catch it again. I am not telling anyone where this fish lives. The other fun questions are:

“What part of the run will he be in? 

and 

“What will I catch him on next?” 

Here’s to hoping I get to write a happy ending to catching a 21” trout by releasing a 20 ½” trout!

SUMMARY OF THE “DATA” ON THE DAY THE FISH WAS CAUGHT

* It is unfortunate that this picture had the fish facing the opposite direction from the other two. Of course, I had no reason at the time to be concerned about this as I would have never expected to catch the same fish three times! This is the other side. It is very similar but not identical. I have never looked at the spots of a trout on both sides – so, I don’t know whether they should be identical. I had the advantage of handling all three. I am pretty sure they are the same fish – I think the pictures of the body show the unique body shape of the fish.

PICTURES OF THE FLIES USED TO CATCH THE FISH

19 ½ “- #12 Gray Hare’s Ear Nymph – The fish was caught at 4:05 P.M. It was sunny with light winds. It was about an hour before sunset when I caught the fish. 

20” - #1 Black Zoo Cougar – The fish was caught at 4:52 P.M. (Sunset was at 7:47 P.M.). The water was about one foot up from rain run-off. You could see the bottom in ~4-6 inches of water (it had cleared slightly from when I began fishing). A rainstorm hit about 45 minutes after I caught the fish.

20 ½ “- #10 Killer Beetle – The fish was caught at 8:09 A.M. The water was slightly hazy; you could see the bottom in ~2.5 feet of water. It was about an hour before a Trico spinner fall began. I caught three other fish on the beetle before the spinner fall began.

I described how to tie this fly in a previous post. This is the actual fly that caught the fish. It is interesting to note how beat up the fly is. It is an extremely durable fly that can take a beating and still catch fish! The teeth marks and tears tell you how much the fish like this fly.

ALL THREE FLIES TOGETHER – Left to right: #12 Grey Hare’s Ear nymph, #1 Black Zoo Cougar, and #10 Killer Beetle.

That’s everything I have. Hope you enjoyed reading the account as much as I did catching this fish three times. Let me know if you have any questions and whether you agree it is the same fish.

Postscript to How to Catch a Twenty-One Inch Trout (Soon):

I was fishing with a friend of mine the week before the end of the Wisconsin trout season. He turned a large fish in “the stretch” but did not hook him. We went back the next morning hoping to trigger the fish but nothing happened. Here’s to hoping a 21” brown is still swimming in “the stretch.” If so, it should be around 22” when the catch-and-release season opens in 2025!

A month or two after submitting this blog I came across an article in Trout magazine where they reported on TroutSpotter. Without getting into many details, this is a program using AI to determine if a fish has been recaptured using pictures submitted by anglers. It is being tested in three watersheds. It will be fun to see if other fish are recaptured. In addition, I ran across an article on the reclamation of the Nipigon River in Canada. I can’t find the article, but it reported that 3-4 anglers had recaptured the same brook trout three times!