Chapter 2: The Frenzy Went Big in 09...Best BIG Fish Stories

It isn't an understatement to say that this year we went BIG on the Frenzy. When I say big, I mean fish caught that brake the famed 20 inch trout mark or that came really close. But who cares because catching a trout that size is just cool, if it has an awesome story...Plus it grows an inch ever time it is told anyway. I'm not going to go into too much of an overall write up because I want to share each story as they are all very unique and just down right amazing experiences.



On Top At Daniels
We Started the trip with a little stop-by at Daniels Res. (Hoss's Idea) The plan was to fish for about 30 mins and see if we could get at least one good fish before we got to Rexburg and Rainbow Lake. My first thought was it was going to be tough to hook up from the shore with not much cover and not much room for a back cast. As I worked down the dam I noticed in the far corner some rising fish and a big fallen tree in the lake. From up high I could see a nice bow working on the edge of the fallen tree. I casted my bugger in front of it and just like a shallow wise fish it gave me the fin and was gone. After the wind died a little I noticed some gulpers about 20 yrds in front of me. Knowing it was already time to go and everyone was at the truck. I dropped my gear and ran to the truck to get my floating line set up. I told them I might have them figured out and ran the 400 yrds back to my spot. On the first cast with my midges a big 20 inch bow grabbed my emerger and I was into my backing within seconds. After getting my line over the fallen tree and running to the far corner of the dam I was able to bring the beautiful bow to the shore on 6X tippet. It was a great way to start off the Frenzy!


Chubbs Monster
As Hancey, Hoss and I approached a wet, cold Chubbs on the South Fork. He didn't say hi, but asked us in a weird voice "Hey you guys caught any big fish?" I don't no if we were shocked by the question or what, but we all kinda mumble yeah, we've done ok. Then he said "well I have" as he showed us his monster cutt before releasing it. We measured the Cutt to be a true 23.5 inches with a 12 inch girth and head the size of Jay Leno's. It was a true monster of a Cutthroat and the largest Fine Spotted I have ever scene. The Story behind this fish is that Chubbs had spotted a nice gravel bar behind some fallen pine trees. As he approached the hole he saw this fish flash. After switching set ups the toad hit a glow bug and the fight was on. Nice Fish Chubbs you deserved it bro.

Pardon the Interuption

Fishing Hebgen Lake with Mikey and Jordan we found ourselves drifting across a big bay in the middle of the day. Nothing much was happening, so Jordan started to interview me for the film we were shooting. As I was sitting on my butt with my legs hanging over the side of the drift boat trying to explain why fishing is important to life. In mid sentence I felt this jolt through my hands and down my rod. Almost losing my rod, I set the hook and and fought what ended up being my largest Hebgen Trout ever. The nice male Brown measured 21inches and was well worth the interruption.

Chonomid Lake-I mean Hebgen Lake

When we got to Hebgen we were hoping to fish the famed ice-out cruising trout with chronomids, but not much was happening on top, so we all drifted buggers until evening when the hatch was so thick we were eating as much as the fish. We still managed to pull out some pigs

Chubbs Bugger Bow and Jacks Emerger Madness

Hoss's Big Brown Caught in the Shallows

20 inch Bow 9 inch Fly

In Search for a Tiger Musky I threw on an over sized Perch Fly as the sunset faded and darkness settled on us. I didn't have any other strikes until my last cast of the day. I thought I had a nice bass until I tried to pull it into the boat and I couldn't lift it. After netting it I saw it was a trout and a nice surprise with the big fly dangling in it face.

Dave's Stoned Brown

It wasn't the largest, but I really liked this picture, so its in... Nice Pic Hoss

Madison Twins: A Story of Unwanted Water

There must have been 5 or more guys who walked right pasted a little back eddied that held 15 or more big hungry rainbows. It wasn't there fault the fish were hard to spot and it wasn't the best run in the area. (At least from the looks of it) Lucky for me, I took a good long look at the run and decided I would give it a shot. On the first cast I was hooked up, but lost the fish. After that the picky bows rejected my offerings. I got unto a better angle and switched to smaller midges (#20 Leroy Special) w/out an indicator. Within two casts I was hooked up with and landed 21 & 20 inch bows. My largest Madison bows to date...

Fat Buck 21 incher

Little Bro 20

Hoss's Madison Surprise

Hoss found his own secret run behind a nice rock where the bows were stacked up. He landed this nice bow on camera. Shortly after hooking himself and face planting going after one of Dave's fish.

Henry's Lake Opener

There's not much to say about this except that we caught and release a lot of big nice Cutthroats that day out of our boats and on the dock as we left. Here are a few of the 20+ers that we caught that on the opener.

"Just One Cast"

So After fishing all morning at Henry's we decided to take a break and get some grub at the cabin. Talking to Dave about the fish we caught, we decided we would stop by Henry's on the way out to Victor, since they left early and hit the Madison and weren't able to catch a HL Cutt. Dave, Hoss and I set out to catch a couple fish for them and be on our way. Since we only had 2 poles with us, I just hung out until I couldn't take it any longer. I asked Dave if I could just have one cast. He said sure since they had kind of stopped biting. I cast out, strip, strip, take, set. The water flew everywhere. This big cutt was mad and he showed it. After a splashy fight I landed this hog of a Henry's Lake Hybrid. (I didn't measure it but I would have to say it was around 22-24 inches) It was a dream come true and the one thing I wanted to do this trip. I gave Dave back his rod and said sorry about that.

Jake's Stripping Bow

I don't have a story to this except that he caught it on a big ugly articulated streamer on the South Fork on a rainy overcast day. Sweet Fish Jake!

Night Fishing

Caught out of Chubbs Victor house pond. Chubbs first caught Rudy in the eye lid then landed this big 22 inch cutt to finish off the night.

A Float to Remember

Dave and Mikey floated together from Veron to Chester on the Henry's Fork. When the rest of us were catching average bows these guys were rassling some beautiful HF bows. Mikey said this was his trip highlight.

Hoss's Hog

Dr G vs Mr Brown

You know there are those stories that get told over and over again, but they never seem to get old or lose their appeal. Well this is one of them. It all started on a little known stretch of the Henry's Fork that the locals call "Bubbleland". The water was raging almost three times it's natural flow and to top it off it was as brown as chocolate milk. The final obstacle was the wind. It seemed to be jealous of the raging river and added it own rage. I remember saying to myself, why are we wasting our time when there are some many other places close by. Since the main river was basically unfishable. I focused my attention to a smaller tributary that looked at least fishable. After catching a white fish and a giant sucker in the only fishable water. I decided that I would head back to a spot that I had wanted to go to earlier but was taken, by Dave and Hoss when we started. Mikey, Dave and I got there about the same time. I decided to take the lower run and Mikey the upper. After a couple casts I hooked up with a 4 inch little brown that I didn't even know I had until it was lanched on my back cast. (Top pic) The next cast Dave said "Get it out to the middle seem" It took me a couple shadow cast with the wind, but it was in the perfect spot. As my indicator drifted by me I noticed a twitch, my instinks set in and I set the hook. I felt presure but wasn't for sure what it was. Then it gave that glorious head shake and I knew I had a fish! It didn't do much at first except move back in forth in the fast run. I knew it was large, but didn't know if it was another sucker. As I put more preasure on the fish it took off like a Christmas sale at Wal-Mart. I remember thinking no way is it a sucker its way to fast, more like a bow. It ran straight up stream trying to lose me under the diversion dam than across and finally it gave me a chance to have some control, but it didn't last long. It was wise and it knew what it was doing. It wizzed by me and straight down stream in the main current. I'll I remember thinking is I am going to get spooled. After 50 yards into my backing, I said to Dave we have to chase him. As we ran after the fish we had to cross the fast run and luckily Dave was there to keep me balance or I would of been a goner for sure. I'll I could think as I was running was try and stop the fish before it is to late. So I tried one of the oldest tricks in the book. I released line in hopes the fish would think he was free and swim back up the current. It worked long enough to make up the 100 yrds of backing and get back up some of the fly line. As I applied presure once more to make sure it was still there. It went on another 50 yrd run and about 20 ft from haunting my dreams forever. I told Dave you have to get behind it. So as the athlete he is, he jumped over logs and rocks and got into our last poistion to net the oversized fish. When he saw it for the first time he yelled in excitement and I knew it for sure wasn't a sucker. But then I started to shake and the presure was so tense I was shaking from head to toe. Dave yelled "You got to get it over 5 ft" I said ok and started walking to the side. When it was finally close enough Dave reached out and netted it on the first attempt! It was over! It was like a worldseries game 7 and the Mets hit a walk off home run. Everyone yelled with excitement. Which brought everyone on the river over to see what all the excitement was about. It was truly one of the finest feets I have ever witnessed and experienced in my life.
Everyone was living in that one moment and was so excited to be part of it. My Brown measured out to be 25 inches and between 7-8 pounds. As I poped the hot pink san jaun out of its mouth I stopped and thought "This is what fly fishing is all about".

The Fly Fishing Frenzy 2009

This years Fly Fishing Frenzy has been one of the best trips of my life. It met all of my hopes and goals and fulfilled some I didn't think possible.

Since these past 6 days have been filled with so many experiences and stories it is hard to combine them into one without missing something. So I think the best way to capture the memories is to break up the Frenzy 09 into a 4 chapter story.

Chapter 1: Big Hoss's Day Journal

Hoss gave a great summary of this years frenzy on a daily basis as the events happened. Each night after fishing for 10-12 hrs Hoss would post each days events and feelings on the frenzy site. It is a nice way to look back at what happened and how the attitude was at the moment as a tired fishermen tried his best to share the excitement to the world.

Click here to see Hoss's Posts: www.flyfishingfrenzy.com


Stay Tuned For The Rest of the Story
Chapter 2: The Frenzy Went Big in 09...Best BIG Fish Stories
Chapter 3: It About the Little Things...Things that are small, but mean a lot to the Frenzy
Chapter 4: The Whole Truth...The Complete Write UP of Frenzy 09
Appendix: What, Its Over? Lets start planning next years

Frenzy Count Down and Some!!!

TWO days and counting until normal men turn into crazy freakish wild creatures roaming the hills of ID and MT in search of big trout and crazy fun... It is 6 days of pure Man-cation enjoyment at its finest.

In prep for the Frenzy I have added a couple new features to Corona...Check em out

Rainbow Lake Ready: No More Lake Rowing!!!

Secured and ready to go: Oar Holders

You can never have to much storage Sunset Tanning

The Wife, The Green and The Rainbows

I go fishing a lot. Most of the time I fish I'm solo. Its usually easier and it gives me a chance to practice my own skills instead helping develop others all the time. And just maybe my long hours in the coldest crappiest conditions don't excite too many people either. There are times when I am the luckiest man in the world and my beautiful wife joins me for a day on the river. (That gives me an idea about my next blog rant, Fishing with Girls, Wives, etc...) In this particular case Liz and I made a deal. If I worked out and ate healthy with her all week, she would come fishing with me on Sat. I didn't even second guess myself. That Monday I was already planning on hitting the Green or the Berry if the ice was still around for the weekend. As the weekend grew near the Green was looking hard to beat. So on Sat morning we packed up the Jeep and headed northeast in search of hopefully some BWOs, Midges and most importantly some good quality time together. There is something special about going on trips with Liz, the lunches are always 100 times better, plus she makes the experience fun and alive. (She is that kind of person) As we got to the river around 10am I was shocked to see a half full parking lot, I guess the economy is even affecting some peoples time on the water. Today's fishing trip was going to be a simple easy going outing, but as we started our float I notice a couple fish rising across the stream. Better go see what going on I though, as I finally got over to the opposite side of the river I notice fish scattering everywhere. I said in an excited voice "Liz check out how many fish there are in this run" I think she was shocked to see so many fish in such a small area.

After anchoring the boat my first couple casts produced hit and misses on a dry-dropper rig. After a little thought, I decided to go with what I knew wouldn't spoke them, but would for sure produce some fish, at least I hoped. And that it did!!! It was the right set up for the right time of the year, for the right spooky fish. In fact I caught fish after fish, Liz joined in and reeled in a nice bow too. It was red hot fishing for bright colored wild Rainbows.

After a dozen or so 16-18 inchers I decided to target some of the larger fish I could see. The first was a very dark shadow about 20 ft in front of the boat. On my first cast to it, I noticed it followed my flies and when it turned back upstream they were gone. Set the hook I thought. I lifted what felt like a 30 pound anchor and the fight was on! This fish was wise and freakin fast, the old dark bow fought until he had had enough and gave us one good pass to bring him to the net. WOW, Its size grew 5 inches when he was in the net. It was the darkest steelhead like rainbow I had ever scene caught on the green. We nick named it the freak.

With one big fish to net I was back glassing the water for another. After a couple smaller fish, I spotted what I though was a sunken log in front of a big rock, until it moved after a something and returned in its feeding lane 50+ ft from us. My first cast was too short, but my second cast was right on the money. My line went tight and the water tossed like killer whale in the shallows. I had a huge fish on and I knew it. Luckily it went in front of the rock on a 100 ft run downstream and not behind. After letting up on the pressure the big beast turned and came straight back up stream and right pass the boat giving me a look and doubling the stress on another nail biting run. With only 6X on I didn't want to do anything stupid, so I took my time and wore the beast down until I finally got him to the surface. Liz reached out with the long net, but the beast wasn't done. 5 other attempts and I couldn't pull him up to the surface so Liz could net him. Finally I pulled a little harder and SNAP. Just kidding!!! Its a happy story. Finally I pulled a little harder and Liz got the net underneath him and in the boat. I was speechless...It was the largest wild rainbow I had ever caught on the green and prefect in every way. It was a magical time to share such an amazing experience with my wife and one we won't both live down for a long time.

It was this Big!

We could have stayed in that area and caught fish all day, but with two hours of non-stop fish we decided to move in search of other fish and a new scenery.

The rest of the float was was as I had planned, simple, easy going with a fish or two in each area I decided to get out and fish. I was hoping for a good hatch, but with the constant breeze and bright sun it just didn't happen, until the sun went down and we were just about off the river. Oh well, next time I'll stay out past dark and just kill them, but this time it wasn't about the fishing it was about spending time with my real true love, Liz.

Waking up at 5am calls for a mid day nap on the water.

Why do you think my last name is GILLespie

So made the rules about throwing and rolling rock at people and lesbows? Just wonderin