Your Best Trophy Fish - Weight or Experience???

[Prairiegoat]

How do you rate a trophy fish? Is it the weight or just the unique experience you had with a specific catch? Would enjoy hearing about your largest catch and some of your unique fishing experiences.

Mine is probably my first walleye. Caught it when I was ten years old on New Years Day 1956 fishing with Dad and Mom. Never realized then how special it was to have parents who took me fishing. Now its a very warm feeling when I remember those long lost days that only play out in my day dreams. By the way, that walleye weighed 12 pounds!!!! So it qualifies both ways. Wish I could find the picture to post.

[tbirdbassr]

I'd say one of my best days was when I was prefishing for a bass tournament and I caught a small gill threw it in the box when we found the albino catfish I cut the bluegill and used it for bait I never did catch the albino but i did manage to get a 7, 9, and 11 lber channel cats caught all three within 1/2 hr. of starting. 

Went to the bass tourney throwing a 7" gulp worm and caught an albino lol

[crayfishbob]

I was reeling in a 8" crappie when a muskie engulfed it. The fish then went under the boat and I could not budge it. Eventually, I got my crappie, but I'll never forget that experience !

[Big W]

While fishing at Sea Gull Marina off the pier, at Two Rivers, Wisconsin.  I hooked into a dandy 44" 33lb salmon.  Of course the story is long.. I did net the fish and got some pictures with it.


Big W

[Thriller]

I have a scale, but never actually getting around to using it...the local Master Angler program (and many other things now) are based on length rather than weight.  Either way, to me, it is probably more about the experience.  I enjoy taking my family fishing and the kids have caught some pretty impressive fish.

Probably my most memorable fish, in terms of being a trophy, was a 31" walleye, caught almost exactly 2 years ago.



Missed my daughter's birthday party that year though as a result of being out fishing....

[PIKEGUY]

I have a scale, but never actually getting around to using it...the local Master Angler program (and many other things now) are based on length rather than weight.  Either way, to me, it is probably more about the experience.  I enjoy taking my family fishing and the kids have caught some pretty impressive fish.

Probably my most memorable fish, in terms of being a trophy, was a 31" walleye, caught almost exactly 2 years ago.

(Image removed from quote.)

Missed my daughter's birthday party that year though as a result of being out fishing....

Awesome walleye Thriller! I know I've seen it but still...

[VDueslerIV]

On the Sacandaga we usually go by length and all we try for is perch, walleyes, and occasional northern pike. Most of the time a few epople r around to see you get a big one..My best accomplishment is a 38" Northern i caught by myself, using 8' test monofilament leader. I was not trying for them, and figured he would snap the leader like it was nothing because they usually do, but i hauled him in and the only sad part was that no one was there to share the joy of that fish with me..so i had a few shots and took a nap... 8)

[gator_hunter71]

This one about 12 years ago. Wasn't my biggest but I remember it most cause it's the one and only time I got my dad to icefish with me. This 11+lb. (didn't weight it but it was FAT) pike was pretty big for the lake we were fishing, and all kinds of people were stopping over to check it out.  We caught about 6 pike, and a bunch of largemouth that day. Got a poloriod when we got home.

[gator_hunter71]

Great Walleye thriller

[hardh2ofish]

I have caught maybe four tophies in my life.  the crappie in my avater is one.  A 55 lb salmon out of the N Fork American River in Cali.  A 50 lb flathead we caught noodlin on my 13 birthday, and a 17 lb chanel cat on 8 lb test fishin a river hole.  Two qualified for master angler.   And theres WAY too many stories and nice fish and experiences swimmin around in my memories to count.  And i hope what my grandfather passed on to me, i pass onto my sons and grandsons.  Trophys come in way to many forms.

[littleoldlady]

Wow.  THis afternoon I was out on the ice with Sweetie....we almost didn't go  because it was -29 this morning, with a wind.
But we have been stuck in the house for two days so I whined a bit...promised to clean the holes, bait the hooks...anyway,
we pushed through the new drifts on the ice, and this one was waitng for me...85 cm. and nearly 14 lbs....It is, so far, my
personal best.  When it hit and hung, I knew I had a keeper.  My hands were pretty cold; I had stripped my gloves off and "gilled"
a respectable one out of the ice for Sweetie, and it took a bit to hang on and crank.  Half way up, this one took a run for 100 ft.down,
so I worked it up slowly.  This time it was Sweetie who stripped of his mitts, got this honey up on the ice.  It was definitely the
thrill of my long life time and almost as good as s**.

[hunters08]

man you do get the lakers dont you! nice fish!!! do they fight any better in the winter than they do in the summer in lake erie its like pulling in a big plastic bag filled with water.no fight at all

[littleoldlady]

man you do get the lakers dont you! nice fish!!! do they fight any better in the winter than they do in the summer in lake erie its like pulling in a big plastic bag filled with water.no fight at all

I Love Laker.  I find that they can be pretty active....last summer we trolled right after ice off...they were about 10 metres down..and did they
fight when they hit....in the winter, I find that they sometimes want to run, or else get back to the bottom...this one today did that twice...it takes
patience to get them in.  It is a little more challenging using an 8 or 10lb test line...makes a sport of it!!

[GrnDay33]

Not really the best, but a few of the best ice fishing memories i have are at my local lake catching a Large mouth bass 22" long and barely squeezing its head out of a 6" hole. only to see that it had the body of a 12" bass..HUGE head, Small body, only weighed 2.4lbs. Another time was a Channel Catfish the we had to cut another hold connected to a 6" hole to get him out..7lb catty..Not huge fish, but fun times.

[pikemaster789]

Best trophy weight and experience, had to be salmon fishing this year. We took out the 12 foot aluminum to go and pound some salmonoids on a certain lake. I had tried in years past but without any luck. Well to say the least, I got my first salmon ever, and another, and another, and another, and another. Yes thats right, my first time salmon catch, ended up being a limit! This was not with a charter either. I landed 5 fish and probably hooked 15 or so. The biggest one, and current personal best, was 36" and 15lbs




and heaviest fish, this 17 or 18lb carp

[Big Burk]

biggest fish was my 19lb carp caught this spring, came close a couple times to beat it later in the summer but never did, searching for the 20+lb carp after ice out

[Blaine]

How do you rate a trophy fish? Is it the weight or just the unique experience you had with a specific catch?

In my case, I was lucky enough to have both size and the unique experience at the same time
I had a 64 pound striper hit me as I reeled up to move, I had about 6 feet of line off the end of my rod when she appeared out of no where and opend a huge hole up along side the boat. I got wet when she hit Watching a fish that big move so fast was absolutely amazing...

[IceRover]

Wow.  THis afternoon I was out on the ice with Sweetie....we almost didn't go  because it was -29 this morning, with a wind.
But we have been stuck in the house for two days so I whined a bit...promised to clean the holes, bait the hooks...anyway,
we pushed through the new drifts on the ice, and this one was waitng for me...85 cm. and nearly 14 lbs....It is, so far, my
personal best.  When it hit and hung, I knew I had a keeper.  My hands were pretty cold; I had stripped my gloves off and "gilled"
a respectable one out of the ice for Sweetie, and it took a bit to hang on and crank.  Half way up, this one took a run for 100 ft.down,
so I worked it up slowly.  This time it was Sweetie who stripped of his mitts, got this honey up on the ice.  It was definitely the
thrill of my long life time and almost as good as s

Helluva job, helluva fish, and quite a lady. Congratulations!