This small creek had some HUGE fish... (Fly Fishing for Rainbow Trout)

FLY FISHING A TINY CREEK FOR A HUGE TROUT!! TROUT FISHING BLISS!
IN this video my buddy Bradley and I fish for rainbow trout in a tiny stream. With this being a public stream that gets quite a bit of pressure we decided to schedule this trip when we thought the least amount of people would be on the water. When we arrived nobody was there and the fish were biting. After 6 hours of fishing my buddy Bradley caught an absolutely gigantic trout, bigger than anything I had ever seen in this stream.
As is typical with this time of year Bradly and I were fighting snow melt. It’s not quite as extreme as it is out west when the rivers get high and turn muddy, but it still drops the stream temps quite a bit. The water levels were perfect through and we knew we would at least catch good numbers of fish in this particular creek. So we started fishing, picking off wild trout one by one and enjoying an incredible winter day.
As the day progressed fish were hitting the net, but as you can probably tell they weren’t all that impressive. Not that we were upset by the smaller fish, but it was just a bit slower than we had envisioned when we planned the trip. But just as our hope was slipping away I happened to spot the tail of a much larger fish. Now this fish wasn’t huge, but at around 16 inches it was double the size of anything else I had caught that day. So I sat down and started trying different flies hoping the fish would eat.
I failed. Which isn’t entirely unusual and honestly I don’t know that I would have done anything different given the circumstances. But after briefly hooking the fish I figured we’d better move on so we didn’t waste our entire afternoon messing around with 1 fish. So we continued up the creek with our eyes pealed looking for larger fish like the one I had just seen.. and eventually I was rewarded big time.
At this point I told Bradley my day was made. Catching a fish that big in a creek that small is always a blast, especially after realizing it was blind in one eye, which just added that extra bit of character. But we still had a little over an hour left of fishing so we figured we’d work back down the creek towards where I had spotted that bigger fish earlier to try and end the day on a high note. But as the air temperatures dropped it felt like the bite started to turn off.. and then, just as we were losing hope about catching anymore fish that day, Bradly yelled at me from the creek saying he had spotted a giant…
That is the biggest fish I’ve ever seen in this creek. And by the way, this is all public water. In fact Bradley and I planned this trip out in part to hopefully stay away from the pressure this stream receives. So catching a trophy sized trout in a tiny piece of public water is nothing short of impressive… especially when you consider that we used Bradley’s net to measure the fish at 23.5 inches. After releasing that fish I decided to take one last shot at the fish I had lost earlier and managed to actually get some revenge, but the fish didn’t seem quite as impressive after what Bradley had just caught.
I hope you enjoyed the editing style of this video because it's a bit different than what I usually do. Let me know in the comments below! Thanks for watching.
#troutfishing #flyfishing #fishing #outdoors #nature #fish

Пікірлер: 112

  • @tonywalkingstick8883
    @tonywalkingstick88835 ай бұрын

    Way to go Bradley! Jon, y'all made my day. Beautiful fish in a little creek. That's just plain awesome. Enjoyed watching every minute of this video and always tight lines.

  • @hardmanfishing

    @hardmanfishing

    5 ай бұрын

    I'm glad you enjoyed the video!! Thanks for watchingg

  • @zumalot
    @zumalot5 ай бұрын

    It was nice to see such incredible rainbows. Wow!

  • @davidleimeister5027
    @davidleimeister50275 ай бұрын

    Love the creeks you choose to fish. Beautiful water, great little falls no to mention big bows. Thanks HFA, Jon and Brad.

  • @andrewleffler6448
    @andrewleffler64484 ай бұрын

    Just got my first fly rod and wanting to give this a try. Your videos are great educational tools for me to know what to look for and how to do it. Now I need to go practice!

  • @hardmanfishing

    @hardmanfishing

    4 ай бұрын

    That's awesome! Good luck out there!!

  • @currentfisher
    @currentfisher5 ай бұрын

    I love how quickly Bradley landed that giant 😂

  • @hardmanfishing

    @hardmanfishing

    5 ай бұрын

    He’s a pro 😂 and he knew if he didn’t land it quickly he’d be in big trouble

  • @Wgymjim
    @Wgymjim5 ай бұрын

    It's nice to look at these little creeks and see in them big and healty fish. Love your videos!

  • @hardmanfishing

    @hardmanfishing

    5 ай бұрын

    Little creeks can have some big surprises! Glad you love the videos

  • @Fishin-Ipps
    @Fishin-Ipps5 ай бұрын

    What a gorgeous little creek. Great stuff

  • @hardmanfishing

    @hardmanfishing

    5 ай бұрын

    Glad you enjoyed it!

  • @user-fl5qe1xt3r
    @user-fl5qe1xt3r5 ай бұрын

    That was impressive Bradley he was ready for the set and was down there with the net like flash new exactly where to be nice work

  • @TravisDuff
    @TravisDuff5 ай бұрын

    That water looks juicy! Good stuff

  • @shad3128

    @shad3128

    5 ай бұрын

    Juicy?? Lol it's like 2 feet deep

  • @PoutinePete
    @PoutinePete5 ай бұрын

    You're so lucky that you're allowed to fish now because up here in Ontario we have to wait until the end of April before trout season opens up again.

  • @hardmanfishing

    @hardmanfishing

    5 ай бұрын

    Yep! No seasons here. Thanks for watching

  • @tedlivermore6955

    @tedlivermore6955

    5 ай бұрын

    You can fish the year round sections on the steelhead rivers but yeah no creeks like this ,kinda sucks especially this mild winter.

  • @michaelgellenoncourt2876
    @michaelgellenoncourt28765 ай бұрын

    What a pleasure to get that sweet notification!! I'm so happy every time I see that you posted a video!!

  • @hardmanfishing

    @hardmanfishing

    5 ай бұрын

    Heck yeah!! Hope you enjoyed it!

  • @michaelgellenoncourt2876

    @michaelgellenoncourt2876

    5 ай бұрын

    @@hardmanfishing I sure did!!! What an incredible you had! I can't believe it!

  • @BryceK60
    @BryceK605 ай бұрын

    Holy cow nice fish you guys always provide awsome fishing vids enjoy you guys and your videos so much keep it up.

  • @hardmanfishing

    @hardmanfishing

    5 ай бұрын

    Thank you!! Glad you enjoyed it

  • @henryleslievermont6004
    @henryleslievermont60045 ай бұрын

    Huge Rainbow for sutch a small brook/creek 👍 Enjoyed 🎣

  • @hardmanfishing

    @hardmanfishing

    5 ай бұрын

    Glad you enjoyed it!! Thanks for watching

  • @ryancoleman1

    @ryancoleman1

    5 ай бұрын

    Are the creeks feeders to larger streams? also do you have any lakes in WV that have lake run bows/browns by chance? I'm in NY and an avid steelhead guy. I do really really well but I've been fishing for them for 30+ years and perfected my craft... I haven't small brook fished for wild trout other than lake run wild bows I'm years... we get some slammers up here I'm the finger lakes tribs.. mostly all wild reproduction aside of a couple finger lakes. It's incredible.. great lakes trips are all steelhead and browns and domestic bows but finger lakes trips are another story

  • @hardmanfishing

    @hardmanfishing

    5 ай бұрын

    @@ryancoleman1 Yep the creeks feed some larger streams of course, but we don't have lake run trout / steelhead in WV. The lakes for the most part get too warm to hold trout.

  • @Stevensfishingreel
    @Stevensfishingreel5 ай бұрын

    sweet video, makes me wanna go out and fish now😂

  • @jeffrey4869
    @jeffrey48695 ай бұрын

    I admire you for getting out there in the cold. My fingers wouldn't allow that. lol

  • @hardmanfishing

    @hardmanfishing

    5 ай бұрын

    My fingers aren’t too pleased either… but when I catch a good fish they don’t seem to bother me much lol

  • @willlynch1524
    @willlynch15245 ай бұрын

    Nice fish Bradley!!

  • @charlesjohanesen1651
    @charlesjohanesen16515 ай бұрын

    nice video nice fish, keep it up🙂

  • @user-fp8lp8ku5s
    @user-fp8lp8ku5s5 ай бұрын

    Been watching HardMan since he made the Walmart fly fishing challenge. Videos are amazing Man. Your the reason I wanna learn to fly fish 🐟

  • @hardmanfishing

    @hardmanfishing

    5 ай бұрын

    Heck yeah!! You should definitely give it a go!

  • @steveg6978
    @steveg69785 ай бұрын

    21 in is the latest I ever snagged...good show !

  • @user-bk9nx8gb8r
    @user-bk9nx8gb8r5 ай бұрын

    Your videos have inspired me to try fly fishing. Been spinning trout for years

  • @hardmanfishing

    @hardmanfishing

    5 ай бұрын

    That’s awesome!!! Glad you enjoy the videos

  • @BIGTROUTAXR
    @BIGTROUTAXR5 ай бұрын

    Very good by from Italy 🇮🇹🍕🎣

  • @WildBlueDiscovery
    @WildBlueDiscovery5 ай бұрын

    Nice ! Some big ones!!! Tightlines

  • @Bass-Trout.productions
    @Bass-Trout.productions4 ай бұрын

    love your vids and they have taught me lot about fly fishing, keep up the good work

  • @hardmanfishing

    @hardmanfishing

    4 ай бұрын

    Thank you! I’m glad you enjoy the videos

  • @chach3
    @chach35 ай бұрын

    I broke off on monster rainbow on that stream a few years ago. It was easily 24"+ That stream always produces some crazy fish.

  • @hardmanfishing

    @hardmanfishing

    5 ай бұрын

    That's crazy!!

  • @xplicitfishin
    @xplicitfishin5 ай бұрын

    Great video as always! Those were some huge fish for such skinny water.

  • @hardmanfishing

    @hardmanfishing

    5 ай бұрын

    Thank you!! It was an awesome day on the water

  • @Luxury.Girl-
    @Luxury.Girl-4 ай бұрын

    wonderful video 😊

  • @hugewingsfan8
    @hugewingsfan85 ай бұрын

    The way you complain about the fish squirming and flopping 🤔😂

  • @bengibson2383
    @bengibson23835 ай бұрын

    Awesome video, those are some very nice rainbows man. We’re the bigger bows stocked or wild?

  • @hardmanfishing

    @hardmanfishing

    5 ай бұрын

    Great question, could be either. There are stocked fish in that river system so anything’s possible. But it’s a wild stream

  • @cooltuber1404

    @cooltuber1404

    5 ай бұрын

    Exact same thing I was pondering ? Thanks for asking and thanks to hardmanfishing for replying ! 👍

  • @fishingwithjackson3941
    @fishingwithjackson39415 ай бұрын

    Love the vids

  • @hardmanfishing

    @hardmanfishing

    5 ай бұрын

    Thank you!

  • @troutobsessionnz
    @troutobsessionnz5 ай бұрын

    thats a good fish for a creek like that

  • @michaelnguyen2144
    @michaelnguyen21445 ай бұрын

    oh wait. this production go harddddd. good work g.

  • @michaelnguyen2144

    @michaelnguyen2144

    5 ай бұрын

    what was the weight of that rod?

  • @hardmanfishing

    @hardmanfishing

    5 ай бұрын

    @@michaelnguyen2144 3 wt! and thanks for watching

  • @user-vx7sb5bm5q
    @user-vx7sb5bm5q5 ай бұрын

    If that fish Bradley caught was in one of the great lake streams you would swear it was a Steelhead.

  • @hardmanfishing

    @hardmanfishing

    5 ай бұрын

    I wish it was a steelhead! We don't have any down here unfortunately

  • @tonycamplin8607
    @tonycamplin86075 ай бұрын

    What a fantastic fish, well done Bradley. An amazing stream. I've never seen one like it here in the UK. Can hardly believe what big fish live in it. Were you wearing just ordinary boots and going into the water with them. If so your feet must have got frozen!

  • @hardmanfishing

    @hardmanfishing

    5 ай бұрын

    Nope I had on dryft waders!! Thanks for watching

  • @tonycamplin8607

    @tonycamplin8607

    5 ай бұрын

    @hardmanfishing Thanks for your reply, glad that you were but I couldn't decide looking at the video.

  • @jinwoopark6084
    @jinwoopark60845 ай бұрын

    dude, i love your shit. it's so bad ass. keep it up man.

  • @hardmanfishing

    @hardmanfishing

    5 ай бұрын

    Thanks buddy!! :)

  • @chesterpielock8824
    @chesterpielock88245 ай бұрын

    Patience

  • @benrudman3917
    @benrudman39174 ай бұрын

    You have a deliberate way of Holding your line with your fingers, I’m assuming for strike detection. I try to watch over again and I’m curious if you will share how you do this sometime. Thanks. -Ben from MD

  • @hardmanfishing

    @hardmanfishing

    4 ай бұрын

    For sure! I can maybe touch on it in a video. But I hold the line between my pointer finger and middle finger rather than holding the line directly against my rod. This helps out a lot with strike detection because I'm holding the line and when I'm tight lining I can feel every single bump. I do use it as strike detection sometimes, but usually strike detection occurs by watching the sighter

  • @briljantje9583
    @briljantje95835 ай бұрын

    John goes tenkara. And is pretty succesfull 😉

  • @hardmanfishing

    @hardmanfishing

    5 ай бұрын

    I should try tenkara in this creek, it would be fun 😂

  • @Trails_trout_surf
    @Trails_trout_surf5 ай бұрын

    that's the biggest rainbow trout i have ever seen

  • @mikeyrickley9113
    @mikeyrickley91135 ай бұрын

    Sweet vid dude, I love how beautiful those wilds are. Just one question do you euro nymph/what rod length and weight?

  • @hardmanfishing

    @hardmanfishing

    5 ай бұрын

    I was using a 10 foot 2 wt! Bradley I think was using a 3 wt but his was also a 10 foot rod I believe

  • @mikeyrickley9113

    @mikeyrickley9113

    5 ай бұрын

    Thank you very much i appreciate it

  • @allentucker6116
    @allentucker61165 ай бұрын

    Great video! What rod and reel are you using?

  • @cjschmitt4882
    @cjschmitt48825 ай бұрын

    I'd like to thank all the fishermen for fishing the shit out of our waters we live on so that there are no fish to be had for residents, thank you!

  • @hardmanfishing

    @hardmanfishing

    5 ай бұрын

    what in tarnation are you talking about 😂

  • @cjschmitt4882

    @cjschmitt4882

    5 ай бұрын

    you know ;)@@hardmanfishing

  • @hardmanfishing

    @hardmanfishing

    5 ай бұрын

    @@cjschmitt4882 If I did I don't think I would have asked the question...

  • @dylanphilliber496
    @dylanphilliber4965 ай бұрын

    So awesome! What are some indicators you look for when deciding what spot to choose?! You guys always find beautiful places with huge fish!

  • @SCYCOFISHINGHUNTING

    @SCYCOFISHINGHUNTING

    5 ай бұрын

    If the water looks juicy that is always a good sign e

  • @SolitaryManager
    @SolitaryManager5 ай бұрын

    What's your rod/reel set up for small creeks like these? I've been wanting to get into fly fishing but I'm not too sure where to begin. 90% of the fishing I do is in small creeks where super long fly rods are not ideal.

  • @alanstrober6296
    @alanstrober62965 ай бұрын

    Broodstock fish.

  • @mlg2416
    @mlg24165 ай бұрын

    What flies are you using? Went out today in CO and was a complete bust. High winds didn't help.

  • @ryan89870
    @ryan898705 ай бұрын

    What mono do you use?

  • @GS-xt8fu
    @GS-xt8fu5 ай бұрын

    Are those stocked brood trout? I grew up in WV. Not used to seeing them. It makes you wonder how a trout is getting enough to eat in that small hole in the stream.

  • @goganlole1038

    @goganlole1038

    5 ай бұрын

    biggest indicator for stockers that i use is the size of the fins, the longer they are in the water the bigger the fins will grow. I would guess that they were stocked around 10-12 inches and then grew to that size or wild, definitely not fresh out of the truck though

  • @Awaggs99
    @Awaggs994 ай бұрын

    How do you keep it off the bottom without a strike indicator new to fly fishing maybe this is a newb question

  • @hardmanfishing

    @hardmanfishing

    4 ай бұрын

    You don't necessarily... you want some amount of contact with the bottom of the creek. The goal is to keep a tight line so that you can feel the fly ticking the bottom of the creek... But not so much so that you're constantly getting stuck. But not having an indicator allows you to make constant adjustments as you fish. Whereas if you use an indicator (bobber) you set it at a pre-determined depth which means if it's any deeper or shallower than that you're not really fishing all that effectively. Sorry this was a longer response but hopefully it sort of helped, I'm not sure I'm the best at explaining it.

  • @Awaggs99

    @Awaggs99

    4 ай бұрын

    @hardmanfishing thank you for that explanation this will be my first year trying fly fishing rivers and creeks ive only fly fished lakes so still learning some stuff haha

  • @appleseeD552
    @appleseeD5525 ай бұрын

    WELL DONE BOYZ!! LET'S GOOOOO!!! 😀👍 Way to stay with it and CAPITOLIZE!!😀👍 Gorgeous, just GORGEOUS catches my friend!👊😁 I'm a HUGE supporter of catch and release...and I'm a little curious here....please don't misunderstand...like I said, HUGE supporter of catch and release n'all, but, have you and Andrew cooked any of SOME, not many as I've said REPEATEDLY, of the catches you've caught?🤔 Again, totally BIG on catch and release...just curious is all. Please keep these vidz comin boyz...and as always, peace.👊😎

  • @hardmanfishing

    @hardmanfishing

    5 ай бұрын

    Of course we've kept fish! I just don't do it as much anymore. I should make a catch and cook just to prove to people I do eat trout LOL thanks for watching

  • @patrickerbacher6019
    @patrickerbacher60195 ай бұрын

    I haven't been fly fishing for too long but can somone explain how and or why he's using a nymph without a strike indicator?

  • @griffinlind5987
    @griffinlind59875 ай бұрын

    100th view

  • @hardmanfishing

    @hardmanfishing

    5 ай бұрын

    The big 100!! Thanks for watching

  • @Filmer-hands
    @Filmer-hands5 ай бұрын

    can some one help me out, should i buy hooks with out the spike so they unhook better? do they exist lol i just see everyone unhooking them so easy.

  • @user-se8yv4lc3v

    @user-se8yv4lc3v

    5 ай бұрын

    I believe you are talking about the barb. You can simply crush them down with pliers or buy flies or hooks without barbs.

  • @RussianBot-kp8wn

    @RussianBot-kp8wn

    5 ай бұрын

    They're called barbless hooks, if your interested in throwing the fish back than that's usually the best option👍

  • @raywhitehead730
    @raywhitehead7305 ай бұрын

    February, 2024: this week, the largest Rainbow Trout in Maryland ever was caught in Antietam River. It was 17 pounds. It broke the record by about 2 pounds.

  • @hardmanfishing

    @hardmanfishing

    5 ай бұрын

    I saw that!! Pretty cool stuff even though it’s such an ugly looking thing 😂

  • @aidanmcgowen6024
    @aidanmcgowen60245 ай бұрын

    Euronymphing?

  • @watchfullwarrior8180
    @watchfullwarrior81802 ай бұрын

    What state are you in

  • @hardmanfishing

    @hardmanfishing

    2 ай бұрын

    WV

  • @Gianni_Gribbins
    @Gianni_Gribbins5 ай бұрын

    FIRST CAN I GET A PIN LOVE YOUR VIDEOS AND LIKED

  • @user-je6ze8ze7i
    @user-je6ze8ze7i5 ай бұрын

    What sate are you fishing?

  • @jimmysegovia146
    @jimmysegovia1463 ай бұрын

    Where are these places at? Thanks

  • @cindycoup5020
    @cindycoup50205 ай бұрын

    Where are you fishing at?

  • @deandee8082
    @deandee80825 ай бұрын

    salt creek? lol

  • @dongfloppin22
    @dongfloppin225 ай бұрын

    Welp I hate to say it but im gonna have to go ahead and assume that you voted for Joe Biden. And I'm a man of noble intelligence

  • @nathanielchoate69

    @nathanielchoate69

    5 ай бұрын

    What makes you so sure

  • @dongfloppin22

    @dongfloppin22

    5 ай бұрын

    @@nathanielchoate69 your probably a rich man from North of Richmond

  • @Don-du7du

    @Don-du7du

    5 ай бұрын

    If you're a man of noble intelligence then you can't be a Trump supporter😉

  • @nathanielchoate69

    @nathanielchoate69

    5 ай бұрын

    @@dongfloppin22 I’m actually a poor man south of Atlanta

  • @tedlivermore6955

    @tedlivermore6955

    5 ай бұрын

    ​@@Don-du7duNo intelligence ,Biden supporter