We asked our Deneki Expert Panel a question a little while back about trout lies – no, not the tall tales that trout spin about the size of the anglers who almost caught them, the places in the river where trout like to live.
A later post will give a number of bits of wisdom from our panel on trout lies, but today we’re starting with a very special kind of trout lie. None other than Mike Sanders, our long-time GM at Alaska West, put together a writeup on where the very biggest rainbow trout tend to lie. Let’s see…multi-decade Alaska fishing veteran telling you where the biggest trout are…maybe you want to read this one.
With that, we present Mike Sanders on Big Jerry.
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Bangin’ the bank with a mouse on outside bends is a perfect way to play with kick-butt, carnivorous bows waiting for Mr. Hanky the mouse to drop in for a bite. Addicting? For certain. The best? Maybe. But… the Jabba the Hut hogs, those ‘…get in my belly’ Fat Bastards, let’s call them all Big Jerry; Big Jerry is usually not into this kind of fun.
Simply put, Big Jerry is lazy. He would rather watch the WWF SmackDown between fish and mammal happening on the cutbanks from a comfy spot the other side of the river. If at all possible, BJ will hang in the soft couch water of a sweeping inside bend or long flat. Why? Because that’s where the eatin’ is easy. Big Jerry is a fat slob and he needs to eat MEGA and he does not want to work for his food. He likes treading water behind his favorite fast-food salmon redd (kings if he can get it but any dollar menu species will do), gulping down eggs and macking on flesh tid-bits, like fries, pizza and snickers fun-sized candy bars.
To a lot of anglers couch water looks too shallow, too slow and too boring. Most people do not throw to it – they wade into it or put the boat on top of it, opting for the mysterious dark water on the outside bends or cutbanks. A lot of the time the water is clear and you can see the fish. BJ is lazy – but he is smart. He earned his blub by not making mistakes. BJ is crafty – if you see him – he can see you and he may slink away if you threaten him or he may just hang there feasting. But… I think most times anglers do not see Big Jerry when he eats – if you see him he is not going to eat your offering. He comes as a surprise most times and he goes unappreciated for the first few minutes of the fight, confused as another spawner. Then more times than not, just after you realize what is happening and just as your breath is taken away… he’s gone.
I know this fish. I hate and I love him. I’ll be out there trying to hit him in the grocery hole with a glazed donut again this weekend in hopes of watching him leap his fat butt high into the sky while flippin’ me the bird.
Love it! Fun sized snickers!!!