Let's see your first fish of the season + the rod & reel you chose

[TheMontyMan]

I'm always itching to get the season started to break thru the withdrawals of a winter without fishing. I guess I'm getting selective in my fishing, or I'm getting old, but I don't care for numb fingers or scraping ice from the guides on my rod. I'm sure some of you probably fish thru the ice and snow, or you're lucky enough to live in a warm climate to have good fishing year round.

A couple weeks ago the weather cooperated to give us a 63 degree day on the Deschutes River near Maupin, Oregon (without 30 mile per hour winds in the canyon). Here's my first fish of the season:



A wild 16" Deschutes Redsides rainbow. My rod of choice for my first trip was a Montague (surprise!) Varney model, probably built in the 1915 to 1925 time frame. My reel was a jeweled Montague (surprise, again!) 100 yard, nickel silver with hard rubber side plates using a Cortland Sylk (simulated silk) line.

OK, let's see yours!

. . . Rex
The Monty Man

[NewUtahCaneAngler]

Very nice looking fish and outfit Rex

[GerardH]

Beautiful rainbow and gorgeous rod! I apologize that I've already posted this pic, but since you asked I feel obliged to post again.

A brand new PJ Julius PHY Midge clone paired with a Featherweight on its first outing on one of my northern WI boyhood brook trout streams this past Saturday. I've been fishing this stream for the better part of 50 years and it's one of the streams I had in mind when I asked Paul to build that rod for me last year, so it was appropriate I christened it here on a delightful early April day.



Ignore the yellow blemishes on the cork, it's water that turned amber when I toned down the highlights.

[BigTJ]

Gorgeous fish rod and reel Rex.

It’s sucks but since the recent Oregon and CA C&R guidelines change I’m no longer taking fish photos out of the water except for fish destined for the frying pan. Will miss these pictures there is something special about the “still life” composition of a nice fish and a beautiful bamboo rod. But with the recent surge in angling can understand why the changes were put in place.

John