This largemouth bass crushed a Rebel Pop R on Lake Powell in Arizona, fishing with guide Danny Woods. Shane Kobald of Meeker, Colorado is all smiles after catching the biggest brown trout on the day, besting both his father John and I, on the White River. This was the biggest flounder we fooled fishing with Dr. Julie Ball out of Virginia Beach, Virginia. This was the biggest rainbow trout I caught on the fly, out of the White River in Meeker, Colorado with guide John Kobald. Matt Wettish fooled this enormous brown trout on the Farmington River in Connecticut by drifting a mealworm on 2-pound-test fluorocarbon. Fishing off Virginia Beach with guide Herb Gordon, I was worn out after wrenching up this 47-inch AJ that hit a butterfly jig. Guide Randy Oldfield caught this 8-plus-pound bass on Lake Fork in Texas. Thanks to guide Mickey Maynard, we found some fast smallmouth action on Lake Champlain in New York. Guide Chris Senyohl put me on this spawning chum salmon in the Green River outside of Seattle, Washington. This was one of two 10-pound bass that B.A.S.S. pro Preston Scott caught on Lake Orange outside of Orlando, Florida, pitching through a hydrilla mat. I just happened to walk by this impressive catch, a 40-plus-inch redfish caught from a jetty in Port Arkansas, Texas. This largemouth fell for a slow-twitched creature bait on Lake Amistad in Texas. Despite torrential downpours, Kevin Shaw and I found some hungry redfish in Corpus Christie, Texas that were willing to cooperate. I hopped a headboat, The Black Hawk II, with Captain Greg Dubrule out of Connecticut and stayed out of tangles to land this bruiser bluefish. John Kobald took this beautiful brown trout on the White River in Meeker, Colorado, nymph fishing. I caught my first silver salmon on the Green River with Chris Senyohl in Seattle. Thanks to guide Ryan Rowan, I caught my biggest snook of the trip, wrenching it out of the mangroves in Boca Grande, Florida. Willy Goldsmith and I just had some old-fashioned fun, chumming the Charles River in Boston with balled up bread to catch these carp. Islamorada guide Bob Jones unhooks a blacktip shark before releasing it in Everglades National Park. Guide Mickey Maynard shows off a pike that slammed a black spinnerbait on Lake Champlain in northern New York. Guide Bruce Pollock holds up a hammerhead for a photo about 20 miles from Islamorada. I caught my first bowfin in the lakes connected to the Mobile River in Alabama with Pat Ogburn. One of my favorite fish of the trip, this was my first land locked salmon that I caught dry-fly fishing on Grand Lake Stream, Maine. This was my biggest brown trout caught on the fly on the White River in Meeker, Colorado with guide John Kobald. It was freezing on the Madison River in Montana, but Greg Thomas and I tiptoed across some ice to fool a few rainbows on the fly. Thanks to guide Rocky Thickstun, I caught this redfish on a soft-plastic swimbait outside of Venice, Louisiana. I'm giving it a bit of a push, but it was every bit of 12 pounds. Along with guides Hans Kaspersetz and Al Ristori, we caught stripers up to 40 pounds on the 4th of July off Sandy Hook in New Jersey, fishing bunker chunks. Guide Chris Robinson and I ran into a school of redfish pushing bait around an oyster bed and it was fish-every-cast good for about a half hour off the Florida panhandle. This dusky shark gave us about a 20-minute battle fishing with Bruce Pollock and Bob Jones in Islamorada. Aboard the Catch 22 out of Bud N' Mary's in Islamorada, the first mate shows off a bonito. Rom Whitaker Jr. holds up a mahi that was caught trolling out of Cape Hatteras in North Carolina. I caught this red on a soft-plastic with guide Tommy Scarborough out of Georgetown, South Carolina. This lake trout, or "togue" as they are called in the area, was the first fish I caught on the trip, with guide Brooke Hidell on Lake Sebago in Maine. I put on a wetsuit and climbed into the Montauk surf on a pitch-black night in July with seasoned surfcaster Mike Coppola. I tried something different, lobster hooping in San Diego Harbor, and brought home dinner. I caught this fluke in Martha's Vineyard Sound in June, hopping squid strips along the bottom. Guide Rocky Thickstun shows off a fly-caught redfish outside of Venice, Louisiana in September. This two-plus pound vermillion rockfish will make a nice meal, and was caught outside of San Diego. Kayaking around Cape Hatteras in North Carolina, Rob Alderman and I ran into a mile-long school of blitzing Spanish mackerel, this was one of the more impressive fish we landed on metals. Guide Chris Robinson of Apalachicola shows off a Florida Panhandle redfish caught on light tackle.
It’s not all about the fish, but it’s a lot about the fish. Here are some of the memorable catches from Maine to Washington and back. Enjoy!
