# Huge Brown out of Otter Creek!...The Conclusion



## Jeremy28 (Dec 1, 2007)

I just wanted to let everyone know ahead of time that Im going to Otter for this whole weekend and am going to catch that big brown that was gillnetted a couple weeks ago. I'll just post the pics up after I catch it in this same thread...you can carry on with what you were doing now

*Conclusion:* I made it out finally on Friday and went straight to ground zero where the big brown was gill netted and fished after google earthing the background beforehand. I fished this area and about 200 yards both ways from there between friday and saturday and caught 1 FISH!...never once did I see any sign of fish the entire time! I used every line, fly combination, and retreive possible and only caught 1 fish...unbelievable! I even fished ground zero from about 9:30 PM until midnight using a mouse pattern without any results. Its the first time I ever fished at night because I heard and read somewhere that browns (and especially big browns) like to feed at night and like to feed on mice and baby ducklings as they get bigger so thought I would give it a try. I think I may have had some success with this had the moon been full rather than "crecent" like it was as there was very low visibility. Finally, I moved to a different spot and had some success catching 13 fish on Sunday. I was debating whether or not to reveal my mice tactic but if you can do any better than go for it. I posted a pic of ground zero and also the infamous big brown pic so check it out and see the similarities. I also posted a pic of my pontoon boat (that Im quite proud of because its the best pontoon in the state if you ask me)...its got a fish finder, electronic ancor and motor, and a custom built rotating adjustable height seat. Its also got a few other macgyver dodads that I have built on it like the aluminum stand I made so that i can stand up to cast and the fish finder transponder thing that lowers the transponder once you get out on the lake. I also have a picof the two fish I kept, one of which was 20 inches and exactly 3 lbs which was the biggest of the trip...it fought really good and even jumped out of the water right in front of me up to my face in height while i was standing up on my pontoon which was way cool...To sum it up, I failed in my attempt to catch the illusive big brown that haunts me in my dreams but I'll be back!...ok so I have my theory on the big browns in otter and why they never get caught so tell me what you think about my theory. I think that they never get caught because as they get big like this (11 lbs and 29 inches and I think there is probably a couple 15 lbers in there somewhere) they pretty much only feed on sources that give them lots of protein like mice, ducklings, and especially minnows with the occasional snail (i pumped a couple fish and they always had a few small snails in there) and freshwater shrimp. I personally don't think they eat too many chrominids/midges or small insects because they don't get that much nutrients from them. They also like to feed at night which is another major reason they never get caught and scoff at the site of a glob of powerbait in front of their mug. I say they probably feed alot on minnows because they were EVERYWHERE! Alot of the shoreline was littered with tiny minnows jumping all over the place. With a great food source like this so heavily in abundance, Im pretty sure they won't settle for what most fisherman (including flyfisherman) offer. I think that the only chance you have is to do something similar to what I did at night and MAYBE one out of 100 outings you'll get your chance at a lunker brown but thats just my humble opinion. The trip was fun though because I learned alot cruising around the whole lower half (towards the inlet) of the lakes shoreline on both sides and got to know the lake a lot better. Good trip for the knowledge bank.

PS: I usually don't keep fish but Im kind of acquiring a taste for them lately


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## brookieguy1 (Oct 14, 2008)

*Re: Huge Brown out of Otter Creek!*

I am totally confident that you will be successfull. Just make sure to have a good camera ready!


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## Cooky (Apr 25, 2011)

*Re: Huge Brown out of Otter Creek!*



Jeremy28 said:


> I just wanted to let everyone know ahead of time that Im going to Otter for this whole weekend and am going to catch that big brown that was gillnetted a couple weeks ago. I'll just post the pics up after I catch it in this same thread...you can carry on with what you were doing now.


There are very few ways to escape an early bragging jinx of this magnitude. -)O(- You will have to forget the drain plug, leave your tackle box home, or have a blowout that takes the fender off the trailer.
Good luck.  
Post pictures, however it turns out.


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## LOAH (Sep 29, 2007)

*Re: Huge Brown out of Otter Creek!*

Good luck.


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## sawsman (Sep 13, 2007)

*Re: Huge Brown out of Otter Creek!*

That brown is mine! If you catch it, release it. :mrgreen:


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## Jeremy28 (Dec 1, 2007)

*Big Otter Brown...The Conclusion*

I posted this paragraph in the general questions section a week or so ago and have the conclusion beneath it: "I just wanted to let everyone know ahead of time that Im going to Otter for this whole weekend and am going to catch that big brown that was gillnetted a couple weeks ago. I'll just post the pics up after I catch it in this same thread...you can carry on with what you were doing now"

Conclusion: I made it out finally on Friday and went straight to ground zero where the big brown was gill netted and fished after google earthing the background beforehand. I fished this area and about 200 yards both ways from there between friday and saturday and caught 1 FISH!...never once did I see any sign of fish the entire time! I used every line, fly combination, and retreive possible and only caught 1 fish...unbelievable! I even fished ground zero from about 9:30 PM until midnight using a mouse pattern without any results. Its the first time I ever fished at night because I heard and read somewhere that browns (and especially big browns) like to feed at night and like to feed on mice and baby ducklings as they get bigger so thought I would give it a try. I think I may have had some success with this had the moon been full rather than "crecent" like it was as there was very low visibility. Finally, I moved to a different spot and had some success catching 13 fish on Sunday. I was debating whether or not to reveal my mice tactic but if you can do any better than go for it. I posted a pic of ground zero and also the infamous big brown pic so check it out and see the similarities. I also posted a pic of my pontoon boat (that Im quite proud of because its the best pontoon in the state if you ask me)...its got a fish finder, electronic ancor and motor, and a custom built rotating adjustable height seat. Its also got a few other macgyver dodads that I have built on it like the aluminum stand I made so that i can stand up to cast and the fish finder transponder thing that lowers the transponder once you get out on the lake. I also have a picof the two fish I kept, one of which was 20 inches and exactly 3 lbs which was the biggest of the trip...it fought really good and even jumped out of the water right in front of me up to my face in height while i was standing up on my pontoon which was way cool...To sum it up, I failed in my attempt to catch the illusive big brown that haunts me in my dreams but I'll be back!...ok so I have my theory on the big browns in otter and why they never get caught so tell me what you think about my theory. I think that they never get caught because as they get big like this (11 lbs and 29 inches and I think there is probably a couple 15 lbers in there somewhere) they pretty much only feed on sources that give them lots of protein like mice, ducklings, and especially minnows with the occasional snail (i pumped a couple fish and they always had a few small snails in there) and freshwater shrimp. I personally don't think they eat too many chrominids/midges or small insects because they don't get that much nutrients from them. They also like to feed at night which is another major reason they never get caught and scoff at the site of a glob of powerbait in front of their mug. I say they probably feed alot on minnows because they were EVERYWHERE! Alot of the shoreline was littered with tiny minnows jumping all over the place. With a great food source like this so heavily in abundance, Im pretty sure they won't settle for what most fisherman (including flyfisherman) offer. I think that the only chance you have is to do something similar to what I did at night and MAYBE one out of 100 outings you'll get your chance at a lunker brown but thats just my humble opinion. The trip was fun though because I learned alot cruising around the whole lower half (towards the inlet) of the lakes shoreline on both sides and got to know the lake a lot better. Good trip for the knowledge bank.

PS: I usually don't keep fish but Im kind of acquiring a taste for them lately


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## troutgass (May 5, 2009)

*Re: Big Otter Brown...The Conclusion*

Jeremy.. wish I could have made it up to help find that big brown. I agree that they turn from eating small insects to eating mostly minnows and mice etc... when they get that big.

Tube Dude would be proud of your toon! That is tricked out man. Hope to get out to another lake with you sometime.


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## wyoming2utah (Sep 12, 2007)

*Re: Big Otter Brown...The Conclusion*

I think that brown is Cabela's million dollar fish...!


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## dartangion (Jul 2, 2008)

*Re: Big Otter Brown...The Conclusion*

Dude that set-up you have is awesome...great fish too! Thanks for the report


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## fordkustom (Jan 27, 2011)

*Re: Big Otter Brown...The Conclusion*

WOW thats it WOW


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## flyguy7 (Sep 16, 2007)

Just curious how often you see small mice swimming around in the middle of a big lake? :idea:


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## LOAH (Sep 29, 2007)

*Re: Big Otter Brown...The Conclusion*

Hey, good job locating "ground zero". The pic you took could have been in the footsteps of the guy taking the pic of the brown...except you had a better camera.

I hate to say I doubted you, but offering a statement of that magnitude is reserved for the likes of Babe Ruth. :lol: I really hoped you'd cash in though.

Nice keepers. Were they loaded with eggs still or are we past that now?


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## tye dye twins (Mar 8, 2011)

*Re: Big Otter Brown...The Conclusion*

That might be a big brown to others like me. Nice work. The toon is better than a boat IMO. Freakin awesome toon!


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## Jeremy28 (Dec 1, 2007)

*Re: Big Otter Brown...The Conclusion*

Yeah something about the toon and fishing i learned is that I catch more fish trolling a fly than stopping, ancoring up (unless there is absolutely no wind at all), and casting. Its sweet because instead of having your feet in the water with fins, I just turn my chair all the way around and blip the throttle on the lowest setting for a second or two (because lowest speed is still too fast) and wait for it to come to an almost stop and then blip it again. It took me a few years to realize that I catch more fish that way although I still will stop when I want to cast to shore.

Troutgass...I'll keep you posted on my outings so hopefully we'll get out sometime
LOAH...they had eggs but they were really small so they probably already laid eggs and the ones in there were for next year?


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## Jeremy28 (Dec 1, 2007)

I've never seen any swimming around and for surely never in the middle of the lake which is not where i was when fishing with them. Mice are only around at night so who knows if they swim around that much. Its mainly a river tactic but big browns also like to feed at night so not much visibility for the average fly which is why a surface distubance might do the trick...just trying new things.


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## Cooky (Apr 25, 2011)

Wow! Thanks for sharing. I guess maybe some applied knowledge and skill beats luck. :_O=: Or...was the big one there...?


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## nate1031 (Jul 2, 2008)

*Re: Big Otter Brown...The Conclusion*

Too bad you didn't find him! That's a great fish! Night time is definitely a great time to chase hawgs.


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## lunkerjunker (Aug 8, 2011)

Speaking of fish eating mice, we did a fly in trip to a lake and river system in BC Canada a few years back. While fishing the lake my brother caught a 5 lb Lake Trout on a spoon. It's belly was huge so when he cleaned it he cut open the stomach. 3 whole mice in it's belly! A lake trout! So the answer is "Yes" trout will eat mice in a lake!!! I have a buddy that fishes mice in rivers all the time and he catches some pigs.


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## EvilTyeDyeTwin (Aug 9, 2011)

*Re: Big Otter Brown...The Conclusion*

Oh so the monster got away....his days are numbered though -8/- O*-- _O\ -8/-


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## tye dye twins (Mar 8, 2011)

*Re: Big Otter Brown...The Conclusion*

I got it. You needed to pull an Edward Abby. He layed on his belly like a snake to understand the world from its perspective.

Try swimming in the area it lives, eat what it eats, and get to know the fishes buddies.


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## drsx (Sep 8, 2010)

Awesome setup!


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## flyguy7 (Sep 16, 2007)

The comment about no mice being in the lake was a joke. Apparently not a good one given that everyone has taken it seriously and literally.....


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## blaser1 (Dec 24, 2010)

Cool deal ... Love ur setup .


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## Jeremy28 (Dec 1, 2007)

I forgot to mention this in my original post, but for those of you interested, I think that MAYBE the reason why I only caught one dinker fish for almost two full days of fishing at "ground zero" was because POSSIBLY there are one or more huge browns in the area and so the other fish stay away? I think I also heard somewhere that bigger trout and especially bigger brown trout are territorial? Maybe this area has a couple huge browns that stay in the territory and guard it from other fish or something and then venture out away at night to feed? Who knows.


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## Jeremy28 (Dec 1, 2007)

Flyguy...Its all good man and you're probably right, I mean I don't see any reason why a mouse would want to go swimming around in a lake but Im sure they do sometimes for some unknown reason. In rivers I can make sense out of it because they probably just want to get to the other side. The do resemble little ducklings though and there were ducks all over the place.


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## crimson obsession (Sep 7, 2008)

I read an article stating that in most cases the larger brown trout feed almost exclusively at night, and while doing so travel up to 4 miles to the feeding zones. Its possible this fish was netted during the day in its resting area, therefore fishing "ground zero" may not be productive due to this fish not feeding, simply resting in this area. Just a thought...


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## Jeremy28 (Dec 1, 2007)

Crimson, thats a good idea...the next question is where do they go at night then?


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## crimson obsession (Sep 7, 2008)

Jeremy28 said:


> Crimson, thats a good idea...the next question is where do they go at night then?


Million dollar question my friend. A few hours of studying the shoreline and looking at underwater topography goes a long way. In my journeys I have noticed feeding fish usually flock to steep shorelines and drop offs. At night take a cruise around with a flashlight looking in the water, the baitfish will tell you where the big dogs want to be.


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## nate1031 (Jul 2, 2008)

Jeremy28 said:


> Flyguy...Its all good man and you're probably right, I mean I don't see any reason why a mouse would want to go swimming around in a lake but Im sure they do sometimes for some unknown reason. In rivers I can make sense out of it because they probably just want to get to the other side. The do resemble little ducklings though and there were ducks all over the place.


Trout love mice. My buddy recently caught a 34" bow on a mouse.


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## brookieguy1 (Oct 14, 2008)

nate1031 said:


> Jeremy28 said:
> 
> 
> > Flyguy...Its all good man and you're probably right, I mean I don't see any reason why a mouse would want to go swimming around in a lake but Im sure they do sometimes for some unknown reason. In rivers I can make sense out of it because they probably just want to get to the other side. The do resemble little ducklings though and there were ducks all over the place.
> ...


Oh yes absolutely. I'm not sure where i saw it, but I remember a brown trout caught with 17 mice in its gullet!


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