Small fish enthusiasts, once again we have small news of the best kind! After much deliberation, we have come to a unanimous choice for the May Smolt of the Month.
The Smoltie goes to… Joe Russel and this hawg of a musky from the headwaters of musky smolt paradise.
Joe writes: “Anyone who has fly fished for musky knows the grind all too well. This fish was some comedic relief after a VERY long day of grinding and hucking sopping wet tube socks aka musky flys with 10 and 12 wts….To be honest we were just happy to see that musky were indeed naturally reproducing this far up in the river system and that was our silver lining on an otherwise fishless float…Hope this makes the cutoff or at least gets an “honorable mention.”” Honorable indeed Joe!
Above: The payoff for a long day of casting huge flies comes in small packages. Photo: Courtesy Joe Russell
Many miniature congratulations to you and the crew Joe! Enjoy the minuscule bragging rights, we hope the next trip leads to more massive musky smolts like this! And remember, treat the fish kindly, this year’s smolts are next year’s hawgs.
All monthly winners are eligible to win a grand prize package from Decked—including a full set of their D-Co cases (valued over $900)—as well as a trophy custom made by The Flyfish Journal staff. Monthly winners receive prize packages including a Stealth Workstation from Patagonia Fly Fishing and good goods from The Flyfish Journal.
And of course, those massive bragging rights…
A big thanks to our prize sponsors Decked and Patagonia Fly Fishing.
With the conclusion of the May contest we’re pausing the contest for now, and currently organizing all of the previous Smolts of the Month in preparation to choose the Smolt of the Year, to be announced shortly. Stay tuned, keep smolting, and check out all of the past Smolts of the Month here. Go Smolts!
In no particular order, we’ve compiled a runners-up list with some honorable and outstanding smolts below:
Here: An explosively impressive smolt. Photo: Peter Schulz
Peter Schulz checks in with the following: “In the rural outback of Smoltington, NC there lies clear ponds that are hike in only. Their locations are merely whispers overheard in our non-existent flyshops and worthy of exploration. There’s that moment when a vacuum hole the size of a basketball appears under the fly and the silent battle commences to be rewarded with a fish with brilliant warm water color. Keep it for a wall mount the angler thinks. The release will bring fond memories on the dark days of winter.”
Above: Nothing like a saltwater smolt to get the adrenaline flowing. A tune up for El Grande smolt, if you will. Photo: Bryan O’Connell
Bryan O’Connell writes: “Fishing off the beach outside of La Smolt, Mexico. Hooked a stud Rooster fish with a clouser. First one of the trip.. can only go up from here.”
Above: While technically this catfish smolt wasn’t caught while fly fishing, points for unique species and photo radness were acknowledged.
Andrew Tarica reports: “Hi guys. Here is an entry for SMOLT from Nicaragua with love. We were enjoying lunch on the Rio Smolt de Matagalpa—and taking a break from our search for big tarpon—when this tiny catfish drifted by our boat floating upside down. After posing for a few pics, the kitty cat catfish was ready to get back into the water. Wishing him all the best, as he lives in a dangerous world, where bait fish and mullet run an intimidating gauntlet among monster tarpon and snook.”