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Correct you are! He may have not been a booner but he still tipped the scale at over 120lbs. Not bad for a yearling buck in my opinion. Will never complain with a full freezer, and believe it or not I did get this little guy euro-mounted 😎

Thank you my friend! He was definitely a little wobbly going over the bank 😂 didn’t make it more than 20 yards. You are very correct! Each buck I take is special to me, and they’re all delicious!

Hey thanks for watching man, I really appreciate it. I’d say it’s certainly a reach to call me adding sauce to this dish “drenching,” I had about 4oz of aioli in that squeeze bottle and used about a quarter of it. I have over 18 years of experience cooking in restaurants and 12 of those have been in fine dining, I can assure you I’ve made dishes like this literally thousands of times that were never put on a TV cooking show, I even mentioned in the video that this is a dish we served at the restaurant I currently work at.

Right on brother 🫡 love to hear it!

Thank you very much! I appreciate the kind words, and this was a totally new experience for me too. I’ve never made a video even close to this one and it certainly felt like a risk. Hoping to make another wild trip like this one again! 🎣

So glad you liked it! The most memorable trip of my life deserved a big video. Thank you for everything Inna! 🇺🇦🤝🏼🇺🇸

Definitely. Heart and lungs are right in the center of the main part of the hide and almost every time there’s an exit wound as well, definitely noticeable on the final product. Still worth doing in my opinion! 🦌

Thanks Zach! 🔥

Thank you very much, Henry! This was way out of my comfort zone and very different from the other videos I upload here. I really hope so! I’ve never spent this much time and energy on a project so I hope it finds the right people eventually. I really appreciate the kind words my friend! 😎 🤝🏼

Greetings to you! Me and my liver have made a full recovery 😂 Ukrainian hospitality is #1 in the world! Thank you very much my friend, hoping my next adventure is just as awesome as Ukraine 🇺🇦

Thank you very much! Definitely the coolest trip of my life 😎

🎣🎣🎣

Peak season on the Salmon River is the last week of September and the first two weeks of October, generally. There’s no way of telling when the run starts. With all this rain we’ve gotten this year I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s a good push of fish in early September. I’ve been there early as well and had dozens of hook ups. Those early fish are mean! Hold on tight and good luck! 😎

Thanks for u help I will give it a try and maybe next year leave it a bit later 😀

You’re welcome! You’ll still have a great time in early September and you will still learn a lot! Good luck 🍀

Thank you very much! Glad you enjoyed the film. It really is a tragedy, these people would give you the shirt off their back. Ukrainian hospitality is unmatched 🇺🇦

Yessir! Thanks man! 😎

I hope so! Thank you my friend, I really appreciate you tuning in time and time again. Hope this video blows up! Those Ukrainians sure do know how to fish, and drink! 😂

You’re most welcome. Thanks for tuning in! 🔥

@@WoodsNorth Dumb question, but did you cut off the sleeves of the legs? I have mine still attached and wasn't sure if/how I should cut them out.

Right on man! I always make sure I have shoes I can wet-wade in, either crocs or sandals of some sort. For travel sake I’d say try to bring a shorter rod, a 5 or 6 foot spinning rod with 2-6lb line should work perfect. Spoons like 1/4oz Acme Kastmasters or small Mepps spinners will be your best bet. This time of year the fish will be holding up in the deeper parts of the pond out towards the middle. Cast out a ways and let it sink for a while before you start retrieving. Good luck my friend! Would love to hear how it goes 😎 🎣

Thank you very much my friend! I appreciate the kind words, and I hear ya! Some of my more recent catch & cooks aren’t as detailed as ones from last fall, I’ll make sure to add some more info into the actual videos, and I’ll do my best to include recipes in the caption as well. I haven’t filleted a fish on camera in a very long time, very hesitant to show me breaking down an animal after TH-cam demonetized the biggest video on the channel for unknown reasons. I appreciate the feedback and thanks for tuning in! If you have any questions specifically about this video please ask away 😎

This one still smells fine but I did one a couple years back that definitely has a musty smell to it. Not crazy unpleasant but definitely still noticeable

You’re welcome! Thanks for having us here, Ukraine is so wonderful. And you have very good English my friend! 🇺🇦 🇺🇸

One of the better spots in the summer too! I always enjoy going there when the bigger rivers warm up because the water really doesn’t get much warmer than 60 at any point. Definitely will back there next winter to film some more content. Thanks for checking out the video my friend! 😎 🎣

They are extremely protected in Vermont, strict catch and release only. Kind of like musky. I’ve also heard Shad either tastes amazing or awful, guess it depends on how it’s prepared. Have you eaten it before?

Thanks Lucas!! Yeah it was pretty unbelievable to see that migration of fish that far up river in VT. Probably the best fish we have to target on a 5wt in my opinion, makes it even more special they’re only around for about 2 weeks a year. Craziest part is that I’ve lived in VT my whole life but just barely made it down there last week!

Sign me up!

One of my favorites in the summer. I’ll drink enough of it to the point that I’m sick of it by the time it goes away for the season 😆

This was during the spawn so I was able to see every fish I was casting at. I had luck with pheasant tails and prince nymphs, but honestly I think any nymph will work if it’s drifted right in front of their face. Redfish anglers call it “painting a mustache on ‘em.” These fish were tight to the bottom but the creek I was in was maybe only three or four feet deep at the most. My advice would be to get the fly down and let it drift right in front of their faces. Hope you get into some fish man! 🎣

Streeter lives down there and he told me the water was so dirty for so long because of all the industrial runoff for years, and it’s worlds better now than it was decades ago. Shad are different from whitefish, Lake Champlain has a sustainable population of whitefish but these Shad actually live in the ocean and only enter the rivers to spawn every spring. They are definitely a bait fish in the ocean but when they’re in Vermont they’re actually protected and can only be caught and released. A ton of fun on the 5wt rod! Thanks for checking the video out my friend! 🎣

@@WoodsNorth I’ve actually seen raw sewage going into the river back in the 60s, it’s awesome to see it cleaned up !

@@dalerash6285 for sure , we used to have colored water , one day it would be red the next green or blue depending on what paper company was doing , rivers clean now for the most part , the worst part of river now is the invasives brought here from careless folks and the erosion and silt build up from extreme water flows from power dams

@@CROWBAIT-OUTDOORSI was listening to the Meateater Podcast earlier today and it sounds like the Hudson River was having the same problem around the same time. The water would change colors depending on which color the trucks were being painted at the GM plant up the river. Glad those days are behind us

Thank you my friend! Yeah for a fish fry it’s either smelt or bullhead for me, I think it’s just as good as yellow perch when fried up and the yield is so much more off a bullhead. There’s probably 10 species of saltwater fish I enjoy eating more but for fresh water in Vermont bullhead is as good as it gets for me!

I think there is a direct correlation between the amount of punk rock being played and the number of fish caught

Listen, what I do in my bathtub is between me and the possible dozens of bullpout that may be in there with me 😂

Yeah man! Looks can be deceiving with bullhead, they are definitely ugly haha. But for a fish fry my top two choices are either smelt or bullhead. Fun to catch and good to eat! Good luck out there my friend! 😎 🎣

😂 alright that’s fair! It’s such a hike from us in Vermont we refer to that area as “Western New York” even though Rochester and Buffalo are hours west of the Salmon River. A counter point - I’ve heard a ton of people over the years say they’re from “upstate New York” and tell me they live some where like Poughkeepsie. For me I think of upstate being from Saratoga to Plattsburgh lol. Thanks for checking out the video my friend!

Right on my friend! I think my biggest native brook trout is right around the same, I’ve caught some in the 12-13 inch range both in NH and VT. I would agree that any fish over 10 inches is a trophy, but I also love native brookies of any size, and a 6 inch fish excites me just the same. When I first started fly fishing the two things I heard the most was never worry about how many fish you catch in a day or how big they are. And because of that any trout I catch is a trophy to me! Good luck this summer man! I hope some decent fish find your net! 🎣 🤜🏼🤛🏼

I really like the XR-10, don’t think I’ve ever used an HJ8 before but I’ll throw a couple in my bag! Thanks for the tip and for checking the video out, really appreciate it man! 😎 🎣

Yeah I hear ya. I will say this fish was never out of the water for more than 10 seconds at a time. Each time the camera cuts you can see water running off my hand because I was letting her get her strength back in the net in between shots. Felt pretty confident she was gonna make it after watching the underwater footage of the release 👍🏼

Love to hear it! We ran south this day, that island is a good ways from the launch which is probably it doesn’t look familiar. I also love the smaller water as well, some awesome hidden gems we have in Vermont that aren’t Champlain!

I’ve been fishing this pond for close to 10 years and even in that amount of time I’ve noticed a declining number of larger fish. Seems like even just 5-6 years ago we could definitely manage three or four fish over 3lbs but lately it seems like those days are long gone. Honestly I think the internet has a lot to do with the decline in the quality of fish here. Facebook groups blow up these smaller bodies of water that can’t handle that much artificial pressure from anglers. A bunch of people swoop in, catch all the trophy bass up, keep them and repeat. That leaves only smaller fish in the lake and with it taking 8-10 years for a large bass to reach 4-5lbs that would make sense why fish size is decreasing so steadily. It’s a shame honestly, and it seems like some people take pride in blowing up fishing spots. I’m not saying those of us on TH-cam are completely free of blame, but I take extraordinary steps to not say where I’m fishing in a video if I don’t think the fishery can handle it. And, you know, I don’t want people fishing in my spots anyways! I appreciate you watching and also not revealing where this is. I’ll see you out on the water one of these days my friend!

@@WoodsNorth wow! I don't think any biologist could have said that any better! Exactly why I didn't mention a name. It's sad to me that people would rather remove big largemouth from this water for their frying pan rather than putting the time in elsewhere to catch a meal of trout, perch, crappie, hell even pike or bullhead are better eating in my humble opinion. Ultimately I don't understand why people can't understand its more enjoyable to be able to catch these fish than eating them. Ease of access over working up a sweat.

Thanks Brandon! I appreciate man 😎 🤝🏼

Thanks, dude! 😆 sorry couldn’t help myself. I’ll work on that for ya. I grew up in the early 2000’s so some old habits die hard. Thanks for watching my friend!

Haha thanks man. I don’t mind barking back at some of the keyboard warriors on these videos. They usually can’t form a coherent rebuttal, and it helps boost the engagement on the video. Win-win. The crowds on the public stretches of river during the salmon run are unbearable. When we go over each fall we buy DSR passes to avoid the masses. Definitely worth the extra couple hundred bucks in my opinion 🎣

Definitely. I have tried the steelhead fishing out there once, but I tried tactics that we use here in the Saranac River for salmon and trout. I ran into a local guide there and showed him what I was doing and he almost drowned laughing 😅. He was gracious enough to show us the ropes and 10 minutes later he caught a huge steelhead showing us how its done. Excited to go try again.

I’ll take your word for it. Sounds like you may have experience

@@WoodsNorth 😂

Hey Eric! My set up here is the Penn Fierce IV combo. 9ft medium fast rod with a 4000 size reel. 300 yards of 50lb braid to a 25lb flurocarbon leader. I’d say definitely go with a beefy rod, wouldn’t go shorter than 9ft. In this video Connor was rocking an 11ft rod and he was able to cast the furthest. I do like my set up a lot though and it wasn’t all that expensive. Not including the lures (which are like $30 a piece) I think the rod, reel and line all came to about $220. Hope this helps! 🎣

Well thank you very much man! I spent a ton of time on this one and also expected it to blow up but never did haha. Just how it goes sometimes. And you never know, the most viewed video on the channel was at about ~3000 views 18 months after I uploaded it and it’s on pace to pass 150,000 views this week. Could still get a nice bump this spring 🎣

An epic moment required an epic soundtrack! Thank you very much! 😁

Insanely cool! Were you guys in the tan Tacoma? And how’d you guys make out fishing??!

Yes we were. Caught some perch and 1 bullhead but at the moment of totality

That’s awesome! We would’ve loved to pick off a couple more fish. I think the water is still just a touch too cold for the bass to perk up. Surprised we didn’t move a single pickerel with those jerkbaits though. Glad you got into some fish!

Yeah man! A once in a lifetime event and it lived up to the hype. Really wish my trolling motor didn’t quit on me before hand 😂