Friday, August 22, 2014

Throwing the Meat for Mr. Brown

I went out to hunt down some trout today. The weather was perfect for some dry action, but I was really going to focus on streamers and Smallmouth. I could not for the life o me find the latter. I fooled around using different flies in a few spots, catching the odd trout.




The only smallmouth all day.

Then, staring into the clear water, I saw a beast. It was a holdover brown, as big as any I have ever seen. Even on a cloudy day I doubted that fish would eat anything. Yet I had to try. It isn't every day you get a shot at a trout big enough to make you go cross eyed and drool like a Saint Bernard. I tried a midge pupa, a stone fly nymph. They didn't get so much as a peek. 

Of course, what is the next best option? An articulated streamer the size of the bass I had caught not a 30 minutes ago. I chucked it in front of that fish three times. I checked the time. It was about time to leave. It started to rain. The swing passed the big fish. He turned. My heart stopped. There was a big white flash of trout mouth. Then all hell broke loose. 

The fish screamed past me towards the head of the pool, in the process getting a yard or so into my backing. I ran upstream, hoping I could keep him out of the sharp rocks. After violent head shakes the trout ran back downstream, past where I hooked it. After that last run the fish tired out. I now was tasked with chasing him down to tail him. It took a while, but eventually the trout shoved his face in between two rocks. I reached down to grab him, and found a tail to big to get my whole hand around. Luckily after I grabbed the fish it didn't struggle. That Brown was enormous, probably in the upper twenty inch range. I photographed him, then took my time releasing it to admire its size and colors. He left with a good, strong kick.



10 comments:

  1. Wow,wow, wow! That is the biggest brown these eyes have ever seen. Wish we could have been there to see you doing the dance up and down the creek. What will you hook next???? Fish on...

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    1. haha, trust me and go look up pics of lake runs in Lake Ontario tributaries.

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  2. Now that was a great day. Your pictures came out very well in spite of the excitement and rain. Good work!

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  3. A rip-roaring piscatory adventure ! Thanks for sharing !

    G.

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