Opening Day, Solitude, and Native Brook Trout

This morning my father and I hit a small stream. It is one I visited in the fall and showed promising signs of holding sizeable brookies. We were in luck. They fish were there, people weren't, and catching was about to commence in a gorgeous setting. This stream is one of the most beautiful I have visited. My dad got the first fish to hand, and boy was it a stunner! About eight or nine inches and well spotted, the sizable male made it back in the water before I could take his picture. Luckily he didn't go far and I got some good shots of him in his natural habitat.

Of course, I caught some little beauties too, but none were near that size. About as good a day as you can have when the white bucket crowd is on the move!