Hendrickson Hatch

Some days I feel at least adequate, other days it is clear that I just suck at fishing. Tuesday was one of those days where I was just atrocious, and it was not a good day for me to be screwing up left and right. Here's the score: 1 rainbow caught, but not brought to hand. 2 browns over 20 inches broken off on dries, one missed. One mid 20's brown and another big one missed on streamers as well as a 17 incher. I mean seriously if I was actually good at hooking and landing fish that would have been easily my best day of trout fishing ever, but nope. I suck. Which is why instead of photos of big beautiful trout that I caught I have photos of the big beautiful trout the friends I fished with caught. Here's Rik with a beautiful 17 inch holdover brown trout:

\

And Mark Philippe with a chunky holdover 'bow:

Around 2:00 Rik and I found a spot to ourselves and the best Farmington hendrickson hatch I have seen yet started. Mayflies were all over the water, and a few of the larger trout had began to rise consistently.

The rise you see above is from the one and only fish I caught. And, though I never actually touched it or took a photo of it, I did see it clearly. It was a 16-17 inch holdover, or possibly wild, rainbow. Even though I never touched it I consider it one of the most incredible fish I've ever caught because it did a aerial display like I'd never seen. I set the hook, and after an initial moment of confusion it righted itself and flew. I mean really flew. It came out of no more than two feet of water, went six feet in the air and eight or more feet laterally, and landed broadside making a slap as loud as that of a beaver's tail. Rik and I both saw the whole thing and it was unbelievable. I've caught a lot of trout and a lot have jumped, but I've not seen a fish of any kind jump so high in the air. That made the day special. Friends, good fishing, and a truly uncommon and shocking experience at the end.