Searching

I like fishing streams with fairly dispersed and sparse wild brown trout populations. I know that sounds very very strange, but I have good reasons. I've found, oftentimes, that places that don't have a lot of trout oftentimes have surprisingly big trout. I also like covering water, and in places where the trout are spread out you usually have to cover a lot of water to find your fish. Though there isn't a direct correlation and it isn't always true, places that don't have a lot of trout often have a lot of baitfish. That makes them great places to fish big streamers. And I am very much a streamer junkie.

There is one river in particular, my part time home river, that is the clearest example of this. It is an objectively ugly river and it really doesn't have a lot of trout. It takes patience to catch the kind of fish I'm looking for there. On other rivers, a mid-teens inch trout is run of the mill. Here, that fish is the object of my full attention. I will fish all weekend and if I catch just one or two like that I was successful. I also know that there are fish far, far bigger than here, but I know better than to expect them. I've learned enough about big trout to know when, where, and how I am most likely to encounter one of these true leviathans, but it's not as easy as that. With big trout, I mean really big trout, you never can have any sense of certainty. I may find him today, I may find him in four years.  The longer I keep searching the better my odds.

This weekend was, on the whole, frustrating. I caught plenty of fish both days, but only one was the kind of fish I was there to catch. It's hard not start to feel burned out when 10 hours on the river, covering 6 river miles, results in exactly one of the kind of fish you are looking for. But that is the nature of the game, and it makes the successes all that much more sweet. And this fat little wild brown, when it came up and creamed my streamer in a fast run... it gave me a sense of satisfaction. I can't wait to catch the next one.