Recently, on a quick trip to the in-laws, I took a couple hours to sneak away one morning and hit one of my favorite trout steams that I used to fish when I lived up there. It’s been roughly 11 years since I have set foot in these streams and that was the last time I even fished for stream trout.
My expectations weren’t too high-I was just hoping to catch a few small trout. The last time I fished it, the streams had a lot of smaller Browns and Brookies so I hoped it was still the same way.
It didn’t take me long to get the ball rolling. I hadn’t even got the waders wet yet and I had landed a small rainbow. The spot I was fishing was right where two different creeks Y together and, after some recent rain, the one was still clear but the other was a little cloudy. I thought that I would probably have the best luck in the clear water so I started heading up that one. After a few good looking pools that produced nothing, I decided to switch spinners and that was the best thing I could have done. On the first cast in one small pool that I had just fished, I watched a big brown come up and smoke my spinner. After about a 3 second fight, the fish that was decently my personal best, spit it and sank back into the depths of the pool. I spent the next hour and a half grateful that I had a chance to see him and upset that I didn’t get to land him.
After catching several other smaller fish I decided to go back and head up the other creek toward the truck. As I headed up stream, just passed the Y of the two creeks, I saw a great looking pool. There was one branch sticking up out of it and, as I stood at the bottom of it and threw right along the wood, it took no time all to find some more willing fish. After landing a couple, I got a cast right behind the branch but my line ran across the head of it, and as the spinner got almost to it I saw a giant raise right up and smoke it. I set the hook as it was on, or so I thought. My rod was loaded up and I felt the fish for a second but that was it. The rod was still loaded and the fish was at the surface thrashing around and I could see the blade hanging out of the side of this big rainbow but I felt nothing. I gave the rod a quick pop and the line popped out of the branch with no fish attached. As my heart sank, I saw the fish rise up again, still trying to throw the hooks right on the surface, but now with the current pushing it, it’s only about an arms length away and there was nothing I could do. Then as quick as he rose to eat he dove right back in the murky pool.
As I stood on the bank retying, I was a little upset about loosing not one, but two of what would have been personal best stream trout. I was also so excited that I had two great opportunities and figured I wouldn’t get a 3rd chance. I was wrong. After retying, I started fishing the head of the same pool and it didn’t take me long to connect with a nice Brown. Of course he was on the other side of a log but I got him to come up and slide over it with out incident and after a short battle, I still landed my personal best Brown. After a few quick pics, I got to watch him swim off and disappear to the safety of my new favorite pool!
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