22″ male brown - Salmon & Trout - Salmon & Trout

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Long drives often pay off. I believe the farther south you fish, trophy trout streams become obscure. If you put in your time and research, you might get rewarded. I fished this stream several years a go and did not have any luck. At the time, I was camping with a bunch of buddies and my friend Aaron expressed interest in fly-fishing. Truth be told, Aaron and I had been drinking beer all afternoon before we got to the stream that evening. A few caddis were out but no rising fish. I walked into the stream by the pullout. First thing I noticed the water was numbingly ice-cold. I gave a brief casting lesson from the road, roughly ten feet above the pool, however recall our shadows were both directly over the pool. I listened to my instinct and told Aaron we were heading back to the truck to get the spinning rod. We did not catch any fish with spinners either however had fun on the water, beer in hand. Things would be different this time.

Arrival was about a half hour before sunset. Running out of daylight, I was anxious to get on the water. The sun starting to set above the top of the tree line, it was getting brisk out and shivered suiting up in my waders and long sleeved shirt. Tonight’s goal was to target some trophy sized trout.

For starters, I rigged my pole with a worm and split shot tossing a yard above the funnel of the pool and gently dragging the worm into position. First action of the night, I hook a decent sized brookie, I’d say 15,” maybe more. He sure fought hard for his size and ended up shaking the hook right as I was getting my net out.

A new worm is tossed ahead of the funnel of the pool, and I drag the worm into place. Drag a foot at a time. Wait. Feel for bumps. Drag another foot. Wait. On my next drag I felt hard hookup. At first I thought I was snagged. I put some strong pressure on and felt several pulses and knew I had something big. Was this fish so big that I could barely budge him off the bottom? I began to tremble, wondering if I had a fighting chance. I assumed once this fish ran I’d be up for one hell of a fight. Ever so slowly, I gained more line with constant heavy tugs coming back. Five minutes later, the beast emerged. This was a giant snapping turtle, now sticking his mouth open above water and hissing at me. I got him about a yard away from me and saw the worm and hook in his mouth. This fat monster pawed his way in reverse when he saw me and my flashlight headset beaming down at him. I did not want to get him any closer to me either! I took one quick photograph and broke the line. He is now a punk rock snapper with a hook as a lip ring. The turtle quickly pawed in reverse stirring up mud retreating back to the murky depths of the deep pool. I wondered if this turtle spooked the hole. Time will tell. Patience is a virtue, especially when trout fishing at night.

Back in the pool with another worm, I carefully hauled in a four-inch fat chub minnow. This put a smile on my face. I had luck catching giant holdover rainbows with chub tails earlier this season. I turned on my flashlight headset and switched to a larger #2 hook with split shot and tossed the 3” chub tail again into the funnel of the pool and stuck my rod in the soft cold mud. I opened the bail and had a seat on the mud. Watch and wait. Several casts later back into the funnel, at this point I’m getting discouraged and feel I’m running out of time and luck. No bites. It is getting pitch black now and I promised my wife I’d be back at a decent hour. I relax a minute soaking up the scenery. Two great blue herons fly above me making that eerie crackling squawking sound piercing the dark night. So dark now the circling bats feeding on insects are barely visible, and I’m getting chilly too. I turned on my flashlight headset and started to pack up my supplies scattered all over the mud. Worm container, split shot and hook container, and bug spray collected. Next I toss the chub head off into the grass for a lucky raccoon. I zip up pockets in my fishing vest and was ready to pack up my pole.

Just then I shine my headlight towards my reel and saw line sifting out of the bail. Was it the current? No. The line was sifting too fast for that. My heart began to race again. I watch the line sift for another ten seconds and close the bail. I pick up the slack in the line slowly now give a medium tug to try and feel a fish. He was there. A hard pull now to set the hook. The fish surged upstream. Butterflies in my stomach, I could tell this trout was like no other. Flashlight headset on again, I turn my head to shine back and forth and hope to catch a glimpse of the trout. Even with the flashlight I feel the complete darkness of the night closing in on me. I reached for my net and throw it on the ground to get ready. The fish finally makes a pass close enough for me to get a good look at him with my flashlight. River pig. Oh my God this fish is like nothing other I’ve seen. I dip the net in his direction and the fish did not like that idea. More line peeled out into the center of the pool. I keep constant pressure for a few minutes and pull him back my way. Coming towards me, I see him in the path of my light. This is a big male brown with a kyped jaw violently shaking his head from side to side trying to break free. This is the thickest brown I’ve ever seen. Was I dreaming?

I now had my doubts about landing this fish and getting sick to my stomach. This trout was enormous. Constant medium pressure and a few more surges around the pool, the river pig was beached in the soft mud. My net was much too small, useless actually. As I reached over, river pig took his big tail and splashed mud and water all over my face and glasses. Good times wrestling with river pig. I hug the fish and fumble for my camera, quickly dipping my right hand into the water to shake off the mud and sand, trying not to damage the camera.

River pig was in good shape. He swallowed the chub however was not bleeding and I did not bother trying to remove the hook. The fish’s mouth and esophagus was enormous. I bet this fish could swallow a 12″ trout in one gulp. Toothy critter too. With a big esophagus, that fish will be able to eat just fine with the #2 hook until it dissolves or falls out. I cut the line close to the mouth, snapped three quick photos, gabbed him by the tail and set him in the water. I released his tail and river pig took off like a torpedo back into he depths of the pool. No need to even pump the fish to get revived.