Better Days

The photo in this post is of yours truly holding a great trout. The fish was caught on a guides day off last season, maybe it was August. I was fishing with friend and long time Canadian outfitters Dave Brown. We thought we could have a few fish eat the hopper or at least drink a few beers and avoid laundry day. About half way through the float I was up to fish.

I had a nice drift going with my hopper. I took my eyes off the fly to look for my next cast, out of the corner of my eye I see something. I re focus to the hopper and like a dream a big mouth comes and eats the bug almost under the boat. I wait for biggie to take the fly under then boom, I strike! He does two bi tail flaps on the surface then leaves the area in a hurry.

Dave is rowing across to a soft spot to land the beast. I warn Dave to slow as the pressure on my line is at max. The big trout is down deep doing some barrel rolls. I was worried! The big Brown was getting the best of me! The big fish stayed deep, he knew he didn’t want to come up into the sun and surface into our net. Victory was ours after a long and thrilling battle.

Big old trout like this one is are a rare creature even on the famous Missouri River. It takes a team effort and some luck to actually land the big ones. Sure is fun to try!