Documenting The Story

“The water itself, being the most passive of elements, happily takes on the character of the country it runs through – fast, slow, deep, shallow, whatever you want – and the trout are very much like the water.  They’re numerous or few, they grow big or stay small, as conditions dictate.  They do exactly what they’re supposed to, no more, no less.”

John Gierach – The View From Rat Lake (1988-Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, NY)

Droplets on a Spider's Web

I’m not going to write too much tonight.  I don’t need to.  The pictures and videos will speak for themselves and document the story.  This morning I was up at 5:00 and in the water by 7:00.  It started to drizzle about then, and throughout the morning it actually rained hard several different times.  It was under those conditions that I thought I’d have a lot of hits while trout fishing.  In actuality it was marginal; but throughout the course of the day the action picked up significantly.  In the small little spring creek I was fishing, there are both brook and brown trout.  When I fished a different section of it two weeks ago (A Simple Day), I mostly caught brookies; and they were no bigger than ten to eleven inches. 

A Twelve Inch Brown That I Ended Up Keeping

Today I mainly caught brown trout throughout the morning hours.  I like to “keep score” of how many I catch of each species when the fishing is good.  The browns took a commanding lead today, and continued to add to their score even if I brought a brook trout to my hand.  The brookies were sure and steady, however; and they eventually surged ahead, as the weather cleared, and didn’t look back.  What was the final score you ask?  Brook trout 17, Brown trout 13.  Amongst the fish that I caught were several good sized ones.  I landed a sixteen-plus inch brown, in addition to 3 twelve inchers.  For the brook trout, I caught three or four in the twelve to thirteen inch range.  I have never caught so many fish in one outing.  It was a lot of fun and I hated to quit.  

When I ran out of water, with my total count of trout at 30 total fish, I took one more cast.  It was then that I caught an eight inch chub.  It was a sign that I needed to call it a day.  From those I caught today, I released all but 2 that I kept for a meal later this fall (one of the 12” browns, and a 10” brookie). 

A 16+ Inch Brown That I Caught And Released

A Beautiful Brook Trout In Fall Colors That I Released

It was 2:30 and I still had a forty-five minute hike out on the trails to reach my Jeep, and then an hour’s drive to reach home.    It was a great day, in a secluded setting, with beautiful scenery and fish.  It’s a story I won’t soon forget.

See you along The Way…