Last week after a long and successful day stripping streamers for cutthroat, I'm heading back to shore trailing my fly when a large fish darts out from under a log and grabs it. I see it coming out of the corner of my eye and do the "ol' trout set" on it and pull the fly from its mouth. I think about that fish all week.
One week later, I'm back and hoping the fish is in the same spot. My first cast brings the fish out from under the log, but it inspects my fly and turns away. In broad daylight, it looks bigger than I remember. My second cast hooks the log, so I decide to break off the fly and fish elsewhere for a while.
A couple hours later I'm back and I see the fish swimming actively around the log, and I find out why. An even bigger fish is chasing it, the biggest I've ever seen here. The odds of me catching it seem low. It's huge and under a log with sunken woody debris on either side, my tippet is light, and my net suddenly seems tiny. I cut off my tippet and attach the biggest streamer I have to the leader, then position myself as close as I dare to the log. I figure if I'm lucky enough to hook it, I'll have to yard it out of there before it can get sideways and break me off. That's pretty much what happens. It smashes the fly on the 4th cast, and its momentum carries it right to me. I have the net under it in about 5 seconds, but it just lays on top of it and then slides off. Fortunately, it stays hooked and thrashes right by me, so I can dip the net deep under it and scoop it up. Perhaps 15 seconds has elapsed since I hooked it. I guess it's about 23 inches long and pretty ancient by all appearances.
I re-rig my setup while I wait for my heart to stop racing and I have a tough time tying the knots. The wind pushes me to the other side of the log, and I see the smaller fish swimming around. I try multiple flies, which it ignores. Finally, I tie on the same fly it grabbed last week, and it latches on immediately. This one gives me more of an extended tussle, but there's a lot more open water on this side of the log and I'm able to land it pretty comfortably. Had I not caught the first fish about an hour earlier, this would have been my personal best cutthroat.
We all need a break, so I retrieve my fly from the log and go home.
One week later, I'm back and hoping the fish is in the same spot. My first cast brings the fish out from under the log, but it inspects my fly and turns away. In broad daylight, it looks bigger than I remember. My second cast hooks the log, so I decide to break off the fly and fish elsewhere for a while.
A couple hours later I'm back and I see the fish swimming actively around the log, and I find out why. An even bigger fish is chasing it, the biggest I've ever seen here. The odds of me catching it seem low. It's huge and under a log with sunken woody debris on either side, my tippet is light, and my net suddenly seems tiny. I cut off my tippet and attach the biggest streamer I have to the leader, then position myself as close as I dare to the log. I figure if I'm lucky enough to hook it, I'll have to yard it out of there before it can get sideways and break me off. That's pretty much what happens. It smashes the fly on the 4th cast, and its momentum carries it right to me. I have the net under it in about 5 seconds, but it just lays on top of it and then slides off. Fortunately, it stays hooked and thrashes right by me, so I can dip the net deep under it and scoop it up. Perhaps 15 seconds has elapsed since I hooked it. I guess it's about 23 inches long and pretty ancient by all appearances.
I re-rig my setup while I wait for my heart to stop racing and I have a tough time tying the knots. The wind pushes me to the other side of the log, and I see the smaller fish swimming around. I try multiple flies, which it ignores. Finally, I tie on the same fly it grabbed last week, and it latches on immediately. This one gives me more of an extended tussle, but there's a lot more open water on this side of the log and I'm able to land it pretty comfortably. Had I not caught the first fish about an hour earlier, this would have been my personal best cutthroat.
We all need a break, so I retrieve my fly from the log and go home.
