I had a couple hours to fish on Saturday morning, and despite the low water I had the itch to chase some trout.
I hit one of my favoite stretches, and I wasn't disappointed. Despite the less than optimal water levels, the wild browns were hungry and aggressive. Some were even chasing my lure in inches of water up to my feet. I had a bunch of strikes and released 4 beautiful wild browns. And I still had one spot left on this stretch that has produced a lot of nice fish.
The sun was already bright as I approached the spot. I made sure to move slowly and quietly to prevent spooking anything in the gin clear water. I didn't see anything for the first half of the spot.
My lure was about 6 feet in front of me, when all of a sudden a big, thick rainbow came out of nowhere and inhaled the lure right at my feet. The fish sat still for a split second before realizing she was hooked. Then, she tore upstream, heading towards a log. I successfully kept the trout out of the log, and it doubled back and shot downstream, drag singing, toward a large branch in the water. I ran after the fish like a person chasing their dog, hoping the fish would keep swimming past the large branch. No such luck, and the rainbow buried itself deep in the snag.
I only use 4lb test, and I knew I was in trouble but I wasn't going to lose this fish! I tucked my rod under my arm, and reached both arms under water and lifted the branch out. Luckily, in the current conditions the water was only 2ft deep. I systematically began unwrapping the line from the individual branches. I could feel the fish pulsing on the line, so I knew it was still on. I worked my way to the end of the branch. I lifted the end of the branch, and I saw her wallowing in the water, still wrapped in the end of the branch. With a quick scoop of the net, the fight was over. I was soaking wet, but I couldnt care less.
This fish was a tank, 22 to 23" and close to that in girth. A very heavy trout that clearly thought it was part tuna. After a few quick pics, she was released.
Hit one more spot quickly and caught and released another nice bow around 18" before I called it a day.
