This week did not bring much fishing but Friday I made it out for a bit. I found a spot I have not ever fished before. It was a big pool at the base of a nice riffle but on the inside in a bit of an eddy there were a few fish rising. I was anxious to get a few fish on dry flies so I tied on a BWO Sparkle Dun and made my way slowly around the edge of the pool keeping low to not spook the fish in this clear slow water and got into position. I waited for a fish to show itself and didn't have to wait long. To my left about 20 feet out I could see a nice brown surface then watched as it cruised angling away from me. I made a quick snap cast that somehow was right on the mark. The little fly settled in right in the fish's path and as soon as it hit the water I saw the trout's head turn towards it. Got his attention. The Brown slowly rose towards the fly and it was taking all my nerves to keep it together as I watched him coming up almost in slow motion. Then at just the last moment he darted left and back along his cruising pattern. Rejected! This slow moving, crystal clear water was not going to leave any margin for error.
I spotted another rise across the pool and because I couldn't see this fish I had no idea which direction it was cruising so I simply wanted to get my cast in it's vicinity and hope to get it's attention. Well it worked. The fly sat on the calm surface for a few seconds before disappearing in a barely perceptible swirl. This was one of the hardest fighting fish I have caught here in a while. The fish was immediately all over the pool leaping numerous times. It was undoubtedly a nice fish as I got several good looks at its entire length with each jump it made. It peeled drag from my reel with ease, but finally I was able to work it in close. It was about 15 feet from me when the big trout made one last hard run. It was a long one, straight up river against the current. Line melted from my reel and then the reel stopped, but the fish kept going. SNAP goes the 4x tippet I had been using.
I looked down to see what had went wrong and discovered that deep on my reel the fly line had developed a loop that was burried for probably a long time. This much line had not been exposed in quite some time, but this fish had been capable, and when the loop got caught on the reel handle as it spun their was little hope for my tippet. It was fun while it lasted.
I went back to work as several other fish still remained feeding in the big eddy. It wasn't long and I tied into another fish. This one didn't jump but it too was pulling hard. I thought I was fighting a nice fish, not near as big as the one I lost but still was expecting a respectible sized fish. I was suprised when I pulled it into the net though to see just a 12 inch little football had put up this good tussell.
Soon after this the rain began so I made my way back to the truck. As I drove down the canyon the skies opened up making me glad I quit when I did.
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