Point Nine: Another 20-inch Club Entry

October 8th, 2024

So far this fall has been very unseasonably hot, with temperatures beaming to the low 90s on some days and few, if any, days close to where temperatures have been in years prior. It's almost as if September and October have missed their cues in changing their weather patterns from the blistering heat of the summer. However the trees haven't forgotten the season, like clockwork remembering to turn into their various warm shades of yellow, orange and red; staining the hills and mountainsides into a beautiful fusion of colors that would make Bob Ross smile. This change of scenery triggers a deep excitement within me that reminds me things I love are right around the corner: Halloween, pumpkin flavored coffee, and of course- big brown trout. I hoped that even though the heat never left, maybe the fish were like the trees in remembering what was hard-wired in their biology and gear up for how voracious they are before the spawn. I was however mistaken, but still felt like I managed to win a great consolation prize.

I chose a familiar tailwater that served me quite well during the summer, rarely disappointing in terms of producing good sized browns. I was pleased to see not many other anglers on the river, as most crowds appeared to favor doing some leaf-gazing instead. I made it down to the water and noticed it was a bit tainted

and not as clear as I'd hoped, this observation coupled with the clear sunny day in the skies led me to tying on a white articulated streamer to tempt a big brown trout to bite. I casted a few times and stripped the line fast and sporadically. On what felt like every other retrieve or so temperamental tugs on the line would happen, giving me affirmation that the fly choice I made was the right one. Still, it was difficult to entice a fish to do much more than take a quick swipe at it that failed to get hooked.

After no less than five minutes fishing at this spot, one retrieve after a cast behind a large boulder followed with it a large white flash and an immense pull on the rod. I could tell almost immediately it was a rainbow by its bright writhing body

subsurface. It was a very large fish by this water's standards and took me on quite a joyride through the current, doing its best to run, hide and fight. First it zipped to the far edge of the river taking along with it a good 15 yards of line before trying to disappear in a conglomeration of submerged tree branches and brush. At this point I pulled on the line a little more than I was comfortable with to avoid the fish wrapping itself in the wood and breaking loose. Eventually my efforts proved fruitful as the fish moved its fight from the edge of the river to the main river channel and finally to the shallows that I was wading in on the other side. As I was fumbling for the net and lifting the rod to pull the fish closer the hook came loose and luckily had the net just far enough away to snag the fish before it scurried away back to the depths. It was a beautiful specimen, reaching a length at just over 20 inches. I was overjoyed by the catch, although it was not the species I was after it was a welcome surprise. Catching beautiful fish of that size right off the bat when I start fishing always feels like such a special experience, as if I already accomplished what I came there to do and any catches after that would be nothing more than a victory lap.

Fortunately I was able to catch that one fish at the beginning of the day as the rest of my time on the river didn't yield any results and proved to be a rather challenging fishing experience. Most likely due to the sustained warmth of the water there was a lot of moss build up in the river that was breaking apart and drifting in the currents, often being caught in the line or on the fly with many casts. It became

a frequent routine every other cast or so: picking away the vegetation that became entangled on the rig. All of the moss made me turn back a couples hours earlier had the conditions been different. I felt very lucky to catch that rainbow at the beginning of the outing so I didn't leave empty-handed. A large and beautiful rainbow at that. With that hefty sized fish I was able to cross catching a 20-inch rainbow off my list, making it point 9 on my legendary angler challenge. Meaning I just have 91 points to go.