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Home > Trip Reports > Trout of a Lifetime
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Brown Trout In The Grass
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Brown Trout In The Net
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Brown Trout In The Water
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A view of the brown trout under the water.
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A close-up of the brown trout under the water.
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Trout of a Lifetime
August 2007
Nashville , TN
posted by Buster
TROUT OF A LIFETIME
I have been fishing for many years now. I would have to guess that my dad first taught me how to fish. My grandfather used to have a fishing shack in Port O’Connor, Texas. It was literally a silver metal trailer with a wood built on edition on the front and sides of the trailer. I began my fishing life learning to salt water fish for speckled trout and red fish with shrimp bait and rattle corks while wading in the water as deep as my waist to chest.
Later on in life, I moved around several times and lived with either my mom or dad. It was 1991 when I moved to Kentucky and that ended my fishing trips with my grandfather and uncles. I guess it was in 1997 or 1998 when I started fishing again. I began trout fishing with an ultra light rod and rooster tail lures. I really enjoyed it. I was going fishing as much as I could afford to go; gas, food, drinks, and lures can add up quickly.
I don’t know what sparked my interest in fly fishing. It could have been an encounter with a fly fisherman on a creek, a movie, or vacation to Colorado. But one day, I decided I wanted to learn to fly fish. So, I went to Bass Pro Shop in Nashville, TN; I was living in Bowling Green, KY at the time and I bought a 7 foot 4 weight Hobbs Creek rod and reel combo which was recommended to me by the fly shop salesman. I described to him what type of water I was fishing and where I was fishing. That day I went home with my new rod and reel, a fly fishing vest, and fly box with about a dozen flies.
When I got home, I set up the rod and reel and walked out into a field next to the house to teach myself to cast. I had the basic idea in my head on how to cast, but now was the time to apply what I had read on the internet. I guess I had about 20 feet of fly line in front of me on the ground and I couldn’t cast further than 10 feet in front of me. Lucky for me, my roommate and his girlfriend had gone to the flea market that day and came across a copy of “Fly Fishing For Dummies” for $5.00. I remember sitting in my room at the house when Damon walked in and he said he had something for me. He then handed me the book. Thanks Damon. That book taught me how to cast. I immediately opened the book and found where book discussed casting. I read the chapter, then grabbed my fly rod and the book and went back to the field. I spent hours practicing casting a fly rod. I guess it was a month or two later and I caught my first fish on a fly rod. Well that was many years ago.
I have been fishing the Caney Fork for years now. I moved to Nashville in March/April of 2001, so I am sure I first fished the Caney Fork the summer of 2001. I started out wading the Happy Hollow area, and slowly I began to figure out the generation schedule, and other areas I could access the river; next came the Dam, then the Train Trestle, the Rest Stop area, and few other areas. It was two years ago when I decided I wanted a kayak, so I could float to new areas to fish that I couldn’t wade to on normal day.
Kayak fly fishing was fun and new. But, I was only using the kayak as a river taxi to get from point A to point B and then I would get out and fish. Then just this year, I was on a club outing when I made myself strictly fish out of the kayak. I would get out of the kayak every now and then to stretch my legs, get a drink of water, or get a snack. It was one of the best fishing trips I had taken in a long time. Of course, it wasn’t like the time I took a guide trip, but some of the same techniques I observed with the guide, I applied that day. I used a two fly rig and a strike indicator, and created a natural or dead drift, since I and the fly rid moved with the water at the same rate of speed or drift.
Since then, I have floated the Caney numerous of times. Each time I would catch a few nice fish, but nothing bigger than 14” or 15”. Last year, I was determined to catch a trout on the Caney that was at least 18", well that didn't happen. I don't know why 18", but 18" sounded like a good round number. Last summer, I fished as much as possible. It seemed like I was always on the water. I am not complaining. There is always that old saying "A bad day of fishing is better than any day of work”. So this year, I told myself again, I am going to catch a trout that is at least 18".
About two weeks ago, I was fishing a section of river, and I hooked into a rainbow trout that had to been at least 18”. I casted a couple of flies into some slack water on river and instantly my strike indicator went below the water. I lifted up the rod to set the hook and when I felt the weight at the end of the rod, in knew I had a nice one. Then all of the sudden a huge rainbow trout jumped out of the water. My mouth fell open and my eyes were bigger that baseballs. There was a huge rainbow trout on the end of my line and I had a chance to catch that 18” trout. But as soon as it started it was over. After the trout jumped, the fish went deep into the water and ran at me. I tried to strip in the slack line to stop the fish, but the rainbow trout wrapped my leader around an underwater tree branch, which loosened the tension on the fish and fly and the fish was able to swim away.
This weekend, I had a chance to get back on the river again. I decided to float the same section of river again. I knew where that fish lived and I was determined to catch him. So, I spent the day floating the river and catching fish and some nice fish too. I probably had landed about 25 to 30 fish by the time I floated to the “location” and some of the fish were nice. I probably had caught 4 or 5 fish in the 13” to 15” range. As I approached the “location” of the big rainbow from two weeks ago, I checked my flies, knots, etc. I paddled to where I thought I might be able to stop the fish if it started to run on me again. I casted the flies to slack water and I waited, nothing, so I “twitched” the flies to give them some movement, still nothing. So I re-casted the flies to another area close to the “location”. Again, I was in slack water, and I waited. Then I “twitched” the flies again, and again, nothing. After a few minute, I decide to move on. Maybe that is what the fish have done too. So, I paddled down river.
I stopped another area about 75 yards down stream. I lost a fish last year that was really nice in this new location. So I felt I had a score to settle. I fished the area with a slight drift from the river. I managed to catch a couple of nice fish, but nothing like what I was after. After I floated through the run, I grabbed the paddle and crossed the river and paddled back upstream. I was going to fish this area again, there has to a nice one in there. I entered the top of the new area and I began drifting again with the current. I casted the flies into the water. I watched the strike indictor with great focus, and then all of the sudden; the white strike indicator went down deep into the water. I lifted the rod with lightning speed to set the hook. Immediately the fish ran out about 10 feet and then straight down to the bottom of the river. This fish was different. I didn’t run or jump out of the water, it just went down deep. That is when I thought to myself this is a huge brown trout. I knew it was huge by the bend in my fly rod. My fly rod looked like the huge Gateway Arch in St. Louis. I started to wonder if my fly rod was going to break, so I let off the pressure some.
When the fish went deep, it made a few turns in the water. I started to think to myself that this trout has fooled me again. I started to think that the fish had wrapped my leader in some grass and I was off again. I looked into the deep clear water and I could see my white strike indicator, but I couldn’t see the fish. I decided to play it safe. I had the fly rod in one hand and with the other, I grabbed the leader. I was going to tug on the leader to free it from the grass. This would either get me free from the grass and there wouldn’t be a fish or this would free me and the fish would run on me again. I grabbed the leader and gave it a couple of smooth tugs. The leader seemed to get free from the grass, but my indicator stayed submerged. I paused just a second, a bam, the fish was running again, but by now the fish was a bit tired. After a few failed attempts at landing the fish with my net, I finally managed to get the trout close enough to see it was a brown and with a stead swing of the net, I landed the fish.
After I landed the fish in the net, I was able to get a better view. This was a huge brown trout. My next thought was proof. I was not going to be able to get away with saying I caught a huge brown trout I needed proof. I paddled as fast as possible to a grassy area and took a few pictures and I measured the fish. It was 20” in length and 11” in girth and is estimated to weight about 3 to 3 ½ pounds. This was a fish of a lifetime. There is a good chance I may never again catch a trout that big again, but I promise to try every weekend I can. That fish made my day and set some personal records. That brown trout was the biggest fish I have ever caught on fly rod, it was the biggest brown trout that I have ever caught, and it was the biggest trout I have ever caught. Again, that brown trout was a fish of a lifetime.
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