Sooooo close.

The day after our float I suggested that we start our day early at Lusby where we had such good luck the day before. We had the same set up as the day before, red midge, red san juan, and a brown leach. Right away we were into fish. We caught about 20 fish between the two of us. Both of us caught some near 20 inchers.

Eventually I did land one. He was 21 and a half inches long. He took me down stream a bit too, all the way down to the end of the hole and beyond as a matter of fact. It's amazing how you can feel the size of the fish once it starts to fight. They fight in such an intelligent manner. They know to take out as much line as possible and to jump often. He did too. this one was the biggest fish I've caught. He didn't even fit into my net. I thought I would lose him trying to net him. Unfortunately my camera water on the lens and all my pictures have water spots. I've got great memories though.

Right after I caught this guy I was fishing the bottom of the hole again. Right away I got another hit. This one paused for a time and took off as fast as I've seen a fish move. I was on the end of a long drift when he struck so a lot of line was out in front of me and at my legs. Before I could realize this, he was pulling away at it so quickly that it wrapped around my real. I managed to get it unhooked but before I could I saw this Goliath jump out of the water down river. It was a huge brown! I bet it measured in the upper 20's. I was shocked but couldn't stand still long because it was off down river again. By the time it slowed down I was into my backing! I've never had this happen before, not even with the 21.5 incher moments before. Then, without warning, it leaped into the air, cleared the water, and was lost. There was so much line out that I'm sure it landed on the line that was still taught in the water and broke it off. I lost my whole rig, all three flies and sinkers. I slapped the water with my rod and couldn't believe it. It all happened so quickly and it all seemed completely out of my control, like I was at the fish's mercy. I guess I was. I know this could have been the trout of my life and it felt like I had no control. I remember feeling like I wasn't prepared to fight like that. I realize now that you always have to be ready for the one because there isn't any time to think and there is no room for error.

Well anyway, I caught about a half dozen more good ones by the end of the morning and enjoyed every minute of it. Howard caught a few more too and at the top of the hole he hooked into one that started acting like a big one. He fought all the way down the stretch too and he was able to land his. With this fish he jumped out ahead of my 21 and a half inch fish with this 23 inch fatty. It was the biggest trout of his life. I'm glad he was able to pull it off. We both managed this goal of catching the biggest fish of our lives on this trip. What more can you ask for.