05/22/2026
Every fish has a story, and this one was no different. My buddy had seen this same fish a couple weeks before I was going to be there. He had a distinct marking on the top of his tail. The day before I got there he told me about this fish. After exploring this stretch for a couple of days, I saw a nice fish holding in some tough water. He had a distinct marking on his tail and I knew it was the fish my friend spoke about. I threw some casts at him and like most large fish on this stretch, he wasn’t having any of it. He gave me two casts before he split. I stayed patient and hidden amongst the willow bushes. After a short time, the fish returned. I led my cast and drift about 20 feet away from the fish to avoid spooking him. This seemed to keep the fish comfortable and he held his position. On the third drift as my flies approached this beast, I saw the white of his mouth. I set the hook and it was game on. I was able to gain a good rod angle and position on him and made relatively short work of the fight. As I scooped the fish into my boat net, I could see my size 22 right in the beak. Patience and planning paid off, and I was able to shake hands with a truly awesome fish. God I love this game.
