Finally I got the fish I was waiting for .. a very long time. Pure river gold!

I’m talking about a big brown trout. I wouldn’t say that I was hunting that fish with high effort but I was hoping for one since my first minute fishing with the fly. To be precise that brown trout I caught was for sure no monster but clearly an exceptional fish I won’t catch every day in such small rivers. I caught bigger rainbows many times but it’s my first brown that exceeds the magic 20 inches. Fisherman from Patagonia, Sweden, or Norway may stop reading here but that’s my trout of the season.

And what I’m also very proud of. I caught it with a classic nymph instead of a big streamer which is clearly the preferred method for bigger trouts especially the brown trouts. Sculpin flies are hard to beat with a classic fly but you’re lucky.

And what a fight that trout gave to me on my tiny little 3 weight rod. From the first second I was sure that this was a better fish. I always fish barbless hooks, its even required, and I fought the fish as hard and careful as my 6X tippet allowed. My beloved Sage TXL-F did a wonderful job. An endless time it took to land the fish just with my hands. I should have carried a net with me but on 99 out of 100 days I don’t need it. It wasn’t needed here too but I could have landed the fish a little earlier with less thrill. So many times I had the fish as close to reach the tippet, and so often he escaped for another powerful run down the current.

In the end I successfully landed the fish with the banana grip. What a feeling it was to hold such a masterpiece of mother nature. I didn’t measure the fish but I think it was somewhere around the magic 20 inches.

Also in all other aspects the day was a success. I caught many more trout, all in good size and shape. What I found very interesting that some sections in the river seemed to be empty where some others seemed to be full of fish. One hour I caught fish after fish and the next hour nothing. Then again a glamorous hour followed by a poor hour.

See also some pictures from my previous excursion with one of my buddies to a new river system, unfortunately with poor outcome. Not every fishing day ends with gold in the hand.

tight lines
Ph.