Outgunned

I almost reached nirvana yesterday.  Almost.

After hiking in the rain to the place where the beasts live, I volleyed my fly upstream of a deep ledge and waited until the line initiated its swing through the current.

The swing was abruptly interrupted by the most violent take I have ever encountered. It was immediately clear I'd just picked a fight with a different caliber of bully.

By the time I got my wits about me, the fish was making its way downstream and was well into my backing.  I was in hot pursuit, moving as fast as I could downriver in waist-deep water, but the fish was outpacing me.  It was pretty clear I needed to get some line and leverage back on the reel and put the brakes on, so I thumbed the drag and tried to turn the fish.  It rose briefly to the surface, exposing its dorsal and tail fins.  It was the largest trout I'd ever seen - a stout rainbow well over 30" in length.  

Then, after a brief pause at the surface, it exploded again - snapping my 12 lb. test tippet like a twig.

Q:  When a fly fisherman yells "F@%K!!!!" at the top of his lungs and no one is around to hear it, did it really happen?

A:  Yes.

I was beside myself, throwing the same cast in the same location, wishing I could hit rewind.  In all my years of trout fishing, I have never encountered anything like that fish.  It was an entirely different experience.

Consolation Prize

The next hour provided a few more decent 'bows and this brown - before a front pushed through and brought sustained 30 mph winds. Game over.

I'll be back - next time with much heavier tippet.