Beaverhead River: The One That Got Away

Last May I was invited to fish the Beaverhead River in Montana with Kevin and Tori. Being early spring, the water was high. There was also a landslide just above High Bridge which made the water even more off color. A San Juan Worm seemed the best fly for the given situation. A slightly larger split shot and strike indicator were also called for. We started the float at High Bridge and wade fished as we moved the raft from spot to spot.

At what has become my favorite stretch of the river, I hooked a large trout. I was able to bring it close to me quite easily for what I thought would be a quick release. I noticed this rainbow had a peculiar deformed lip. This was surely a casualty of a previous catch and release experience it had had. Well, as soon as it saw me reaching down for it, it instantly shot off downstream. Despite the deep water, I went chasing after it. It brought me around the next bend in the river where I finally go it close to the shore, twice. With the water so high there was not an even sloped bank on which to land it. Remember the post I wrote entitled Nets? This was the time a net was desperately needed. As I reached down to grab the fish, it took off again. This was a strong, hard fighting rainbow. Again I went chasing down the river, not wanting the line to break from both the strength of the fish and the fast current. The next time I brought it close enough to grab, with the line held tight against the rod handle with one hand and reaching down for the fish with the other, it broke off. Just then Kevin comes around the bend of the river with a net.

This is the excitement that fishing trips are made of. And stories are told of the one that got away. Back at work Kevin was telling me “I wish we could have landed that one rainbow that took us so far down river and broke the line.”