The Twenty Incher

When I hook a fish I try to guide it to where it will cause the least amount of disturbance to the best part of the section of river in which I’m fishing. If there is one nice fish in a hole, there may be another. If this lie was a good enough spot that a 17 inch brown would take up residence there, why not another? That is what I did after hooking that last brown I discussed in “Streamer Fishing In The Riffles.” When I first hooked the fish, I didn’t let him go to the deep part of the pool I was going to target fishing next, instead I pulled him into the slack side water that I had already disturbed moments before. My next couple of casts were just past where I hooked the 17 incher. Surprisingly, I get another hard strike. This fish immediately jumps out of the water and I can tell it is even bigger than the previous one. It takes off downstream and jumps a couple more times. OK, this time I think all the fish in this pool are spooked.

After a good fight and I can tell the fish is tiring, I pinch the line against the rod handle with my right hand. I raise the rod to slide the fish along the top of the water into the net that I’ve positioned with my outstretched left hand. The fish is so big he hardly fits in the net. I lay it down on some soft grass next to the bank and I pull him out of the net to measure…20 inches. This is a gorgeous, well fed fish! He had no problem swimming quickly away as I set him in the calm water next to the shore.