The Undercut Bank

Brown trout love undercut banks. These banks offer shade, slower current and keep the trout hidden. Wednesday I was fishing with Kevin. We had each caught a few small browns and some large white fish. We came upon a stretch that was fairly featureless and a constant depth of about 1 foot. I would cast and let my flies drift near the far shore as I worked my way downstream to the next hole.

As I came to a tree along the bank I had a vigorous strike. A large brown leaped into the air and I knew this was the fish I was after. After the jump it immediately tore across the river to an undercut bank. I worked it out from under the bank and it swam back to the other side of the river where it was first hooked. Then it raced back again to the undercut bank. I worked my way to the bank and got close enough to the hooked fish that I pulled my net off the vest and started try to slide the fish across the top of the water toward the net.

Just then it panicked and raced back under the bank and my line went slack. I thrusted the net under the bank just in case I could still net it but it was gone. This is the kind of fish I come to the Weber for. Large browns full of energy. They jump, make long runs, and make things exciting by running under banks or near possible snags.