I let
Paul know that I had bought a net with a longer handle and he writes back: You’re
a real optimist Howard, buying a bigger net! It’ll be hard to beat that
last tiger.
Well,
when he invited me back to that private lake I was glad that I had already
bought a bigger net. That would have
helped tremendously on the previous trip.
The lake has a steep bank around its entirety and an extra-long handle
helps reach a large fish struggling away from being pulled too close to the
bank.
I
started out using my favorite tungsten head black woolly bugger making my way
around the far side of the lake. I used my loop 7 weight with a sink tip
line. Because it was bright outside, I
allowed the streamer to sink a few seconds before each retrieve.
I had a few
smaller trout following when all of a sudden a large trout darted out and hit
it. After wearing it out, I netted the fish. That long handled net came in handy already.
The trout was big, similar to the big Tiger I caught last trip. Pulling out the tape measure, it indeed was
26 inches long. Wow, I never thought I’d catch another trout that big. This was
a great way to start the day.
I went
back to the car for lunch as Paul was heading around the lake the other
way. Just as I finished lunch and headed
back out,
Paul caught a nice one that I was able to take a picture of from
clear across the lake as he let it go.
Then at
the far end of the lake, near the trees on the shore Paul hooked into a large
tiger trout. It was putting up a good
fight and I ran around the lake to help with the netting.
The fish would fight down the side of one
bank and then in the opposite direction down the other side. I laid down reaching out as far as I could
with the long handled net.
Each time we
thought we had it; it would pull out more line.
Finally we successfully got it into the net. It was the similar in size as the largest
we’ve caught here. Addie was right there
checking it out. The fish was a little
darker and the stripes were well pronounced making it one the prettiest fish
yet.
I caught
a few smaller fish and then switched to Geoff’s streamer that I had used on the
previous trip.
Again, I liked the way it
would hover in the water when I slowed down the retrieve.
On the far side of the lake is an olive tree
that is spread out so you can’t cast in front of it from the sides. I cast across the lake as far as I could to
hit the shore just under the tree. It
was deep near the shore but as I started to strip and the fly hit the shallower
section near the moss, a huge trout came out from hiding and hit the streamer. The fish fought a while on the far side but I
eventually muscled it across the moss in the middle of the lake without
allowing it to get caught up in weeds, luckily.
As it got close I could see it was my first rainbow from this lake. It continued to fight, intending on digging
deep into the weeds.
Paul ran
over to help with the netting. As I
raised its head away from the plants, Paul reached the net under the water for
me to slide the fish into. The rainbow
didn’t like the sight of the net and took off again for one last run into the
deep. Finally sensing he was wearing out,
I muscled it again close to shore where Paul was able to get it into the
net. This fish was heavy.
I was tired by this time but between the two
of us we were able to lift the net with the fish in it onto shore. What a beautiful, dark colored rainbow in
perfect condition. The tape measured 31 inches.
What a trophy. Again, this was
the largest trout of my life.
I laid
down on the shore holding the rainbow in the water making sure he was still in
good shape after that battle. As I was
holding onto the tail, it would try to swim away.
I could tell it still had plenty of energy
and had no problem staying upright; as I let go, it slowly swam back into the
depths of the lake.
