08-15-2006, 10:17 PM
Went fishing this past weekend on the Weber. Had a great time. The following is from an email I sent to my brothers about the experience. Was going to shorten it for you guys, but thought if your like me,, you enjoy a good descriptive fish story.
Here you go:
[font "Arial"][size 2]So this past weekend we went to a family reunion for Emma’s Grandpa's side of the family. It is my favorite family reunion. =) Every year they have it at their Uncle’s house, who so conveniently lives on a private section of the Weber river. Yeah,, he’s got a sweet place. Well it is considered a “fishing family reunion”, so all the little kids, dads, and old guys all bring their poles and fish. THAT is how a family reunions should be,,, right? [/size][/font]
[font "Arial"][size 2]Well the whole time I was eating,, I was keeping my eye on this one hole off to the left. Everyone else was all fishing this big long slough section right in front of us,, but there was this beautiful little elbow in the water, with a slow back eddy on the under side of it. Well as I ate my food and chatted with the relatives, I watched that hole out of the corner of my eye like a hawk, making sure no one disturbed it. Once I figured I’d done enough chatting, I grabbed my pole and headed right for it with Clint, Emma’s little 11 year old bro. I hooked him up with a spinner, and then started to rig up my fly-rod. I moved into a perfect position downstream of the hole, so that my line would cast into the same speed of current, allowing for a completely natural drift. I was drifting about a size 18 gray sow bug, or scud bug, as some call them. About 5 minutes in I hooked a nice Brown about 15 inches, but he took one big jump and spit my hook. Well I told Clint that we would fish here a little bit more and then go up river where we had caught a bunch the year before. He was still casting the spinner with no luck, so he told me that he was going to head up river. Like us McInelly’s always do, I said, “Okay,, just one more cast, and I’ll come up there.” The only difference was I really was true to my word, I DID take only one last cast,, but it would turn out to be a long one. [/size][/font]
[font "Arial"][size 2]I took my last cast, placing it perfectly on the seam of the slow and fast sections of this swirling hole. It drifter perfectly,, no drag, just as natural as could be. Just as it passed what looked like an ideal hang out, my indicator stopped. I set the hook, and fish on! I knew right away that it was big. It stayed real low and deep, and pulled line like crazy. It would shoot off in bursts,,, going to the left, then back to the middle almost to me, and then it would take off to the right, and then all over again. It did this probably 5 or 6 times. I sat there letting him run for probably 3 straight minutes, as my tippet is only 2 lb test. I yelled to Clint who came running back to see. Clint yelled to everyone else, and a crowd gathered watching me battle this big hog. He then headed down deep into the hole I was in, and my line suddenly stopped. I was sure he had hung me up in some growth that was everywhere in the river. I held my line tight, and couldn’t feel his tail at all. I was so mad, as I was sure that I had lost him. Everyone was watching to see what had happened. This side of Emma’s family is full of old school fishermen, who I knew were sure to think I was some dumb fly fishermen who’d snagged his fly on the bottom,, and thought he had a big one. [/size][/font]
[font "Arial"][size 2]Frustrated,,, I walked forward to try and get my fly unhooked. My line was right at my feet, and just as I bent down to try and free it, I saw the belly of my fish catch the sun and flash up at me as I he shot out from under me, unsnagging my line at the same time. I knew he was big,, but I didn’t think he was THAT big. My heart pounded, as I realized I had actually never caught a Brown trout this big on my fly rod,, not to mention a size 18 hook and 2lb. test line, and a crowd of people waiting to see what was taking me so long. [/size][/font]
[font "Arial"][size 2]When he shot out from my feet, he got behind me and headed down stream into some really fast water. I had no choice but to go right after him. I was almost chest deep in water as I chased this big guy through the rough rapids. I finally got through all that rough stuff and worked him over to the side into some calmer water. I netted the big boy, and let out a holler like an Indian who had just scalped his first gringo. [/size][/font]
[font "Arial"][size 2]My adrenaline was pumping so hard. I was probably a good 150 feet down river from where I had first hooked him. From start to finish the battle pushed 5 minutes long. I was totally out of breath, and in disbelief at the fight of this guy. He was big alright, but what was even more impressive is he fought with the strength of a salmon! I made my way back up river, and by that time Emma was there with the camera. She took a few pics, and then told me that I should go show all the fishermen uncles. I ran over to where they were fishing. They were pretty surprised to see a fish that big in the river. One of them says, “holy sh*$, that’s a big fish.” I said back,,, “yeah,, you like that?” It was awesome. All these little kids were checking it out too. Well I got him back in the water and revived him enough to where he swam off on his own strength. [/size][/font]
[font "Arial"][size 2]I was exhausted.[/size][/font]
[font "Arial"][size 2][/size][/font][font "Arial"][size 2][/size][/font]
[font "Arial"][size 2]The fight was amazing,,, I wished I had it on film or something. This guy did everything, and drug me through all sorts of water. After I netted him, people were telling me to keep it. But I had way too much respect for this big old guy and how hard he had fought,,, and I knew I had to let him go. It was a cool feeling. I looked down at him, completely in awe of what he stood for. [/size][/font]
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Here you go:
[font "Arial"][size 2]So this past weekend we went to a family reunion for Emma’s Grandpa's side of the family. It is my favorite family reunion. =) Every year they have it at their Uncle’s house, who so conveniently lives on a private section of the Weber river. Yeah,, he’s got a sweet place. Well it is considered a “fishing family reunion”, so all the little kids, dads, and old guys all bring their poles and fish. THAT is how a family reunions should be,,, right? [/size][/font]
[font "Arial"][size 2]Well the whole time I was eating,, I was keeping my eye on this one hole off to the left. Everyone else was all fishing this big long slough section right in front of us,, but there was this beautiful little elbow in the water, with a slow back eddy on the under side of it. Well as I ate my food and chatted with the relatives, I watched that hole out of the corner of my eye like a hawk, making sure no one disturbed it. Once I figured I’d done enough chatting, I grabbed my pole and headed right for it with Clint, Emma’s little 11 year old bro. I hooked him up with a spinner, and then started to rig up my fly-rod. I moved into a perfect position downstream of the hole, so that my line would cast into the same speed of current, allowing for a completely natural drift. I was drifting about a size 18 gray sow bug, or scud bug, as some call them. About 5 minutes in I hooked a nice Brown about 15 inches, but he took one big jump and spit my hook. Well I told Clint that we would fish here a little bit more and then go up river where we had caught a bunch the year before. He was still casting the spinner with no luck, so he told me that he was going to head up river. Like us McInelly’s always do, I said, “Okay,, just one more cast, and I’ll come up there.” The only difference was I really was true to my word, I DID take only one last cast,, but it would turn out to be a long one. [/size][/font]
[font "Arial"][size 2]I took my last cast, placing it perfectly on the seam of the slow and fast sections of this swirling hole. It drifter perfectly,, no drag, just as natural as could be. Just as it passed what looked like an ideal hang out, my indicator stopped. I set the hook, and fish on! I knew right away that it was big. It stayed real low and deep, and pulled line like crazy. It would shoot off in bursts,,, going to the left, then back to the middle almost to me, and then it would take off to the right, and then all over again. It did this probably 5 or 6 times. I sat there letting him run for probably 3 straight minutes, as my tippet is only 2 lb test. I yelled to Clint who came running back to see. Clint yelled to everyone else, and a crowd gathered watching me battle this big hog. He then headed down deep into the hole I was in, and my line suddenly stopped. I was sure he had hung me up in some growth that was everywhere in the river. I held my line tight, and couldn’t feel his tail at all. I was so mad, as I was sure that I had lost him. Everyone was watching to see what had happened. This side of Emma’s family is full of old school fishermen, who I knew were sure to think I was some dumb fly fishermen who’d snagged his fly on the bottom,, and thought he had a big one. [/size][/font]
[font "Arial"][size 2]Frustrated,,, I walked forward to try and get my fly unhooked. My line was right at my feet, and just as I bent down to try and free it, I saw the belly of my fish catch the sun and flash up at me as I he shot out from under me, unsnagging my line at the same time. I knew he was big,, but I didn’t think he was THAT big. My heart pounded, as I realized I had actually never caught a Brown trout this big on my fly rod,, not to mention a size 18 hook and 2lb. test line, and a crowd of people waiting to see what was taking me so long. [/size][/font]
[font "Arial"][size 2]When he shot out from my feet, he got behind me and headed down stream into some really fast water. I had no choice but to go right after him. I was almost chest deep in water as I chased this big guy through the rough rapids. I finally got through all that rough stuff and worked him over to the side into some calmer water. I netted the big boy, and let out a holler like an Indian who had just scalped his first gringo. [/size][/font]
[font "Arial"][size 2]My adrenaline was pumping so hard. I was probably a good 150 feet down river from where I had first hooked him. From start to finish the battle pushed 5 minutes long. I was totally out of breath, and in disbelief at the fight of this guy. He was big alright, but what was even more impressive is he fought with the strength of a salmon! I made my way back up river, and by that time Emma was there with the camera. She took a few pics, and then told me that I should go show all the fishermen uncles. I ran over to where they were fishing. They were pretty surprised to see a fish that big in the river. One of them says, “holy sh*$, that’s a big fish.” I said back,,, “yeah,, you like that?” It was awesome. All these little kids were checking it out too. Well I got him back in the water and revived him enough to where he swam off on his own strength. [/size][/font]
[font "Arial"][size 2]I was exhausted.[/size][/font]
[font "Arial"][size 2][/size][/font][font "Arial"][size 2][/size][/font]
[font "Arial"][size 2]The fight was amazing,,, I wished I had it on film or something. This guy did everything, and drug me through all sorts of water. After I netted him, people were telling me to keep it. But I had way too much respect for this big old guy and how hard he had fought,,, and I knew I had to let him go. It was a cool feeling. I looked down at him, completely in awe of what he stood for. [/size][/font]
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