By Patrick Pawlowski May 2022,

I got to the river around 6:30 pm, the water was a bit lower and clear since my last visit a week ago.  Again, not another fishermen in sight, kind of discouraging actually.  Off the bat the BWO were steady with a mix of a larger brown bodied bug I assume to be a Hendrickson.  Conditions looked wonderful but I found myself yet again struggling to find a fish.  This time I worked the water more methodically, focusing on rocks and seams with a stealth and strategy while still trying to cover enough water to find a fish.  I was shocked, there were no fish rising to eat so I really slowed down to watch things.  Just before dusk I noticed some slurping in a slower pool.  I could go on and on about what happened next but to keep it short I had a series of mishaps, went through a couple flies and was down to only maybe 5ft of leader.  I hooked into this guy on a desperate last cast just before throwing in the towel.  This was the first time I’ve hooked a fish by myself and by far the largest trout I’ve had on a fly rod.  I’m used to small rainbows in the 10” range and have never really actually needed to net a fish.  What a battle.  I could hardly sleep last night playing it over and over.  I never expected a big guy!