Summertime Browns 7/13/06

It doesn't get any better than watching your Grandson battling a monster brown trout and landing it! With no help from Grandpa, Colin landed his biggest brown to date and first over 10 Lb. This 12 Lb. 2 oz. hookjaw measured a little over 32 in. and is as pretty as they get.

It was nearing the end of his summer stay with us and we decided to head to a local lake that will remain nameless. This last month had gone so quickly. It would be our last camping trip of the year and I was hoping that it would really be special.......little did I know!

It was 10 a.m. and flat as glass, not your typical trophy brown trout conditions at all. His rod bounced a little and then stopped. "Do you want me to check it Grandpa?" "Sure" I said. He popped it out of the release and started picking up the slack. "I can't tell if it is big or not" he said. About half way in, the fish realized it was hooked and started the typical "brown trout roll." With my Polaroid's on, I could make out the giant torso about 10 feet down and 30 feet back and got the net out of the holder. I knew this trout was definitely over 10 LB.

The fish took off and you could finally see the rod bow over hard and the drag scream as the big fish woke up. When it stopped, the rod shook hard with the exaggerated head shakes that big fish make. I just hoped that he would stay hooked. The wind was pushing us toward shore and I pushed the kicker into reverse to slow the process. By now we were in about 8 feet of water and the brown was near the boat and going ballistic. After what seemed like an eternity, Colin finally got the big male close enough for me to make a good stab at him. We were both pumped with adrenaline as I lifted the beautiful hookjaw into the boat.

We were just about to call it a morning anyway, so off to the dock for photos. I will mount it to remind him what a special trip this was.

It was really a productive trip for browns with 39 landed in just short of 2 full days. We caught 6 over 4 Lb. with the biggest 3 going 5, 7 and 12 LB. It will be a trip I never forget.

Screamin' Drags, Rick