Proof of pain...

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I usually avoid trout fishing in the middle of the afternoon not only because I have a full-time day job, but as far as hit and miss goes…it’s generally more “miss” than “hit”. I was staying home with my lovely wife because she had undergone a procedure at the hospital and could use a hand with life at home. As I was sitting on the couch with her, I could sense that she was starting to doze off into Neverland. I started to get antsy with every light breath she took. As soon as her head dropped, I made a run for the truck like a silent ninja moving at warp speed. It’s time to get outside!

I never really expect to catch anything in the middle of a 40deg day but a runny nose, but I figured if I didn't see anything in the lake, I'd go knock down a few rabbits. It's trout season here. Stocked trout, that is. Those poor confused creatures that are usually spoon-fed their breakfast pebbles every day by some gargantuan stranger. The big ones around here tend to have a scar on their nose on one side from swimming around counterclockwise bumping their faces a concrete tank for so long. I can’t imagine the horror they experience when all of the sudden one day, they’re sucked out of their comfortable, pebble-stocked home and thrust into a tube on wheels, only to be excreted out the rear end into a giant scary new world with no morning pebbles.

Between 6:30-7:30 am seems to be feeding time for them. I try to get out before dawn and be ready when the sun comes up because the frenzy doesn’t last long. After that you really have to work for it. When I showed up at my favorite little winter trout lake, my heart sank because the dock from which I catch my limit within 40 minutes nearly every trip out, was full of hopeful trout anglers. I was hesitant to ask if I could butt-in next to them because it gets tight in the winter but they let me toss a line in next to them anyway. I put a little Zebco Dock Demon in with Powerbait on a homemade rail-mounted pole holder and jigged with my ultralight using my brand new white Trout Magnets. Nobody was really catching anything, but 10 minutes in to my jigging...an enormous Yeti appeared on the end of my line in the form of a lunker stocked rainbow trout. I was using 4 pound monofilament line on my ultralight, so horsing him in Bassmasster style wasn't an option. A few nail biting moments passed as I coaxed him to the surface and reached for my net. A fellow dock-fisherman said "Hold on to him, I'll net him for ya!" “Okay”, I though. I waited…and waited…and waited. I waited for the nice kid to get his net and get ready, but I think he must have stopped at the convenience store on the way around the dock because it took entirely too long!! The fish got a second wind and took my new white jigs to the bottom. He ran under the only log in my zip code and tore free from my line.

This fish was easily 6 pounds. I know that people say stuff like that all the time about the one that got away, but I know he was! Just the other day, I was walking along the bank and approached a nice middle-aged fellow with whom I assumed to be his young daughter. We shared some experiences and told some fishing related tall-tales when he began telling me about his daughter that won a new topwater frog in a local contest. She apparently took the frog out to the pads and pulled in a 5lbs behemoth largemouth. He had the picture to “prove it”. He whipped out his phone like a quick-draw gunfighter and pulled it up for me to drool over. Now I know that phone screens can make things look smaller, but if this fish weighed 5lbs, then the topwater frog was one and a half of them. But like I said…I have proof of my lunker trout.

My fish lost, my 2x new jigs lost...I was heartbroken, yet really stoked. I guess they actually do bite in the middle of the afternoon. I tied on some new jigs and dropped in hoping for the best. The water was dead, nearly stagnant now and the fish were turned off. The guy who couldn't get his net out quick enough for me lay his rod down with a jig dangling in the water and took a break. Within minutes, his dangling jig disappeared and his spinning rod bent over like a gut punched boxer. “Fish on!!” I had a bad feeling about it, but I watched intently because it looked like a really nice fish.

When it surfaced, it looked suspiciously like my lost Yeti! I grabbed my net faster than Flash Gordon and netted him for the poor kid. This fish was huge for a stocked rainbow!! I may have said something snarky in my own mind like "Now that's how you net a fish" but I kept my mouth shut. I pulled him out of the net and by golly...there were my jigs in the mouth of the Yeti that got away. The most difficult thing about it was his dangling jig was snagged from the outside.

I have never in my life felt so defeated. I moaned to my wife and kids about losing that trout for at least 2 weeks. I learned a few things that day the first of which may be that fish bite all day long, so if you’ve got the time, get out and fish. Don’t watch the barometer, don’t look at the water clarity, just drop a line in and have some fun. Another valuable lesson could be don't rely on the guy near you even when he offers because he may turn into Rip VanWinkle on his way to the net. Always have your own net ready...you never know what will tap the end of your 4lbs test line.

I'm glad I got my jigs back...wish I could have kept the fish. I'm happy for the kid who got the fish...it really made his year. I’ve not seen a smile on someone that big since. As for the proof? I'm happy to say that I got a picture of me with "the one that got away" taken by the kid who snagged him out from under me. Insult to injury, lesson learned and a memory that will never be forgotten.