Brookie Of A Lifetime

You finally get it to shore after a long extended battle and you glance at its gills and they are loaded with gill lice.
http://i801.photobucket.com/albums/y...ps2d2aa70b.jpg

You hurry to unhook it so you can release it. It flounders and rolls on its side. You get that sick feeling in the pit of your stomach. Did you battle this giant too long? Has its ability to breath properly been compromised by the parasites attached to its gills.

You try for 45 minutes to revive it. You let it go finally thinking this giant small stream brookie is going to make it. A couple swishes of it tail and then it goes up on its side. You leave it there because it is out in the middle of the deep pool.

You go home wishing the best for the giant brookie you released. Your curiosity gets the best of you and you go back to the hole the next day. Its lifeless body lays in the center of the hole.
http://i801.photobucket.com/albums/y...ps442d61eb.jpg

Len,

That is a sad outcome indeed. You did everything you could but those gill lice took their toll it seems. Largest brown I ever caught, 28 inches, also scared me and took a while to revive enough to swim away. Still worried that it wasn't enough until another fellow caught it a few days later in the same hole. Was much relieved. He said it swam away with no problems.

Looks/sounds like a combination of stress in the fight, gill lice and obesity that caused it's demise. You did your best however.

Mark