Tail Telling

The phone rang at 7:15am. He knew I left for work at 7:30am. I knew it had to be John. I was not disappointed. His voice was excited and I knew what that meant. It only meant one thing and one thing alone. He had discovered a big trout and he wanted me to come along and net it and take photos.

He described the hole and how the water came down into the sweet stop. He painted a picture with words how the banking of the bottom was. Then there was the bath tub cut out in the bottom that the predators laid in waiting for their prey. It required a perfect cast into the fast water above and immediate mending of the line to get it where it needed to be.

I was off the next day and agreed to go with him. I didn't get off that easily. He had to tell me the tale about his discovery. His friend Todd and he were on a popular stretch he watched Todd land a fair brown in the 15 inch range. As Todd battled the trout a much larger trout came out of the depths of the hole and chased and nipped at the smaller trout's tail. John had gotten a good look at it. He estimated it at 24 inches and male.

We met at first light and off we walked to this hole where the incident occurred. He had tied on a size 6 hornberg. There were split shots about 12 inches above the fly. He also had two globs of bio strike indicator on his leader. John had me stay back as to NOT spook his quarry. It didn't take long and he was hooked up and yelling net.

I netted it and took a couple photos. The trout was about 21-22 inches and I dogged John a little for stretching the trout's length. John calmly told me that it was not the same trout. I smiled and said yeah right. He was emphatic and wanted to show me he was telling the truth. We planned to meet the next morning on the same stretch.

John arrived at our parking spot the next morning but he had two other anglers with him. John still had the same fly on from the day before. He checked the knot and looked for line mars and he was ready. We split up and I took the younger angler and John went with the father. John took off for that hole straight away.

It wasn't very long and I heard the wail in the distance. It was John screaming for the net. I galloped to the sound of his voice. Yes I said galloped. Running flat out in waders all decked out on unlevel ground is a recipe for quick a tumble. A gimpy net person sucking air from running is a recipe for disaster. Would you want to be the reason for your friend losing a massive trout?

There John was with his rod bent in half. John's partner was getting in the water with his tiny net. John barked to him and said to get my net. I launched my net to him. Two steps later he was up to his wader tops in the hole. John told him to calm down and wait until the trout tired. Many big trout are lost because the net is inadequate or the net person goes for the trout before it is properly tired out. Head into the net first with the other side slightly tipped up to stop a last ditch effort to escape.


Finally after an extended battle the trout went up on its side and this was the key to net the male brown. John was yelling and saying some gibberish about it was the one and he threw his rod down and went to unhook the trout.

I have fished with many anglers through the years. I tend to fish with the same ones over and over again. They are the ones with exuberance and child like excitement each time they land a nice fish. They are the ones that have such big smiles on their faces that I think they are going to break their faces. I chose the anglers that are most like me.

After a couple photos and a little gloating he sent the trout on its way. We fished the rest of the morning and made memories that will last a lifetime. A dozen years later and he still tells the story every time we meet up or he calls.

There is an art to telling a good fish tale. The tale goes hand and hand with the fishing. Your story telling abilities grow as your angling abilities grow. Years of trout fishing and bending an elbow at the local gin mill afterwards and embellishing the story through the years fine tunes the art of telling a good tail.
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Twelve years later and the story is still worth a listen.