OK, walking the shore of a very clear lake that is stocked several times a year with Rainbows...once a year old brood stock are added and some are very large.

I see two Carp rooting along the edge then a third rooting between the others...or so I thought.

The one in the center pops up and suspends just below the surface and low and behold it is a HUGE Rainbow...24" at least...jaw looks a little hooked and it's fat.

WEll, I was actually circling the lake from a river access point and had a Gurgle Pop for Smallies tied on and figured what the heck and actually cast it right in front of it's nose, about 14-16" off...it just sidled up to the fly and continued to suspend there for a couple more casts then started to cruise along....suspending every 10-20 feet or so.

Should I have been able to catch this fish? Or is this perhaps a resting type stance?

What would you do?

I don't fish for trout often and have confronted this scenerio a couple times at this lake.