My Personal Best
I don't post on this board often, as I live back east. I do enjoy the reports, and do browse the tying board from time to time.
I had a "personal best" experience this past weekend and wanted to share it with everyone. I enjoy writing, and I hope you enjoy reading it. My home water is the Gunpowder in Maryland.
We got a few inches of rain from Friday night into Sunday morning, and I knew the river would be high and a little stained. I have been reluctant to fish in those conditions, but everything I have read told me to give it a shot. I checked the gauges and a few access points,and geared up.
The first spot I came to was a nice piece of pocket water at the head of a nice deep pool. I tied on a zonker and started casting. Almost right away, I had a lot of short strikes. I couldn't tell how big the fish were, but it was an indication that I was doing something right. After about 20 minutes,I was never able to get a hook set, and I thought about a spot further upstream that might be perfect under these conditions. When I got there, it was just as I had hoped.
Successful Spot.jpg
A big deadfall against the far bank, with waist deep water in front, and perfect water below it. I worked the water just above the deadfall and got into fish right away. I had switched over to a black tungsten head wooly bugger and it was working. After about 4 fish in the 8 - 10 inch range, "IT" happened.
I landed the bugger right at the edge of the deadfall, and saw a HUGE boil just behind it. I wasp ersistent, and after 3 or 4 casts, WHAM! I could tell this fish was big, but I was not sure how big. It made a run downstream in the current, then came up too. When I saw the first flash, I said to myself out loud "HOLY S#%T." It made a run toward the deadfall, and I knew that if it got under that tree I would never see it again. I put some pressure on it and it seemed like it stayed suspended in that spot forever. It made another run downstream, then headed for some branches and debris on the near bank. I managed to keep it out of that, and it began to tire. Shortly thereafter, I was able to get it into the shallow water, snap a quick picture, revive it and let it on its way. My heart was racing, and the adrenaline was pumping, and I was a happy guy!
Big Brown.jpg
All told, I landed 9 fish in a little over two hours, counting the walk in and out. A great day on the Gunpowder. When I got home,my wife and I analyzed the photo and estimated the fish to be about 17 inches relative to my fly rod. I had caught some stocked rainbows in the 16 and 17 inch range in Virginia in the spring, but a wild brown is just differenti - it means more to me.
Steve
Bel Air, Maryland
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