I've only hooked up with one brown that I am confident was over 26", probably 28" or more, and he broke off fresh 2X tippet with no problem when I tried to hold him. Another brown that I had on was in that 26" range, plus or minus, broke off 3X when I had to stop him. In both cases I was on fairly big rivers ( the Henry's Fork and the South Fork of the Snake respectively ) but not in spots where I could let the fishies run. Circumstances dictated, for me at least, that it was better to try to hold the fish closer by rather than let them run, which mostly likely would have resulted in losing them, or maybe killing them by fighting them a long way back up strong currents.

Len reports that his 4X failed. Not increasing the size of the tippet is asking for the same result he got the first time - bye, bye fishy. Might as well go to 2X and increase the odds of landing the fish.

The other part of the equation, to me, is that he on a pretty small stream. And it is conjecture on my part, because it is not clear in the picture and Len did not comment on it, but there may well be some structure to contend with when he goes after that big fishy. Just seems to me that the answer to landing it is being able to hold it close and horse it - and my experience tells me that 5X, 4X, or 3X are not good choices for this situation. 2X might even be marginal, but it is the heaviest I buy.

John