Close Army friend and I got a chance to fish the trout pond of the Great Uncle of his wife in UT. Out of politeness and thankfulness for his hospitality I won't disclose the exact location but it was near Ogden.

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This one was 8lbs

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This one was 12lbs

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My friend's wife's Brother's kid with a big hook-jaw'd thing he caught on a 4ft spinning outfit that I helped him attach a hares ear to. This was his second trout ever.


It wasn't so much the challenge of stalking and catching a fish in the wild, as it was seeing if my gear could actually withstand hauling in a trout the size of a pick-up truck. What I learned was that the Rainshadow Forecast 7wt blank that I made the rod on can withstand pretty big fish even if they straightened out the tip top guide. My off the shelf Okuma 7-8wt reel needed only one click on the drag, and you can actually pull in big things on a size 14 hares ear with 8lb tippet until the hook straightens out.
Caught a few tiger trout too-they put up a heck of a fight. Didn't get any pictures with them though.
Before we left I gave my buddy's wife's Uncle the leather fly wallet I made and put a few cool Spey's in it. He really appreciated it.
This was probably a once in a lifetime thing and it was really awesome!