I thought the season was winding down. I went to the only place in Western MA. that does not have 10 times the normal flow. I walked up along the side of the river and stopped to look at the Redds. Its a little early in the season and the fish are feisty, fighting for who gets to mate with whom. It reminded me of a bunch of college guys at a bar, jockeying for position next to the hottest girl they have a chance with, and an occiasional scuffle or two.

I continued up the river to a well known pool and threw my GRHE into the lower end of the pool. Most action is usually at the upper end, but I saw a local guide pull out a couple of hogs from the lower end earlier in the year so I thought I'd give it a chance. I am glad I did. I hooked and landed a 21" hook jawed brown trout that cleared water twice in its effort to get away. Idiot that I was, I forgot to bring my camera and net. No photo, and the fight took an extra few seconds without the net. Once the fish was in hand she was quite sedate. I freed her from the hook and then spent several minutes reviving her. It was quite a wonderful fish, and my personal best for a brown. I did get a few other bites and one other hook up during the hour I had. One gent above me caught mucho fish, but none that compared with this baby.

The answer is yes, I will be back next week. For sure.

jed