...and yes I was using my 3 wt!
I was fishing a new spot because some other ambitious soul got up earlier than I and of all the places he could have thrown a line on the river he chose my favorite run. 
It's all good, there is a lot of water, and I picked a nice run just upstream from where I usually fish. Fish were rising but apparently not eating midges with as reckless abandon as they do in my usual spot. Finally after a bit I hooked up on the zebra midge dropper but the fish popped off just as I was swinging it into the net.
The far bank was loaded with sippers but they all did a great job of ignoring my offerings. Finally I fooled a 16 inch fish, again with the Zebra Midge. A few casts later a fingerling took my adult midge pattern with much gusto. A giant 8 incher that could easily have been bait to the next fish I saw.
The big fish of the day was sitting in the slack water near the bank at the base of a nice riffle. He was sipping away and not really revealing how big he was until I watched him poke his entire head out of the water on one rise. It was not an overly aggressive rise or anything. He simply poked his whole head up out of the water, almost in slow motion, and my jaw dropped as I saw it silhouetted against the golden morning sun reflecting off the waters surface. Unless this fish was all head and had a short stubby body, it was truly a nice fish. Much bigger than anything I have ever caught here.
At this time I was using a Transitional Midge pattern so I threw it up into the big heads feeding lane. Now I don't know if seeing that whole head come out on the previous rise had my brain foggy and expecting that kind of rise again or what, but as my fly floated from the dark reflection of the surrounding hills to the light reflection of the sky I lost it. Then there was a barely perceptible swirl in the vicinity. There was a pause as my brain processed what had happened, and then a light bulb finally went off in my head. "That was your fly it ate dummy" a voice in my head said. I brought the rod tip up just in time to feel the heavy shake of the monster fish, then slack as the hook pulled free. Wow did I screw that one up. Major letdown.
I stood in the current motionless and decided to tie on a new pattern and see if that fish stuck around. Maybe it would be crazy enough to eat another fly. As I was almost done tying on a mayfly spinner pattern the fish again rose quietly in the current. I was shaking thinking maybe I would get another shot but as soon as the fly was tied on the trout made no more appearances. I waited for 15 minutes hoping that snout would show again but no such luck.
It was getting late and time to head in to the office. As I waded back down the river to my truck I spied a bank feeder sipping along the far shore. I waded out as far as I could and threw the spinner pattern over the rise. Again I lost the fly in the changing shadows of the morning light but this time when I saw a swirl in the vicinity I was quicker on the uptake. A few minutes later I had this consolation prize in hand.
Miss Congeniality
A good morning indeed and now I know where the big one lives. I will be back. That is a given.
Originally Posted by MontanaMoose
All I can be sure of is it was a much larger fish than I have been catching and I have landed some nice hogs up there.
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