We have a small, 1 acre, hand dug reservoir on our ranch. The reservoir was dug about 60 years ago and has never been planted with trout and is fed by a small ditch. The only time to fish this reservoir is in the spring before the weeds make fishing nearly impossible. Dad caught this beautiful male German Brown today on a small dry fly (pattern that he created). It weighed 5 lbs and measured 23 inches from snout to fork in tail. I was surprised at the beautiful gold color, I’ve never seen one so yellow. I’ve caught two fish just a tad smaller than this one, and dad has caught about 4 a little smaller than this one from this reservoir over the past 8 years. We maybe harvest about 1-2 fish out of the reservoir each year (my father-in-law likes them for breakfast), but mostly it is just catch and release. This fish is the limit this year. I’m looking forward to cedar planked grilled trout tonight with some bacon, lemon, dill, and garlic!
That is a beautiful fish. One to be proud of.
Cal E. Batis
As they say in baseball throw it back. Why keep such a big fish.
…if its going to be enjoyed on a plate, theres no shame in keeping a beaut like that. Nice catch, and good fish management, man. 
Flyfish, I’m surprised you would say that. It’s private water on private land. They take one or two fish PER YEAR. It is pretty obvious that the reservoir can stand the pressure.
Id rather see a fish like that on a plate any day…
then to know someone caught it… mis-handled it and released it dead to the bottom…
A fish like that could feed the family…
I myself… Will take 1 or 2 of those a year…
1 (22-23in) trout= dinner for family of 5 + tators!!!
C & R is always a great thing… But family does come first!!
Edit***
Oh Yeah…
Nice fish!!!
Im just saying he said he caught 5 smaller ones than that. Why not keep those guys the bigguns are the ones that make things happen.
Just my 2 cents.
Mike
Dad has kept about 5 fish total out of that reservoir over 8 years - not 5 yesterday. The one he kept was the only one he caught yesterday, and the one and only time he will fish the reservoir till next spring because he met his quota for the year. This trout was a male, had it been a female, dad would have released her for breeding.
Please, if you can’t be happy for him, and struggle with him keeping the fish, please don’t respond. We will eat the entire fish tonight - it will not go to waste. I simply wanted to share with you all a beautiful fish that a fellow fly fisherman caught.
Didnt say I was not happy at all.
I’m confused how the trout got there.
You stated that they were not stocked. Did they swim in through the ditch from a stream?
Rawthumb - yes, the ditch that feeds the reservoir comes from a creek that has rainbow trout, redband trout, and brown trout. The reservoir was historically used for irrigation, but is now just managed for watering cattle, fishing, and for watering my mother-in-law’s lawn periodically throughout the summer. The reservoir freezes over in the winter, and gets warmer in the summer. For some reason, the trout love the conditions in the reservoir. They have been catching trout of this class for the last 30 years from this reservoir. Where we don’t fish it, with the exception of my Dad and myself once or twice a year, the fish are able to get big. There is also a large population of blue gill that the trout can feed off of.
beautiful! i’m envious of you folks that can fish nearby for brutes like that. want to give up the dry fly he was using? would love to see a picture of that. thanks for sharing with us.
dpenrod - I don’t have a picture of one, but I can describe it. The fly is a size 12 or 14 dry fly hook, with a black tail made from hackle fibers or mink, a black rabbit hair dubbed body with a pearlized back (tied in at the tail and laid over the body made out of small pearl EZ body, pearl tinsel, or pearl flashabou). The fly is finished with black hackle. It is a simple fly, but is extremely effective on lake/reservoir trout here in NE California.
great looking fish…
personally, I say eat up all those introduced species you can…
Congratulations on such a beautiful fish. Love the colors. Cedar plank … I’m assuming the smoke added a flavor that was sumptuous to say the least. Good eats, no doubt. Thanks for sharing.
Great Fish. One to be proud of . I’m sure it will make a tasty meal too…Ed
Nice fish and while I practice C&R and just fly fish, I have never experienced a group who tries to apply more peer pressure to “do as I do because it is the one true way” than some fly fisherman.
While I was recently critical of some who complained about spin fisherman and said it isn’t right to lump people of a group into one pile, I find myself doing it occationally myself. Damn, I’m not perfect - imagine that. 
Congrats on a nice fish.
nice fish! congrats to your Dad!
Z
Wow the yellow in that fish really does stand out, so does the rest of the colors as far as that goes. That’s one healthy looking fish… Congrats to your Dad…
Wow, that’s a real pretty brown. Love that color. Thanks for sharing the story and I’m okay with it being kept. Now, go get another one!