Nothing Else Mattered

 

Nothing Else Mattered

10/01/2021

 The palomino trout stood out in the slightly tainted water like a Sacagawea Golden Dollar on a wooden floor. There were three of them but the one was very noticeably bigger than the other two. It wasn’t that I was keying on him but it’s hard to not give him a few extra casts to maybe get him to commit. Besides that I found that where there are these palomino trout there are other trout nearby. After showing the trout a countless numbers of fly patterns, from nymphs to streamers, I decided to move on downstream for more hopes of fooling a trout.

  I was gone for a couple of hours before returning to the section with the palomino trout. I had fooled and netted a few trout downstream. One being a fat healthy rainbow that took a streamer and wouldn’t let go.

  I figured I’d try a few more casts before calling it quits. It was around 12 and the sun was heating things up and the water was much clearer than it was earlier. I attached a Triple Threat streamer to the 6 lb fluorocarbon tippet and started casting out into the water. I directed the swinging streamer in front of the golden trout every so often. He didn’t seem to mind watching it pass by and gave no indication he wanted anything to do with it. I never casted the line over top of him not wanting to spook him. I kind of gave up on him and was casting further out across stream letting the streamer swing into the deeper pool of water beyond. As I was casting afar I noticed the big palomino trout swim into the deeper pool of water where I was letting my streamer swing into. He was still within my vision as he just appeared to sit there enjoying his new location in deeper water away from the sun.

  I shot my Triple Threat across the stream and near the shallows on the opposite side. I let it swing and twitched it now and then for some jerky movement. On one pass through the palomino trout actually swam forward to take a look before returning to its holding spot. The next pass through he swam forward again and followed it as it slowly swung within the slow current pool. He turned away and made a circle as if trying to decide if he wanted it or not. Kind of like a nervous petty thief trying to look inconspicuous at a yard sale before grabbing an item and running with it. Well, all of a sudden, before my offering swung behind a sunken flat boulder, the trout sped towards where my streamer should of been. The moment the arc of the line started to straighten, the moment I saw a quick head shake of the golden trout I held the fly line tight and yanked back on the rod. The line tightened instantly under stress and I saw the big palomino wriggling his head, swirl his body and took off downstream. I could feel the strain he was putting on the arced rod as line peeled off the spool and through the guides. I quickly clicked the drag knob lessening the tension on the leader, tippet and my knots. He continued to head shake violently. It wasn’t like he was just trying to get loose from the hook but it was as if he wanted the streamer to himself and wanted to break it off from the line. After tussling with the streamer downstream he darted upstream with the streamer still in his jaw. He practically fought the line the whole time he darted upstream shaking his body. I felt every wrenching forcible tug within my tightly gripped fingers. Once upstream some he stopped facing into the current and again shook the line violently. I just held on not trying to force him, at the time, to do anything he didn’t want to. When he turned to swim downstream it wasn’t with speed but more of swimming with the slow current. I kept side pressure on him now making him use more energy to swim away. Downstream he turned and shook the line thrashing and slinging water about as he came to the surface. I started reeling in line and he started to swim my way but it wasn’t easy getting him to cooperate. He stubbornly came near and within a short distance from me barrel rolled. I was afraid he was going to get himself bound up in my line so I raised it high trying to keep him from getting twisted in it. He came out of it OK and swam not too far out from me. I had a good grip on the cork handle and brought in more line. I had the 9 foot rod angled out towards him when I grabbed my net. I started to lift the rod and he surfaced not giving up with the violent thrashing splashing water everywhere. He didn’t appear to be trying to swim away it was more like a temper tantrum in the same place. Maybe he just got himself so dizzy he wasn’t sure what direction he wanted to go. I got the net beneath him and got half his body in the net. He settled down enough to know he was in something he didn’t want to be in and as if getting his composure back to make a conscious decision. I was already wading to the bank knowing I wouldn’t be able to keep this big trout in the net if he decided to take another tantrum. I got the net to the bank just in time as he flopped himself up and slid safely off the rim of the net and onto the bank. 

  

 I quickly got the hook out of his mouth and a quick picture followed. I got him a little more secure in the net before placing him back into the water. He settled down enough that I dipped the net into the water and he slowly swam out. That’s when I grabbed the neck of his tail and kind of pushed him into deeper water away from the silt that had stirred up from me wading to the bank. I held him into the current and watched his gill plates open and closing. Once I felt a good healthy tail swat I opened my hand and he swam into the current before resting a bit.

  

 Well, there was no use in fishing anymore. After that one nothing else would have mattered as much nor I felt would be worth a picture. It was time to go home with a happy ending.

 

 ~doubletaper