Broken Hearted

In the neighborhood overlooking this stretch, I met an old timer that told me about a monster brown that lived down below, that he had named "Hank".  He said he'd hooked him 2 times in 10 years, and landed him briefly one time.  I laughed when he told me the name, but I quickly realized from the cadence and tone of his voice, that this story was no laughing matter for him.  I wondered how many mornings he popped down from his backyard for a date with Hank.

15 minutes after I caught this little brown, I hooked Hank.  25"+ brown with attitude.  Saw him 3 times before he spit the 2-bit hooker out of his mouth.  Lost him when he figured out where I was and headed straight for the other side of the river in fast water.  He darted from big rock to big rock and covered an insane amount of water in about 6 seconds.

I was heart-broken.  I still have chest pains when I think about it.  Some fish really do act like they have a plan in mind in the event they ever get hooked.  Hank was a planner.

Some other shots from this month:

 Par Tolles making it happen.

 Creepiest animal I have ever encountered on the river.  Some kind of fox with 3 legs.

 Swim away dude.

Hook Em in the Heat

Found her in the back of big deep run that gets constant pressure.  This is one of those fish that you feel good about, not because you out-smarted the fish, but because you probably out-smarted the last 20 guys that fished that run.  I'm usually one of the 20.

Brandon Balkenbush with a beast.

Found 3 great fish stacked on top of each other.  Summer does weird things to this territorial animal.

Over.

Under.

 The G6 doesn't discriminate...she loves fish of all colors.  Both the bow and brown above are evidence.  Thanks Gilligan.

 Back to your hole with you.

 Not sure why, but I love this shot.

 Fall brownie.

 Whitefish strikes again.

 Eatin' good in the neighborhood.