Despite a couple of nice fish hooked, thus far the fishing had been slower than had been the case on previous days, according to our guide and everyone we talked to. Adam's fish had been a beauty, as well as a capable fighter, but it fell short of that 20 inch mark that is the standard for the upper Beaverhead. Where were the big ones?

A little while later, after working on a fish that rose several times in a foot and half of water right in front of me, my line with a #20 PMD emerger on the end came tight. I set the hook and when the fish rolled it seemed like a nice one, but not spectacularly big. That view changed when it suddenly screamed out into the river and downstream, putting a huge bend in my new Echo 10.5' 4wt switch rod, and threatening to show the backing on the new Sage 1850 reel mated to it. It made several strong runs into the current, but each time I worked it back into the side eddy, without having yet gotten a good look at this big'un. Finally it seemed beaten, and Jesse moved in 20' below me to net it. At that moment the hook finally pulled out. Jesse did got a good look, and estimated it was a 24 inch long brown trout. Why is it that it's always the big ones that get away?

Oh, what about the rainbow hen in the picture? I caught that hard-fighting ~20-incher a short time later. Not too bad for a consolation prize, huh?

Arlen_100709_0122