Moral: Don't Catch a Big Brown Without a Net

Sometimes our mishaps can be our best trout fishing experiences. Too many years ago my little sister and I went with a friend in his boat to the mouth of Palisades Reservoir in western Wyoming. It was my first time trying to ski and I failed miserably. Then my little sister jumped right up on the skis her very first try. My manhood was challenged and I was up on my very next try.

So what the heck does that have to do with trout fishing with lures? As Paul Harvey used to say, now for the rest of the story:

I got bored with skiing and my friend who had taken us in his boat had an old spin casting rod and reel. Attached to the end of the line was the biggest, ugliest, old yellow lure I had ever seen. I didn't care.

I had him pull up to the mouth of the river and I cast the lure upstream and started reeling it in and SLAM. It almost jerked the rod out of my hand. What a great fight. Finally we had this nice over eighteen inch brown trout up against the boat and I asked for the net.

No net... remember we were here to go water skiing. My friend said he had watched this show where you can just gently reach under the belly of the fish and lift it into the boat.

You guessed it... reach... touch... jerk... snap... no brown trout, no ugly yellow lure and no more fishing for the day! Yes, just another "one that got away" story. And yes, no other fishing tackle or trout fishing lures in the boat!

Coincidentally, a good friend of mine had a similar experience years later. He taught at Boise State University which is located right beside the Boise River. He had only fished a little in his life but there was the river mocking him right outside his window. He can't remember doing it but must have mentioned it to his wife.

For his birthday, she bought him a new rod and reel and the package came with ---... again, you guessed it... big yellow spoon with black dots.

She surprised him at work with the gift and he immediately went out to give it a try. He cast the lure across the river started reeling in and BAM a five pound brown trout. He did have a better finish than me... he actually landed it.

I have had the opportunity to fly fish for brown trout and have found him to be a better opponent (at least for me) than any other trout species. I have been successful catching him but he has been harder to catch than any other trout.

Still, like that first kiss... your first experience catching your first brown kind of sticks with you.

Talking of first experiences, how's it going in terms of taking a young person with you and teaching them to love this wonderful sport/hobby of fishing? Hope you are helping them build the skills as well as the memories.

Oh by the way, don't forget to take along a big ugly yellow trout fishing lure next time your are out! Who knows?


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