The Road to a 10lb Brown (Part 2)

Mike Greene with a fatty

The saga continues! Don't worry it's only three parts. Part 2 of this exciting series is really going to focus on my Dad who just killed it on this day. I mean I'm always happy when my fishing buddies and especially my Dad catch fish but this got a little one sided folks. My Old Man is living right because he would wind up with four board fish before the day was out.

We started things off right below the gauging station.  There was only one other car in the lot when we started so we figured what the hell. It's always worth a cast or two in this deep dark layer of who knows what..... At that point in time it meant a nice fat cutty. Always good to get one in the net. Everything else is icing on the cake. We hooked a few more fish but we decided to get downstream ahead of the dude hatch.

The Lesson Begins...

We leapfrogged each other on the way down hooking fish along the way and I wound up fishing with my Dad who was at the head end of a nice looking run. I got there just in time to. He hooked up and we knew it was a nice fish. I saw the tail first and new it was big. After a few minutes we finally put a net under this beautiful 22" rainbow. Sweet! We were on the board.

I started working my way downstream and caught up with Mike. There was an open bend and we were getting into position to start the whipping when I heard my Dad, "got another nice one on"! Back up stream I go with the net. Got there in time to net another 20"+ fish. At this point I had to know.

Me: What are you using?
Dad: This egg pattern.
Me: Nice, got any more?
Dad: No.
Me: Where did you get that?
Dad: I don't know.....

Back downstream again! Mike and I leapfrogged again down river towards the inlet. I didn't have any eggs like the one my Dad was using. It was about a 6mm fire orange plastic bead that was either glued or melted to a scud hook. I did have some HUGE 12mm eggs that were close in color though. I figured what the hell and tied one on. BAM!! The river had gotten pretty crowded and it was hard to find open water. So I was sharing a run with a guy named Shane that I was lucky enough to stop and talk to.

I have had very good experiences on the rivers lately with folks and I think people are more considerate, in general, these days on the water. It's amazing what a, "you break the state record yet?" question to your fellow angler will lead to. Shane was a cool Dude and offered up the head of the run he was fishing. He was none too pleased when I hooked one right off the bat since he had whipped that water hard before I got there. I told him what my Dad had done upstream and showed him the color I was using. He didn't have any so I shared one of my big arse fireball "flies" (more like something out of Bass Master. Don't judge). 

I caught a few more nice spawning cutthroat and decided to work my way back up river to see what Mike and Dad were up to. Turns out I had just missed this 23" rainbow! Mike just happened to walk back up to where Dad was fishing was able to get this pic. What a fish! Mike and I were getting schooled!

Schooled but not skunked. Mike and I each caught some nice cutthroat. Every fish we caught was over 16" I think. You can't complain about that. I always have to remind myself how spoiled we are in Colorado.

We decided to call it a day and we worked our way back upstream to the parking lot. When we got to the gauging station it was empty. We thought why not finish it off the way we started it off so I worked my way to the tail end of the run and took a cast. BAM!! Big hit followed by a flying slab.... And then it was gone. I didn't get a good hook. Both Mike and my Dad got a good look and it was a big fish but nothing like what we would soon learn inhabits that dark deep abyss. 

The pieces were coming together. We discovered some good runs and had an idea of what they were keying in on. At this point I hadn't really thought of making a double header out of it..... But later that evening I had a nagging little voice telling me to go back the next day. Ben took one look at the fish my Dad had landed and was down. This day belonged to my Dad and it was awesome! The only thing missing was that elusive 10lb + toad..... but the stage was set.