5280 on the Dream Stream

Had a great day on the Dream Stream with Ben and Eugene (Geno) Ray of 5280 Anglers. Ben's better half had given Ben a guide trip through 5280 for his BDay and we realized a few days later that Geno guides for 5280! We have known Geno for a few years now. Really cool, laid back guy who we've been wanting to fish with ever since we met him. Ben actually did get to fish with him once and that is actually how we met Geno. We did a corporate trip through the Angler's Covey about 3 years ago in Elevemile Canyon and Geno (who guided for The Covey at that time) guided the group that Ben was in. Ben caught the biggest fish I've seen come out of Elevemile Canyon on that trip so I know Ben has been anxious to get back on the water with Geno!

Ben and I hadn't fished the Dream Stream before this trip this fall. We figured we wait to see if the crowds died down any. Plus we knew we'd be fishing with Geno. The bad news was that the crowd was pretty big... The good news is that they didn't stop us from at least having a shot at a huge brown.....

We got a fairly early start and the water that Geno wanted to start us on was wide open. It was a little chilly but when the wind died down it was pleasant. It didn't take us long to get on fish. In fact it didn't take us long at all to get on big fish. VERY big fish. 

Geno had Ben lined up on a really nice bend hole. We had taken a few casts but we couldn't get a great view of the water. The sun had started to come up a bit so Geno decided to hit the far bank to see what he could spot. Didn't take him long to spot a massive male brown holding in about 3 foot of water. It was pretty much directly in front of  Ben but just a little further out from where he had been casting to.

Geno told Ben where to cast and Ben's fly's got bit....... and spit by the big ass brown. I don't think any of us were ready for it it happened so fast. BUT he didn't spook. He went right back to were he was to keep sucking down tasty river morsels. Ben cast again and I was watching his indicator when it paused. I think all I got out was a, "oooo, ooooooooooo", Ben set the hook and Geno announced that the big ass brown was now buttoned up on the end of Ben's line!

I saw a huge swirl with lots of yellow, orange, and red. This thing was huge. Geno put it at 27" conservatively. I got up on the near bank to get a better view and got a great view of the toad as it turned it's body broad side to me. It was a trophy for sure. Big shoulders, massive kype, full spawn coloration.... exactly what you go to the Dream Stream for in the fall.

I started taking pictures when the fish neared the surface and managed to catch a glimpse of him in the picture on the  right. Not sure what part of this fish I'm looking at but the pic doesn't do the fish justice. That is other than the color you can see... I felt really good about where the fish was and how he was behaiving. It was still pretty early and the water was cool. He wasn't lethargic by any means but he wasn't freaking out either.

Then things took a turn for the worse..... Mr. Kype put his head down and took a surge downstream.... directly into a stump covered with vegetation. It only took a second or two for him to break the tippet once he was hung up. Gone.... I saw Ben drop his rod in despair. This time he wouldn't be coming back. He disappeared into the weeds and that was that. Anyone who has lost a good fish knows this feeling and it isn't a good one. But it's better to have hooked and lost than to never have hooked at all and I think Ben learned a few things about fighting big fish. And the day was young.

Ben was laying in the fetal position on the side of the bank in shock, mumbling incoherently so I decided to take a few casts through the run. What a run it was. Nice slow bend fed by a rolling riffle. There was a nice drop off at the head of the bend and half a dozen medium sized boulders placed in the hole. It was the perfect holding area.

It didn't take long to get a hit and I was hooked up. I told Geno that I didn't think it was that big and

he told me that sometimes they will surprise you. Well..... Geno knows what he's talking about. After fighting the fish for a minute or so we got a good view of him and it was a nice 20" plus male cutbow! I did feel a little bad for catching a nice fish while my buddy was sobbing uncontrollably on the bank but not bad enough to not land this beauty... Sorry Ben. I love you Man!

The day was still young though and Ben recovered nicely. We went on to catch some very nice fish. Ben had another bout with another slightly smaller brown but that was not to be either. He did wind up catching a really nice brown towards the end of the trip which helped ease the pain a little.

We had an absolute blast with Geno and I'd recommend him to anyone. He had us on fish all day. I had totally lost track of time but Geno wound up fishing with us for like 9 hours! That is a hard working guide! He taught us some really good techniques and we had a lot of laughs. Can't wait to do it again guys!