Same Fish, Different Year?

After a successful outing the previous day, I had asked my dad first thing the next morning to join me on another stretch of the same water. He needed to get some work done first, so we agreed that we would head out for a couple of hours that evening. My idea was to start fishing on a private stretch of property that we ended with the last time we went fishing together. The water upstream from our last outing would be new territory for my dad and I had only fished this section one time last summer with good results. I was hoping that we would get passed everything I had fished last summer and still have enough daylight to explore newly acquired fishing rights to the neighboring property. I was ecstatic this past spring when I received permission to fish this section as I knew it had the potential of holding some whopper Brookies and it was the only stretch of this stream I had yet to fish in my 15 years of trout fishing.

     We arrived at our desired location and I took a stream temperature check, 68 degrees. It was nearly 4 degrees warmer than it was during the mid-day yesterday. I was slightly discouraged but I knew the stream temperature would drop as the night went on. In the first hour the bite was slow. We fished some great habitat with undercut banks and hollowed out logs with only a few follows and one 6” inch Brookie to hand. I was telling my dad as we proceeded upstream of a trout I had caught last summer on this stretch and we should get to that particular hole before it got too late. 

     We reached the desired hole that was nothing more than a couple of logs extending out from the bank and a clump of grass that eroded away from the washed out bank. The hole had not changed too much from the previous year and I had a strong feeling the Brookie would make an appearance yet again. Even though I fish more than my dad he always insist me to make the first cast into a worthy hole. He enjoys just being out in the outdoors, whether its trout fishing or deer hunting spending time with his 3 sons. With that being said, he wanted to me to cast into the hole despite my efforts to have him cast first. I positioned myself near a small sandbar just downstream and on the opposite side of the bank of the desired location. The hole was small and I wanted to get into best position to drag my panther martin over the top of the log and directly in front of the clump of grass. My first cast was spot on and as I proceeded to lift my rod tip up, to allow my spinner to get over the log a quick flash from underneath the log presented a whopper Brookie. I was able to wade out into the middle of the stream and detached my net from my back. I was able to make a quick battle putting little stress on the giant and made a clean sweep with my net. My dad and I both appeared into the net and were shocked by its true beauty and size. We were both expecting a 13-14 inch Brookie but it was all that and then some. My dad put a tape measure to the fish as I kept the fish underwater in the net. The tape revealed a stunning 15.5-inch Brookie with a small kype and deep girth. I once again stuck my net into the bank allowing the big male to be completely submerged in the water as I took out my iPhone. 

Below is the one snapshot my dad was able to take before the trout flopped out of my hands back into the water. My experience tells me this is the same Brookie I caught the previous year in the same hole. I was unable to get a picture of the fish but the main photo on my blogger page shows the release of last year’s Brookie. I never made it to the new section of water but I hope to get back later this week with the BIG cool-down.

Blurred image as the trout slipped out of my hands