Yesterday the flies were a black collared leech with green flash in the collar and a big black stonefly nymph. I had one of each left so last night I tied four more of each, using the dome light and a flashlight jammed up under the sun-screen for my light sources. A bit dull, but it worked. The vise sat on the glove compartment door–a great, stable platform in the suburban.

The fishing was slow today because the sun was brilliant. Very warming on the shoulders, but it put the browns in deep water. I did find a couple that took an egg fly. Both were large, and the tiny hook opened up, so no cigar. These were flies I’d dressed for “normal” sized trout, and again reminded me why I so dislike light wire hooks..

Then, my great long time friend, John Beth, showed up with a couple more of our mutual friends. We chatted and got caught up on each other’s lives, and then he went one way and I the other. A few hours later we met at the favorite riffle. I told John that Lou and I had spotted a 36 inch brown in the area, but had not seen it in a place where we could get a cast to it. I told him it was as big as many of the king salmon that we’d seen that year. I spotted a small brown (22″), and it took the leech on the second cast.

The other guys showed up and started fishing, I decided to go look at some other water. As I was leaving, John asked me where the big fish was. I told him between the top and bottom of the riffle, and left. I was only gone about a hour, and when I got back John was sitting on the bank. The others told me John had caught the 36-inch brown. I demanded photos–not that I ever doubt John, but you know anglers. Well, mercy me, they had the photos! Look at this King-sized Brown.

He really did catch it. He’d been casting a white, lead-eye leech to two other browns that he’d spotted, but without success. He let the fly drift further downstream and suddenly a huge mouth appeared off the bottom of the dark hole and ate the fly. The fish measured 36×21. “Wow” is all I can say.

If anyone was going to catch this monster I would have hoped it was John. He’s one of the original Lake States’ tributaries fishers and has done much to promote both the sport and the preservation of this wonderful fishery. John introduced me to this fabulous fishery back in the 80’s, and we’ve enjoyed many hours together in pursuit of browns, bows, kings, and cohos. Well done, my friend.