Ian’s Record Brown
My friend, Ian Gordon, is a teacher of two-hand casting in Scotland, and a very fine angler, guiding for Atlantic Salmon on a variety of Scottish rivers. And what does he do for relation–go fishing. This time in Iceland for huge browns on Lake Thingvallavathn, the largest lake in that country. The browns get enormous because the waters are warmed a bit, year round, by hot springs in the bottom of the lake, allowing the fish to grow uninhibited all 12 months.
Not knowing what to expect, but being told it was single-hand casting water, Ian, none-the-less, stuck in his Hardy switch rod. And good thing. Thingvallavathn is a vast lake that gives the wind plenty of fetch to get going, and going very strong–like the zephyrs of Terra del Fuego. On one particular day, Ian found himself in an ideal spot, but not ideal for casting with the single-hand rod. So out came the 7-weight switch. The line weight for a 7 wt, 2-hander is basically the same as a 10 weight for a single hand, allowing Ian to heave his streamer the long 100 feet that he need to reach the spot where he’d seen a tail that size of a big Atlantic salmon’s. The fly sank for a count of 15 and on the first strip, the fish was on. And on, and on, and on.
Wrestled in at last, it topped out at 26 1/2 pounds, a true monster, and new lake record. Want to see it on video? Go here, and page to the bottom–read all the good info on the way down.
Now where is my switch rod….
Hey, Ian, that is one serious brown trout!