Freight Train Rainbow Trout
Today was one of those days where I was spending several hours doing some aggravating type of work – kind of mind numbing stuff. The sun was shining through the window, and the thermometer told me it was very nice outside. The weather forecast told me that the next few days were not going to be so nice, and I heard a rainbow trout calling my name.
I thought to myself, “the work will always be there, but this weather will not be” – as we approach the end of August, the number of warm days we’ll have over the next month or so will decline and if it’s anything like last year, snow could be flying the first week of October. So, a few hours away from mundane work during the best hours of the day, and return to it in the evening was a good idea.
I gathered my gear together and drove out to Humber Springs. Enjoyed the sunshine beating down on my face, but thought it might be too bright for any decent fishing action. But it beat being inside my office. I thought I might as well start with what I was successful with yesterday, and tied on the Copper Oval Brassie as a point fly and Ian’s Brass Ass as a dropper. The breeze seemed to change direction several times – and always in the wrong way to where I wanted to cast. But that was ok, and it was nice to see some chop on the surface of the water.
After awhile, I decided to switch to a leech pattern and see if the trout perhaps wanted something beefier for their dinner. Eventually, Jim Kennedy wandered over to where I was and discussed the fishing, the flies, our Greys’ reels that we both happened to be using, and that he was heading to Northern Ireland for a visit in December. We talked about the weather, talked about and bragged about each other’s girlfriend, and then the fact that the fishing was slow today.
After a bit, Jim decided to wander off to another location leaving me to where I was. I decided to go back to my Brassie and Brass Ass combination. About ten minutes later, “hoe-leee!” My rod bent right over and this fish took off like a freight train heading for the open water. It didn’t jump but it was near the surface and left a wake in its path. Then suddenly, the rod tip went soft, and the fish was off. I began to bring in the line to check my flies, when I realized – I had no flies! This fish had broke my 8 lb. Seaguar flouro leader. About 10 or 15 seconds later, a large fish (I couldn’t see the whole length of it) broke the water surface a couple of times as it swam towards the area I had hooked one. It wasn’t jumping to take anything from the surface, and I’m thinking it was the one I had hooked – still trying to shake the hook.
I was quite impressed however with the run that fish made while I had it on the line, and how fast it blew by me leaving that wake in the water.
I tied on another leader to my line and new flies with a dream I might hook it again, and this time successfully fight it and get back the flies it had stolen from me. But no such luck. I did manage to hook another smaller fish and a “long release” took place, and that was about it for today. I had to leave around 8PM and regretted having to pack up my gear.
But I’ll certainly remember that freight train rainbow trout for a long time!