Last Monday, Labor Day, I took a day off from work so we could go out to Apple Creek again. The weather was good, and rainbow trout under 10" were playful in the fast waters. The Big Hole continued to be finicky, though Joe managed to catch this 12" rainbow on a crawler. The only keeper of the day, who was simply delicious, cooked on our hibachi grill. Also when we were at the Big Hole an eagle flew down around the bend below tree tops. I'm pretty sure I ducked. The eagle was just as surprised to encounter us.
Then Tuesday and Wednesday we got over 5 inches of rain in places. Friday Joe checked the river and determined it was not fishable. But after a 700-miles-in-less-than-20-hours round trip downstate for a funeral Saturday, the water became less murky brown and mostly fishable. So we took a leisurely fishing trip yesterday. Water was still at least a foot higher than normal. Fish were nowhere to be found.
Still, we continued on fishing above the falls. It's September and in this high water, there is a good chance salmon could be up for spawning.... Just as we were turning around to go back, I casted one last time. What felt like a snag and appeared to be a driftwood piece was actually a huge fish! All I could do was to keep my line tight while I hoped Joe managed to beach the monster... the challenge was we had no net. Well, the biggest German Brown Joe had ever seen in the river, approximately 27", broke my line and slipped away even though Joe tried to grab and stop it with all his power. The whole event was surreal, yet clearly etched in my memory. Somehow I was not as upset as I thought I would be. The fish even took my lure, but I feel it was totally worth it. We both knew Uncle Bob and Dad were watching us, laughing hard. Fishing and smoking was the most fitting way to end the weekend to remember and think of Uncle Bob's passing.
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