After popping a few more fish each, we decided to hike up to the next lake. We took off the float tube fins, and ditched the tubes. We started up the trail to the next lake, and in about 5 minutes, we made it up. This lake is one of the most beautiful spots I’ve ever seen it's a tiny little puddle fed by a small creek that cascades down from a smaller waterfall. It opens up from thick forest on one side to a big meadow on the far side, and it is just a special feeling even to be there.
The lake was crystal clear, and from the get go, we saw a few brownies tucked against the bank. We worked our way around, and started throwing at some downed logs, and it only took a few seconds for a fish to show up behind my fly. I gave it a short strip, and he jumped forwards… and 5 inches to the right of my fly.
We kept walking around finally set up where the creek flows in. There were a few sticks sticking up in the middle of the lake, so I made a throw at the closer one. My fly was sinking for about 45 seconds before m line promptly took off in the other direction. I set the hook, and he headed straight for the sticks. I pulled him away, and he decided to show me what he could do. He took off all over the lake, and even wet airborne once or twice. As I got him up close, I saw it was a solid brown about 16in long. I got a pic or 2, and sent him on his way.
I made a cast at the next stick, and stuck to the same routine. As it was sinking, I got a much lighter hit. I set the hook, expecting a smaller fish,and to my surprise, the rod doubled over even more so than the last fish. This one just stayed deep and gave headshakes, which was the first sign about what caliber of fish it was. As I pulled him up, it looked like a good cuttie, but as he got closer, I caught than familiar golden flash. Well low and behold, it was a big old buttery brown, complete with great vivid red spots and a deep gold color all over!
We ended up with one smaller brown, so we decided to go back to the big cuties. We had found that the fish were hanging out deeper and they were eating the nymph behind our streamer more than anything else. I had tied this batch of streamers pretty light with only a beadhead on them, but 4 shot added onto my line fixed the problem pretty quick. My dad was into fish right away, but I was struggling a bit more… that is until I figured out the “magic spot”. It was a 5 foot stretch of bank, but the fish were sitting 10-15 feet off the bank, and hanging deep.
As soon as I figured it out, it was lights out. We had several doubles on fish, and it was an absolute blast! I made one cast into the absolute sweet spot on the bank, and I was wondering where the fish was. I fished my fly right up to my tube, and thats when he hit. It was different than most hits that day. The fish absolutely smashed it, and I set back. I could instantly tell it was a big fish, and my dad quickly came over and got the nt ready. When he finally surfaced, we saw bright red flashes left and right. I was floored by the size of the fish, and when we put it in the net, I was pumped! He was right around the 21 inch mark, and undoubtedly the most beautiful fish I have ever caught, period! We took a few pics of him, and sent him back real quick.
We had to leave pretty quick after that due to storm clouds rolling in at an alarming speed, but it was already such a great day that it was no issue with us. We had just spent the last few hours in heaven on earth...
