Scouting Mission

With the afternoon to kill, we headed to the river with hopes of getting a tug.  We arrived about 3 PM, rigged and ready to fish.  The water was cold, swift, and furious.  Carefully wading into position was difficult with the high flows. With that in mind, we fished the soft water where the hogs should be taking refuge from the fast current.  Fishing started slowly, but then we found a few nice runs that were holding trout.  Ryan hooked in first and lost it bringing it to hand.  I found a nice slow back eddie where I knew a fish was lurking…two casts later, fish on!  Immediately it took off downstream and I thought I was going to lose it.  With my rod bent, I quickly made a dash downstream to get ahead of the fish.  The current was too quick and I couldn't get more than a few feet away from shore.  The fish saw me and again made a quick run down.  With my arms completely extended and my fly rod in the air , I was trying everything I could do to keep my  fly line from getting snagged in the alders.  The fish made another run, this time around a log and I thought it was going to be a goner…After some careful acrobatics  I was on top of the downed log fighting the fish for a few more minutes.  By trying to turn his head towards the bank, I wanted the current to bring him closer to my net. Once he saw me again, he darted into some beaver debris on the other side of the river, which ended up snapping my bottom fly…

A few flicks after walter got away…