Fichigan

Small Stream/Giant Trout

A new report from Jake: Feral and I went to the tube stretch that we like on the Pine and worked up through pretty slowly. The water was high but still in the banks with plenty of color. Lots of clouds kept the day dark and it misted the whole time we were in the water but never got us wet enough to feel like rain. First cast I picked up a 10 inch brown and considered keeping but decided to throw back. Second cast I got one about 12-13” right up to the bank before he spat out the lure and swam away. It was feeling like a good day to fish. We worked up through some nice looking water. Lots of logs and undercut banks that made us wonder why we didn’t have a trout on the line with every cast but the more we fished the less action we saw. Feral had small ones follow his lure out of some deep holes and even had one or two on briefly but managed to discreetly shake them off almost before I noticed.

When we arrived at the real premium deep hole Feral was in the lead and he was casting in all the right places. We knew there had to be a fish under the far bank. This was one of the spots we specifically cleared out some overhanging brush earlier in the year so we could get the lures back into the shadows. After a moment he got quiet and stepped back to me saying he had seen a big swirl like a sizable fish taking a bug off the surface. He crept back up and cast up and down the bank and we both knew there could be a fish on at any second. After several casts and no luck he motioned for me to give it a shot. I made some long casts up stream and then a few into the grassy bank area and it wasn’t long before something big down in the deep dark water decided to come out and play.

My tackle is pretty light for fighting big trout so when a monster goes for my lure it makes my rod look like it might snap in half. This was the case when I felt the hit, saying “there he is” and positioned myself for the fight. I could tell right away it was a nice trout. And it was a good fight. The fish stayed deep and tried again and again to get back down under the bank but I kept the pressure on to bring him out. He went downstream and back up and then back down. I kept plenty of tension on the line but had to give when he took off for fear of breaking my line. After what seemed like several minutes he began to tire and I handed my rod off to Feral and swooped down with the net to land the beast. A 20 incher. This was my first time carrying a net and I was glad I had it. It’s going to be part of permanent kit now.

We didn’t see much for the rest of the trip. It was a nice day though and it felt like fall as we walked back to the truck. Tonight we will make trout tacos.