As
many of you know, my wife, Lori, and I spend quite a bit of my time guiding
children on Dry Run Creek. The big draw there is a population of really large
trout in a Catch and Release environment. It is common for inexperienced
anglers to catch one or more trophy trout on a visit there.
While
on the creek, I have seen a particularly large and impressive brown trout on
numerous occasions over the years. I have named him Henry. Now my clients have
landed some really large browns. I remember a sixteen pounder that my client,
David Kinney landed a while back. This trout was a large hen that did not put
up much of a fight. Now Henry is something else. For one thing, he is much
larger. I would estimate him to be over thirty two inches long and weigh around
twenty pounds. I have never landed him but would love to measure him. The other
thing that makes him different is that he fights like a demon. As I always say,
they don’t get big by being stupid.
I
remember the first time a client hooked Ole Henry. It was several years ago. My
client was a twelve year old boy that had landed several big trout that day. He
hooked the big trout on a Y2K and fought him for about twenty minutes. I was
excited with the prospect of landing such a large fish. Just about when I was ready
to net him, Henry got tired of playing with us and ran a hundred yards
downstream and swam into the middle of a blow down losing the Y2K in the
process. As time passed, I had clients hook and fight him only to lose him
before he got to the net.
Things
have kicked up in the last couple of weeks. My clients have hooked him twice in
that time. The first hook up was with this brawny fifteen year old that needed
a shave fishing a worm brown San Juan worm, under a strike indicator. I thought
this kid had him. Henry never came in close. He hugged the bottom and moved
powerfully around the pool. He then made a run toward the undercut bank. I saw
the indicator stop moving and I knew we were in trouble. I stealthily moved
over to the bank and carefully pulled the leader. It was tightly connected to
something that was not moving. Henry had wrapped a root wad and broken off.
A
few days later I am with yet another young client. This lad was twelve and this
was his first day fly fishing. He had a couple of big fish under his belt, when
he hooked Henry, with a big orange egg. He did well for the first couple of
minutes of the fight until Henry came close and the kid got a good look at him.
He could not believe how big he was and the adrenalin kicked in. He gripped the
line in a death grip and Henry broke the 4X tippet like a small twig. You have
to let the big ones run. I chalked it up to inexperience.
Henry
is starting to become an obsession with me. I want to net him really badly. The
problem is that he is on Dry Run creek and I cannot fish for him. I have to
experience the thrill of the hunt vicariously through my young clients. Most of
who are inexperienced. Whenever I fish Dry Run Creek, I hunt for Henry. I take
great pains to work on my clients big fish skills. I have them fight every
fish, on the reel, and make sure that they take their time. Patience is a
virtue when fighting the big ones. That way when we get the hookup we stand a
much greater chance of landing Henry. After years of this struggle, I have come
to the realization that it will take a substantial amount of luck to get him
in.
Yesterday,
I was at a Sowbug Roundup Committee meeting, when one of the attendees said
that, while he was working on the Trout Unlimited Youth Summer Camp, he had
seen a huge brown on Dry Run Creek. I gave him a knowing smile and said “I
know, I know”.
John
Berry is a fly fishing guide for Blue Ribbon Guides in Cotter, Arkansas and has fished our local
streams for over thirty years.
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