Last Sunday I was lucky enough to get a day off. Now that I am managing Blue Ribbon Fly Shop, I seem to have less time to fish on my own or with my wife, Lori. She and I were both eager to spend another day on the river. We had been able to fish together the previous week and had a great time, so we were both pumped up, with the prospect of doing it again. The plan was to get to the river about the same time that all of the out of town anglers were leaving to head back home after a weekend of fishing here. We usually find most accesses clear of traffic after lunch on Sunday.
We slept in a bit and ate a hearty breakfast at a local diner, before heading to the river. We got there around 11:30 AM and had it to ourselves. It was about seventy two degrees with a light breeze. It was sunny and the river was at minimum flow. We rigged our nine foot five weight rods with a size fourteen hare and copper nymph and a size eighteen ruby midge. We added a size BB lead shot and a strike indicator. All of this was on a weight forward floating line with a seven and one half foot leader and 5X tippet.
I launched the boat and headed upstream to a nice riffle that is usually quite productive. Today was no exception. We landed four trout on the first drift (two each) and lost three others. After that drift, it was Katie bar the door. We caught trout after trout and hooked up on every drift. We were landing some nice trout in the sixteen to eighteen inch range which is a great trout anywhere.
Halfway through the afternoon Lori hooked a huge trout. As soon as it felt the sting of the hook, it jumped straight up. It got at least three feet out of the water. I had never seen a trout that large get that much air. He was at least thirty inches and had a substantial girth. I almost swallowed my cigar, when I saw the jump. The monster headed for my rig. Lori’s line looked like there was a shark on the other end cutting through the water heading out to sea at an unbelievable rate of speed.
She yelled for me to get my line out of the water. After observing the first part of the struggle, I was already cranking my fly line in, when I heard her. The brown passed me in the rear of the boat and circled around to the other side. It dove down and wrapped a rock and spit the hook. It had been a short but exciting struggle. Lori was heartbroken.
What she had hooked and lost, was a rodeo trout. Rodeo trout are big fish that give you a wild ride. They always begin their fight with a big jump and fight like wild Comanches. There are long runs that challenge the best made rods and reels. Like a bucking bronco, the goal is to hang on for eight seconds. In this case, Lori had this one on for about a minute. I thought that she did well. It definitely got our adrenaline pumping.
It was the best day that Lori and I have had on the water in a long time. The highlight of the day was Lori’s Rodeo Trout.
John Berry is a fly fishing guide with Blue Ribbon Guides in Cotter, Arkansas and has fished our local streams for over thirty years.
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