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 The Pursuit: Big Fish Like Little Fish
Posted by flyfisker on February 07, 2005
This story is several years old and I have shared it verbally many times, just never in writing. It occurred one day while guiding on the Green River below Flaming Gorge dam in Utah.
It was early summer and the river had just been planted with 8" rainbows otherwise known as Brown Trout feed. When they plant the river, they use a power boat and dump the fish overboard. The Browns literally follow the raft, jumping out of the water in pursuit of the small fish often times beaching themselves. Frequently, the small fish even beach themselves trying to flee the larger predators. It is mayhem and awesome to watch (also makes for good streamer fishing).
I had explained these circumstances to my clients for the day including the fact that the small fish are often hooked and then eaten by the bigger Browns. They laughed at me in disbelief.
After a productive morning with no sign of this action, my client hooked a small "pellet head" on his #16 bead head dropper. I pulled the boat into a small eddy and anchored to land the fish.
The following sequence of events truly took place I swear to god! He proceeded to
play the small bow on the left side of the boat when a fat brown came out of nowhere and seized the fish. The client almost fell over in surprise but kept his composure. I told him to slowly ease the fish up and we would try to land him. He led the fish toward the net and I went for the scoop. The big Brown saw it coming and spit out the little guy. The tension on the rod flipped the little fish to the other side of the boat (still hooked) and it landed in the water again. The Brown saw the fish land again and rushed over underneath my boat in hot pursuit instantly chomping the little fish like it was a dog bone. Again, the client tried to ease the fish up to the net. Again, I went for it and the brown let go. The angle of the rod at this point flipped the small fish out of the water and on to a rock near shore (we were anchored very close). The Brown again saw this and rushed over to the rock. As the little fish flipped helplessy on the rock, the Brown proceeded to shoot up on to the rock snatching his jaws trying to regain his meal. eventually the smaller fish flipped down and was again in the browns death grip. The brown then managed to rearrange the small fish in its jaws head first for its final gulp (the small fish was still hooked by our fly). Somehow at this point, the fly came unhooked from the little fish and he immediately fled the area. With tension on the fly, the big Brown was immediately hooked in the mouth with the midge and we proceeded to fight and land him! We measured him and he was a fat 18 inches. No trophy, in fact an average fish for the river but an aggressive predator nonetheless.
Needless to say my client was blown away and I doubt either of us will ever see anything like this for the rest of our lives. I will never forget it!
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Re: The Pursuit: Big Fish Like Little Fish
by caddishead on February 07, 2005 | I am realizing this is a common thing, so it is possible you may see it again.
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Re: The Pursuit: Big Fish Like Little Fish
by Pete on February 07, 2005 http://www.fishingjones.com | | Awesome story. Do any of the rainbows survive or is your fishery full of fat and happy browns? |
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Re: The Pursuit: Big Fish Like Little Fish
by flyfisker on February 10, 2005 | | Some rainbows survive, basically the best quality ones. The fishery remains something like 80% or more Brown Trout. They plant around 30,000 bows annually. All Brown Trout reproduce on their own. |
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Re: The Pursuit: Big Fish Like Little Fish
by wingnut on August 20, 2007 | | I've seen a similar thing. This spring on a small stream that you could jump over I was standing next to a big rock in a small shallow eddy, dapping my fly to the head of the pool, when a very large brown chased a small brookie of about 5", right up to the shore, next to my feet. The brown cornered the fish and then ate him right before my eyes then took off to the head of the pool. Whole event was less than two seconds but it was awesome. I immediatley wswitched to the biggest streamer I had but never caught that fish. |
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