A Fish Tale From The South Platte

The North Fork of the South Platte River is known for it's huge fish. Almost anyone I have ever talked to has a big fish story from there of their own. Well, I have one too. I go to fish the Platte about two or three trips every year. I have always had great success here, and this story is no different. In every trip I've ever been on there, I've managed to wrangle a trout over 20 inches. The fish above is about 18 inches, which is what I find average for my trips on the Platte. When you figure in that I've never had a day there under 25 fish, well that makes for an amazing day. There always is one trip that stands out to me, and that was from last June. We got to the property we were planning on fishing around 8:00, after a long two hours of driving. We immediately went down to the water, rods in hand, to see what was going on. The water was pretty high, but we started to spot fish pretty quickly. After twenty minutes of nymphing to them with a girdle bug without any fish to show, we went down to the next hole and tossed streamers. Ten cast with no strikes, but the next cast got slammed. The reel started running like crazy as the fish headed for the backing. After fighting the fish for a few minutes, I put it in the net and looked. A great fish, not because of it's size but because it was so pretty. The fish (above) had a beautiful red stripe and dark green top. We kept fishing streamers, and caught a couple more fish. By a couple, I mean like nine. So ten fish into the day, we stopped and had a snack. I looked through the pictures, and found one more that I liked:

Notice The Way Different Variety Of Places To Fish. Green And Trees To Grey And Rocks

After nymphing some more and catching many more fish, we hopped up to the main building and had some lunch. That was finished quickly so we could get back on the water, although I must say it was the best lunch I've ever had. Apple Grilled Cheese Sandwiches... sounds gross, tastes amazing. Give it a try. So after that we were back to fishing. I got a hookup right off the bat, but the fish popped off. To my disappointment, it was a huge brown trout, around 25 inches. I thought for sure that was the biggest fish I would see that trip. I moved down to the next pool, solemn and hoping I could find another fish. The stars must have aligned just right, the moon in it's perfect phase. I put my flies in, and let it take a solid drift. Nothing. Next cast, same drift. My indicator slowed, than stopped. I set the hook into what I instantly knew was a big fish. Even for a river with big fish, this was a BIG fish. I fought the fish on three x tippet for about three minutes before I actually got the first view. It was a very cool looking male rainbow, with a good curve in his jaw. I fought the fish for another few minutes, and after a few missed attempts, got him in my net. I then proceeded to scream with excitement. This was easily the biggest trout I had ever caught. Pictures were taken, and the beast was let go. The tape measured 26 and a half inches, the estimated scale at 6 pounds. I still have this picture of the fish in my room, and I think the smile on my face says it all:

PS- This is the last call! Please make sure you have all the materials for the Rust Buster recipe! It will be airing tonight!