Monster Fish, Great Story (Part One)

Have you ever caught a fish so big you just want to break down and cry? Ever caught twenty of 'em? Don't get me wrong, these are stocker fish. Sure, say it's not fishing. I think that watching the 5 and 1/2 pounder above blasting 100 feet to the other side of the river while your reel screams is fishing. When that fish isn't the biggest fish of the day.... well, shit's going down. But wait, I'm getting ahead of myself here. Let's start as I'm hopping into the water. We had just walked up to a nice pool, and I was taking my flies off the hold. My rig for the day? A San Juan Worm to a Prince Nymph, perfect for the high and off color water. So I put my first few casts in. On about the fourth cast my indicator dipped. Set, Whomp! Fish on! After a battle, the first fish, a 21 incher, was brought to the net. Here he is:

We kept fishing and caught a couple more fish in that same size area, then moved down to the next pool. After pounding the water about fifty times, the indicator finally slowed, then stopped. Set! After a smaller battle, this fish was brought to the net. But wait! It was a wild Brown! Sweet!

We moved through a couple more holes and caught a few more fish, all around 20 inches. We moved up to a solid hole, and started casting. My indicator went under once again, so I set. The huge fish flew straight for a debris pile, breaking us off in half a second. I thought for sure that that was our big fish for the day. We went through another hole and caught one good three pound bow, then moved on. After another strike and hookup, I brought this very cool Cutbow to the net:

We kept fishing, and caught even more big fish. We then decided to make a move downstream, to a hole where big fish had been hanging out lately. I hooked up on and lost one good fish, and kept casting. Right as I was about to move down to the next hole, the indicator. Stopped. I think in my head it will always be played in slow motion. The set. The rod bend. The feeling of hooking the bottom. The feeling of the bottom starting to swim. Wait, the bottom? No, a GIGANTIC fish! My brain went into hyperdrive, and i had to remember every trick I knew. In the mean time, the beast was fighting around in the depths, trying to figure out what was going on. I fought the fish for a good few minutes before I finally saw him. Oh dang! Right as I saw the fish and went for the net, he made an effort to break free. He went deep again, tis time charging for the waterfall at the end of the pool. Knowing this fish could snap even my 2x, I had to let him run. As he jumped down, it took all my strength to not bow the rod toward him and snap the rod. I sprinted down the bank after him, reeling as hard as I could. The fish was still there! After a few more short runs, the fish tired out and I was able to bring him into my friends net. When I was handed the net, I almost dropped it. The huge fish, weighing in at 7 and 1/2 to 8 pounds, was the most ridiculous thing I'd ever seen. Isn't this ridiculous? I'll post the rest of the story tonight, but here's the big beast: