Dream Stream

Catching a lot of fish is fun. Catching a big fish is awesome. Catching a lot of big fish is amazing. Catching a lot of big fish by sight casting with flies you would usually use in Alaska? Well, that's the Dream Stream. Since I did this last time, let's try the timeline again.

2:00 am: Wake up, get dressed, hop in the car. We have enough food for two days, two rods, three reels, and lots of flies (No Buckskins. That will be important later).

5:30 am: Arrive at the Dream Stream. For the first time ever, we are the first ones there. That means it's time to start fishing.

Day One: Fourteenth cast, the indicator drops. Hook set, and we have one hell of a fish on. Within five seconds of me being unprepared, the rod tip has dropped and the fish is off. Time to keep fishing. The fishing stays quite consistent, and my third hookup brings a fish to hand. A nice 19 inch rainbow takes off the skunk early. We keep fishing, and nice fish keep coming to hand. One more cast, and my indicator has dropped again. I set the hook, and the tight drag on the reel starts to sing. A minute or so later, this bad boy came to hand:

Two casts after that pig, the indicator drops yet again. One more hook set. If I thought the reel was singing a minute ago, it's taking full on Dubstep now. And for those of you who live under a rock or listen to real music, Dubstep involves a huge bass drop that will rattle your teeth. I fight for almost five minutes, and the biggest trout I have caught in a long time finds its way into my net. Now, you were probably hoping for a picture of that monster, weren't you? Well, you can have one. Soon. We need time for the drama to build here, folks (plus my buddy hasn't emailed me the picture yet).

We fished for the rest of the day and caught some real nice fish, but I definitely wasn't playing my A-Game anymore. A big fish will do that to me.

Day Two: I'm up early again, out on the water before the Sun. I fish the same hole as yesterday, and catch a few more nice fish. After a few hours, I notice a familiar hat-jacket combo coming down the river. For those of you who don't know Big Fish Bobby D and Monster Trout Hunter Todd, they are the masters of big trout. These guys go to some of the most famous rivers in the state, walk into a crowd of people, and nail a hawg. They invite me to fish with them, and I gladly except. They are picking off some nice fish in a riffle, and I don't want to just go in and high-hole them. Instead, I fish a deep slot below them. I'm casting to a dark shadow, hoping it's a fish. My third cast is on target, and I see the shape move toward where I think my flies are. The rod goes tight, and a few minutes later a solid fish comes to the net. This seems like a good way to end my day, but I decide to tag along with Bob and Todd. We walk around on the high bank looking for fish, and quickly find some. Todd hooks up first, then I wade in. Looking closer, I think I see a long shadow. "Is that a fish?" "Where," responds Bob. "Right there," I say, as I set the hook into a 22 inch rainbow. This seems like a good way to end the trip.