Nature Pictures from Trout Streams, Page 23

The 5 am mist rises off a classic hole on a favorite river. I'd just spent (Spent: The wing position of many aquatic insects when they fall on the water after mating. The wings of both sides lay flat on the water. The word may be used to describe insects with their wings in that position, as well as the position itself.) the last few hours of that moonless night working this hole with big pusher flies in the pitch black darkness, running on caffeine until about 4:15 and adrenaline from that point on, after feeling a whale of a brown trout on my line for about 15 seconds. Unfortunately the fish spit the hook, but it was an unforgettable experience.

This glacial river's blue-green water is incredibly opaque, but much prettier than the gray-brown of most other glacial rivers. It is also fishable, though I prefer more clarity.

This is my largest brook trout ever (as of June '06), 13 3/4". It was sporadically surface feeding at dusk and took a nice spinner pattern on the first pass.

Here I was unsuccessfully trying to find some lake-run fish that would have been stopped by the impressive barrier in the background. I didn't see any fish.

All along this fertile river, cedar sweepers like these shelter small brookies, browns, and rainbows.

This is a classic small freestone brookie stream.

I took great care to handle the best fish of the night, a 16+ inch rainbow trout, very gently for a picture. As usual, the fish slipped away before the photo. Here's one snapped too early, while I fumbled with the trout in the net. It's really there! Honest!

This small stream splits around a large island.