Golden Brown

There were golden days this autumn, brilliant afternoons delightful for occasions on the trail or on the stream. I tried to make the most of them, getting outside when I could, and trying to fit some angling time into a year that had seen far less than what I was used to.

brown trout came from head of riffle

I experienced another mellow afternoon on a local river. The continued dryness of the landscape was a little worrisome, and the water remained low and clear. Still, my recent fishing hours had to be among my finest of the year to date.

Many of the fish were in a spawning mode and hardly interested in my artificial offerings. But every now and then a streamer took a hit when drifting at the right level of the water column. I had seen a fish leap at the head of a riffle with an overhanging bank, and so I made a slow approach. A powerful brown trout grabbed the Woolly Bugger and quickly came to net. Its length, with tail slightly suppressed, was 20 inches, and its highlights (not to be captured by the small Olympus camera) were close to a golden hue.

I walked downstream to one of the larger pools and, where the riffles dropped off into the depths, surprised myself with the second and final hook-up of the day. Like the heavy rainbow that I captured and released a week or two ago, I was battling another fish of similar size. I’m glad that the barbless hook and 3X tippet held. The 7-foot cane rod held. My breath held –till the landing net finally held what must have been a 10-pound trout.

this one was heavy

The fish was no golden brown but an unbruised rainbow of impressive dimensions. My landing net measures 22 inches from tip to tip, and this particular trout surpassed that by at least three inches. It did not appear to be the same rainbow that I photographed earlier this month. Two fish made this autumn day complete, the river and the hillsides golden brown.

another pic of the ‘bow from previous post– the following 6 pics: trail/N. Hornell; scarlet sumac; Seneca Lake; ringbilled gull (Seneca); in one of many Finger Lake breweries; a view from home…