A PB Guadalupe Rainbow

Two days ago I lost a nice fish; one I had to the net twice but who still had one run left each time. The third time I brought him close he jumped and shook the hook. I estimated him to be about 24 inches and he was quite the fighter. It turned out today that I had another shot at a "best" Guadalupe rainbow. After catching only one fish, a nice 16" bow, after a few hours of fishing I was ready to head into the house to warm up. I'm sure glad I made that final cast because a fish hammered the fly moments after it hit the water. Although it was a fairly strong fish, it tired out quickly and came to the net without making any big runs.

My wife braved the cold to run down for a quick picture before the 21 inch rainbow was returned to the pool.

18" rainbow with my 2 wt...on a dry

Today provided one of those moments that I live for, the kind that makes me grateful for what I've been given...the kind that has me wanting to relive it, again and again. People who fish might understand, those that don't might think I'm crazy.

I had met a fellow fly fisher for lunch and therefore entered the river much later than I normally do. It was warm, I was lazy and there was no surface activity so I grabbed the streamer rod and started halfheartedly fan casting the pool behind my place. Suddenly it happened again...a crippled hexagina floated by and was soon replaced by a very subtle ring of ripples, not 10 feet from where I was standing. Not a sound accompanied the disappearance and had I not witnessed it I would have been totally unaware that the rise had started. I ran for my 2 wt and tried in succession a small elk hair caddis, a large hexagina dry and a smaller mayfly dry but nothing would stir the trout. I eventually looked through several of my old "floater" boxes dating from the 70s or 80s and found a rather ratty looking hexagina dry with a woven body, moose hair tails and an elk hair wing. I cast it into the lane the trout seemed to be feeding in and my heart almost stopped when a rainbow came up and , without inspection or preamble, took the fly. The fight was shorter than expected and added another layer of confidence onto the 2 wt. I can see this becoming my go-to rod for small streams or rivers.

So here I sit, still reliving the thrill of an 18" rainbow on a 2 wt rod and a dry fly. It just doesn't get any better than that.

New spot on the Guad with my 2 wt.

We moved to a different location on the Guadalupe today and after unpacking the fishing gear I thought I'd give the location a quick, hands-on appraisal. Several sets of riffles, good wading water but no fisherfolk gave my guarded optimism a twist of doubt. I first took the 4 wt out, set up with a #20 rainbow warrior and a # 20 zebra midge dropper. An hour of fishing made me wonder why I was again braving the cold to torment some fish. A last resort, I pulled out the new 2 wt and hit the riffles again.

After a couple of fly changes, a #16 pheasant tail suddenly stopped in the current and a gentle rod revealed a slight head shake. I set the hook a bit harder and the fish rocketed upstream. After what turned out to be a fairly short fight, I landed my nicest rainbow on the 2 wt to date. Man do I like this rod.

After posing for the picture, the bow was of course released. Still feisty, he rocketed from the shallows back into the riffles. But not before helping me with another first, an underwater picture. Somewhat muted colours but we're always more relaxed when photos are taken in our home.