Renewed aquaintences...

Today I hooked up with an old friend and it was really nice to see him. During the recent cool spell I've been heading out mornings and late afternoons to try for one of the larger trout that seem to call the pool behind my place home. This morning was no different and I landed a nice 17" trout that was one of the spunkiest fish I've caught to date. He went aerial a few times and almost had me into my backing twice. Had I not seen him early I would have thought he might be one of the larger trout in the pool. Before heading up to the house I usually cast a few times at the back gate before heading into the warmth of the house. On my second cast a heavy fish took and although pretty big, he fought more like a walleye than a trout. He wasn't long before I netted him and he looked and fought exactly like a 21" trout I had caught before. A quick measure confirmed he was the same fish.

The gratifying thing was that the first time I caught him I thought he might die after the release. At that time, after measuring him and taking a picture he floated belly up when I returned him to the water. I spend quite a bit of time reviving him but when he did eventually swim away he slowly finned a few feet and just lay on the bottom. This time I quickly returned him to the water and he swam away with authority. This suggests to me that the mortality rate of released fish might be lower than some think.