The weather was changing for the better. The water dropping to fishable levels. And the bugs were hatching. So at noon on a Friday, of a particularly annoying work week, I decided to blast out early. The crappy week provided all the incentive I needed to try my luck on some local waters. To try and unwind a bit. The water that I usually fish on the way home was just recently stocked. So everyone and their brother decided to take advantage of that. Except me. I decided to go fish a wild trout water system that Shaq, wrh and myself have been exploring over the past year. Basically there is a larger river that has a smaller branch that dumps into it. I made my pick, and as I always do, I started with the small water. I’ve never been a very accomplished fisherman on bigger water. I grew up fishing the small stuff so I just have a higher level of confidence there. Over the years I have caught a few pretty nice trout in the small waters. My personal best before today was a nice 19.5″ brown in the 3 pound range. Not bad by any means. So I worked my way up stream with a 2 nymph rig. Not a single hit. Not even a glimpse of a fish rising. A few bugs were sporadically hatching. So the food was there for the taking. After fishing upstream to the point I usually stop I decided to switch up flies and work a bugger on the way back down. Third cast and I was into what is now my personal best small stream fish. After a 15 minute or so fight I had a beautiful 22″ brown that was well over 6 pounds. After that fight I wasn’t to sure I unwound. The adrenaline was definitely pumping. But I had a great sense of satisfaction after landing that fish. Definitely the way I like to start a great weekend.