Shaq ties into a steelhead right off the bat. He was using a spey rod with an indicator setup and a blue egg. Kranefly comes stumbling down the bank and I can tell he is in a grumpy mood. His grumpiness was compounded by a long stretch of water that produced nothing but snags. Then we decided to go down river. Way down river. I cross the river and Kranefly takes another route. Just before he vanishes out of sight, I can see his rod bent over and a steelhead splashing in the water. I thought to myself, “Good, maybe that will snap him out of his funk.” It did. Ten minutes or so goes by and Kranes is walking towards me. Kranes is back to his normal self and his bad mojo has lifted. Immediately our fly fishing mojo changed as well. Kranes and I pounded a long stretch of river. We fished it up, down, inside outside, in the fast current, in the slow current, at the throat and then we found the fish. Upon first glance, the tail-out of the pool seemed to be kinda drab and fishless water. After further investigation and a little wading towards the center of the run we discovered a big bucket (hole). We both could feel it in our bones and we knew the fish had to be holding in this section. “There he is!” A chromer tore line of my reel. Not a big steelie, but fresh from the lake and hot. A few drifts later, “There he is!” A nice Brown Trout. Not too big but pretty. I could sense that Kranes might be slipping back into grumpiness mode. Then I hear the words that have become music to our ears, “There he is!” Kranes lands a small but beautifully colored Brown Trout. He steps back into the same exact spot and before I am even casting he says, “There he is.” Yup, we found the fish. Shaq had a group of friends that met up with him and they made their way down towards where Kranes and I were fly fishing. Shaq stood across from me and took a few drifts through the run. He hooked a couple but as the saying goes, “Fish On, Fish Off!” We had pretty much picked that hole clean and we shot the breeze and laughed allot on the river bank. We then all decided to start the long walk back to the cars. Shaq was heading somewhere else with his buddies and Kranes and I were not sure what we were going to do. Already, it had been a good day. Not an epic day but a good day. Nobody got skunked and that is always a good day. The funny thing is this. Most places in the world would consider the trout we caught today to be large. I am fromMaine and I know for certain that if I were to catch a Brown Trout that size in Maine, it would be one heck of a day. The Great Lakes fisheries are an entirely different world. The trout we had so much fun catching today would truly be considered “small” by great lake standards. That is why the great lakes are so awe inspiring. Even the “small” trout never cease to amaze me. Today was a great day in so many respects. I got a chance to meet and fly fish with Shaq and I know it will certainly not be our last outing. He is a quality guy and a phenomenal fly fisherman. When we parted ways on the river Shaq said, “I want to see that underwater shot of my steelhead and the blue egg pattern.” Well, there ya go Shaq. It was also a great day because Kranefly and I got a chance to fly fish together. Typically, we fly fish with groups of people. Today was the first time that I got a chance to fly fish with just Kranefly. I gotta be honest; it might have been the last time if Kranes hadn’t nipped his grumpiness in the bud. Just kidding Kranes, thanks for an awesome day. Great weather, great friends, “great” lakes and small fish. What else could a fly fisherman need? Well, maybe just one more thing. A big steelhead.