This story is several years old and I have shared it verbally many times, just never in writing. It occurred one day while guiding on the Green River below Flaming Gorge dam in Utah. It was early summer and the river had just been planted with 8″ rainbows otherwise known as Brown Trout feed. When they plant the river, they use a power boat and dump the fish overboard. The Browns literally follow the raft, jumping out of the water in pursuit of the small fish often times beaching themselves. Frequently, the small fish even beach themselves trying to flee the larger predators. It is mayhem and awesome to watch (also makes for good streamer fishing). I had explained these circumstances to my clients for the day including the fact that the small fish are often hooked and then eaten by the bigger Browns. They laughed at me in disbelief. After a productive morning with no sign of this action, my client hooked a small “pellet head” on his #16 bead head dropper. I pulled the boat into a small eddy and anchored to land the fish. The following sequence of events truly took place I swear to god! He proceeded to play the small bow on the left side of the boat when a fat brown came out of nowhere and seized the fish. The client almost fell over in surprise but kept his composure. I told him to slowly ease the fish up and we would try to land him. He led the fish toward the net and I went for the scoop. The big Brown saw it coming and spit out the little guy. The tension on the rod flipped the little fish to the other side of the boat (still hooked) and it landed in the water again. The Brown saw the fish land again and rushed over underneath my boat in hot pursuit instantly chomping the little fish like it was a dog bone. Again, the client tried to ease the fish up to the net. Again, I went for it and the brown let go. The angle of the rod at this point flipped the small fish out of the water and on to a rock near shore (we were anchored very close). The Brown again saw this and rushed over to the rock. As the little fish flipped helplessy on the rock, the Brown proceeded to shoot up on to the rock snatching his jaws trying to regain his meal. eventually the smaller fish flipped down and was again in the browns death grip. The brown then managed to rearrange the small fish in its jaws head first for its final gulp (the small fish was still hooked by our fly). Somehow at this point, the fly came unhooked from the little fish and he immediately fled the area. With tension on the fly, the big Brown was immediately hooked in the mouth with the midge and we proceeded to fight and land him! We measured him and he was a fat 18 inches. No trophy, in fact an average fish for the river but an aggressive predator nonetheless. Needless to say my client was blown away and I doubt either of us will ever see anything like this for the rest of our lives. I will never forget it!
Book
- Alaska
- Guide & Fisherman
- Guiding: Choosing Your Guide And Choosing Your Customer
- Guiding: Do It Yourself With A Guide
- Guiding: Evolution Of A Guide
- Guiding: Freshwater, More Than Meets The Eye
- Guiding: Friends For Life
- Guiding: Know Where You Are
- Guiding: More Than Just A Fisherman
- Guiding: Mystery Of The Fisherman
- Guiding: Payment
- Guiding: Saltwater, A Different World
- Rough Fish
- Fly Fishing For Rough Fish: Why Do It?
- Introduced Rough Fish: The Carps & Other Invasive Species
- Methodology: Gear & Tactics For Pursuing Roughfish On A Fly
- More Roughfish: Bullheads, Whitefish, Goldeye, Burbot & Drum
- Rough Fish Environments: Where To Look For Rough Fish?
- Rough Fish Species: The Suckers
- Rough fish: A Lifetime Of Learning
- Rough Fish: Fishing For Dinosaurs (Gars & Bowfin)
- Rough Fish: What Are They?
- The Hook: Some Common Rough Fish Fly Patterns
- Spey
- Spey: Applications, Where Can You Do It?
- Spey: Atlantic Salmon, A Significant Fish
- Spey: Defined And Demystified
- Spey: Gear, The Nuts And Bolts
- Spey: Lines, They Are That Important
- Spey: Steelhead, New Traditions & A Modern Movement
- Spey: The Energy
- Spey: The Flies
- Spey: The Swing
- Spey: Two Critical Casts
- Striped Bass
- Striped Bass: Fishing Rocky Shorelines
- Striped Bass: Fishing The Beaches
- Striped Bass: Fishing The Flats
- Striped Bass: Fishing The Reefs
- Striped Bass: Fishing Tidal Rivers
- Striped Bass: Flatwing Swing
- Striped Bass: Fly Line Options & Choices
- Striped Bass: Gear, The Nuts & Bolts
- Striped Bass: Migration Patterns
- Striped Bass: What They Eat
- The Art Of Escape
- Fly Fishing: A Natural Drug
- Fly Fishing: A Validation Of Freedom
- Fly Fishing: Don’t Fight The Current
- Fly Fishing: It Is What It Is
- Fly Fishing: Socialization For Asocial Individuals
- Fly Fishing: The Allure Of The Fish
- Fly Fishing: The Art Of Escape
- Fly Fishing: The Simplicity Of It All
- Fly Fishing: Time Flies
- Fly Fishing: Times You Remember & Try To Forget
I am realizing this is a common thing, so it is possible you may see it again.
Awesome story. Do any of the rainbows survive or is your fishery full of fat and happy browns?
Some rainbows survive, basically the best quality ones. The fishery remains something like 80% or more Brown Trout. They plant around 30,000 bows annually. All Brown Trout reproduce on their own.
see comment below your comment i replied incorrectly
I’ve seen a similar thing. This spring on a small stream that you could jump over I was standing next to a big rock in a small shallow eddy, dapping my fly to the head of the pool, when a very large brown chased a small brookie of about 5″, right up to the shore, next to my feet. The brown cornered the fish and then ate him right before my eyes then took off to the head of the pool. Whole event was less than two seconds but it was awesome. I immediatley wswitched to the biggest streamer I had but never caught that fish.