The Big One

The trip was a bit of a last minute thing. Randy had called and said his buddies were going to do a hike in trip. With the restaurant and all it was a bit up in the air as to weather or not i was going to make it. At the last minute my sister Shari offered to work so that i could go fishing. I had stayed up late the few night before the trip tying up some buggers i new the fish would love. I had called Paul at William Joseph and ordered a 4500 badlands pack to use on the trip. It arrived 45 min before i was to depart to meet the guys. On the way my bronco broke down so my sister had to rescue me again and get me to Green River to rendezvous with the rest of the group. Yep, i will give you that, we were in Wyoming. After all the turmoil i was on my way. The hike in was brutal with the 50 extra pounds in the pack. But what a comfy pack it was. If you need one look no further than the 4500 from badlands. Got up the next morning and hit a lake to catch brookies for lunch. After lunch the decision was made to follow a river that connected to 4 different lakes. It rained on use for a while, but as the sun broke we where all having a great time catching 8-12 inch brookies and cutts as we worked our way from lake to lake. Most were fishing dries but i stuck to my buggers. I was out ahead and approaching a lake. there was a transition area with a nice set of cliffs that looked very fishy. I worked along the wall and then with a bounce off the rock and a quick tug, all my fishing dreams were about to come true. The water erupted. I really thought that i had hit a beaver in the head. A fish cant move that much water. Then my line went tight and up the river comes the biggest fish Ive ever seen in a wild setting. It was half out of the water as i screamed for my friends for help.. There was no way to land this by myself. Was it the refraction in the water or was this fish that big. it was that big. Shane got to me first. I played it gently not to get the fish to wound up. A after a few minutes and a few runs Shane was able to basically tackle the fish.. Before i even got a good look i ran to get my brother. I was screaming that i had caught a 28 inch cutt which i thought was a bit of a stretch. we later taped it at exactly 28 inches. The fish of a lifetime. Thanks to Randy, Shane, Scott, Brent, Jerom, Andrew. Without them its just another fish story, Thanks guys. Enjoy the pics. Ps The fish was proudly released to enjoy another day..