Great fishing today. Slow start; about 1 hour for the first fish. So when I got the strike, I was distracted with what I had been doing for about 45 minutes. But this fish held on for a bit so I could set the hook. The fight started out as normal, with me reeling like I would for a small rainbow. As it got about 15 feet away from the dock, I realized something was different. I could barely reel and the drag was singing. When I got it closer to land, I saw the biggest trout of my life. I don't fish for trout a lot, so I was pretty surprised. On the end of the line, I saw a 4 pound, 18 inch brown trout, my first brown ever. So I grabbed the line, and lifted the fish out of the water. PING! About ten seconds later, when this sunk in, I rebaited, numb. Then I exploded. I'm not giving any details. I was later consoled by some 11, 12, and 13" rainbow trout. But I can't wait to get back out there and get another crack at that brown, now with no huge nicks in my line.

---