Small flies, big trout and Pierre Berton

Railroad Hike To Crownest River

I fished a section of the river tonight that I haven't been on in a long time. I hiked in on train tracks. Along the rails I noticed many discarded railway spikes. I thought about the great Canadian author Pierre Berton and his historical book: The Last Spike. I eventually dropped down into the river and waded a long section of water where there is usually a chance to spot a large bank feeder. I didn't see one tonight in spite of many PMD's, which were tumbling and cartwheeling due to the strong wind. I pushed  further upstream to a shallow section that sometimes holds an impressive fish. I watched it briefly but it looked vacant; no sign of life. At that point I made the decision to slow down and sit down. As soon as I got comfortable on the bank a big fish sipped on a mayfly just four feet upstream of me. It is amazing how often this happens. You stop, look and listen and then you notice something. I backed off downstream a bit and put on a black winged PMD  for visibility as I had to cast into a silvery grey surface due to the lighting. On the second cast I hooked him. He went downstream and leaped. Seconds later I broke off even thought the battle was going well. My leader had snapped two feet above the fly. I tie my own leaders. Earlier that night, while in my backyard, I added tippet to my leader while being visually challenged (without my glasses). I probably blew the knot! An hour later I got the chance to cast to him again. I wanted to remove the fly lodged in his mouth. He surged at my small imitation. When I tried setting the hook the fly simply came out of his mouth; no contact. Missed him! He didn't rise again. By then it was late so I hiked the tracks home and thought about Pierre Berton and the Last Spike.