Mikey On The Holston River

Mike Ridlon, a.k.a. mikeylikesit, and I were trading messages in the Chat Lounge on the Fiberglass Flyrodders forum last night when he mentioned that he had tangled with a large brown trout on the Holston River that day. Minutes later he text messaged this photo and a few lines of copy for a T.F.M. post.

Mike wrote... "It was a cold and blustery day on the Holston River (proper) with spitting snow and a white chop over the big riffle at Nances Ferry. Suddenly the florescent yarn indicator suspending a Geux Tiger midge (purple/gold zebra) disappears into the chop just twenty feet downstream of my position. There i stand dumbfounded by this massive brown that isn't supposed to be there."

"Surprisingly, I manage to get the line on the old J.W. Young Pridex and protect the straining 6X with the subtle flex of my trusty Fenwick FF 755. Several aerial assaults and a few screaming reel runs later, i haul the massive brownie on the shore for a quick picture and a gentle release.

What a charm for the first fish of 2011!"

Short glass, small flies, and an old clicker reel getting it done.  I am impressed.