I can not remember the last time Matt and the "brothers" went fishing together; perhaps it was the frigid Hyalite trip, but it has been too long and much deserved. We were blessed to have the opportunity to borrrow Sam's raft and float a section of the Madison river, something we hardly ever get to do. So for a day Matt, Josh, and myself felt like we were living the Montana dream - today we owned a raft... and with a cooler full of treats, dries on the tippet and visions of landing the "big one" we felt invincible.
First fish of the day - caught by Papa Matt. We consistantly caught fish this size all day. Small, but Matt kept repeating "come on guys - size doesn't matter!"
Towards the end of the day I happened to glance over at Josh as he plucked this huge rainbow out of the water with a Royal Wulff. The picture doesn't do the fish...the battle...and the shear joy on Josh's face justice. Josh said later,"That was the biggest fish I've ever caught on a river!" Glad we could share the moment with you buddy.
We couldn't get a good picture of the fish because Josh wasn't about to let his "prize" go. Notice the excellent execution of the "Oberly Death Grip" Josh has administered on this 18 inch rainbow. Perfect form ol' chap!
Team work. It's a good thing Matt scrambled to catch this trout. Low and behold, after closely examining his tackle after the fight the fly just fell off the line. Close call
You can't tell but Josh is grinning inside ear to ear - he's just so scared right now from the thought of loosing his fish.
I also hooked up on a nice brown later on in the float. I didn't think it was big because it wasn't putting up much of a fight. It was in fact swimming towards me and it wasn't until I saw and felt the tension on my rod that I knew we had a "keeper" on the line. I won't ever forget Matt netting this big brown...looking down in the net (could barely fit - even folded in half) and yelling "MONEY!"
The mouth on this fish was just gynormous. I was scared of pulling the hook out for fear of loosing my finger to the huge teeth this guy had. A pretty fish to end an amazing day.
The release - Looking at this photo and remembering this amazing day...Matt said it the best "Guys...God's just looking down on us and He's just laughing ' look at my boys - they are just having a ball!!'"
Thanks God, and thanks Sam for a day that I know we'll all be comparing the rest of our fishing days to for a really really long time.
3 comments:
What a day for the brothers (minus Sam, darn it!) My husband--what a fisherman. I think he is still grinning ear-to-ear, not just because of the fish caught, but mostly because of the time spent in the best of company. Thanks for sharing all the pictures, Peter.
PS--anyone know if those are new glasses Josh was wearing? hmmmm
your first paragraph (writing) reminds me of the clear and misty night...not that the words contradict each other like you used to write... but I can hear your voice :) thanks for sharing the pics...its fun to stay so connected.
Sweet Pete! Would you say you caught more fish than we caught on the Big Hole? I love you buddy!
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