Buddy Floren Lost "Giant" Brown

[Driftless]

About 10am we came up on this hole. I have been letting Floren have most of the holes first.

Floren placed himself at the bottom left of the photo and cast up to the fast water on the left side....right where that little node sticks out. I was standing behind him about 2 steps up the bank. Floren finished his retrieve and was lifting out of the water ........

It happened in slow motion. I saw a little movement near the end of Floren's retrieve. Then there was this large white thing in the water. It was the trout opening its mouth. The fish slammed it about 15 feet in front of us. Floren set the hook and fish came to the surface for an instance and turn and out it popped. The line flew over Floren's shoulder and off went the biggest small stream brown I have ever seen lost. This female brown rivals Joe Chadwick's Once In A Lifetime Trout.

Floren and I sat down and regrouped. Floren was still swearing. Floren needed to sit because his legs were shaking and noodle like. We sat there for 30 minutes hoping the trout might calm down and forgot about us and feed again.

It did not.

I may go back after this fish at dusk tonight.

[Driftless]

Took the neighbor boyz with me tonight.

The 11 year old was first up to bat and he had such a hard hit it

nearly pulled the rod out of his hand. He was so startled he failed to set the hook.

We fished for another 25 minutes and no more bites.

I have caught lots of big fish.

I wanted to share with the boyz.

I had to do short straw to see who was up first. WD the 11 year old was up first.

His bothers really dogged him for being a deer in the headlights and failing to set the hook.

Live and learn.