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I have been telling a friend of mine Bob that he needed to go to Oregon with me to chase some big browns and macks. I told him all he needed was warm clothes as I had all the rods, reels and lures. We worked out a mini four day trip and arrived at Crescent on Thursday afternoon and quickly checked in at Crescent lake resort and grabbed a quick bite as anticipation was high to catch some quality browns. We headed out on the lake to probably 25-30 MPH winds with 2 foot rollers and whitecaps and clear skies, but not to be deterred we fished hard till the end of legal fishing time with not even a strike to show between us.

The next day we awoke early and headed out under clear calm skies only to find ice in the marina and pretty much all around the shoreline we wanted to fish. We moved out to the edge of the ice and trolled for around five hours with nothing to show for our efforts again. I told Bob lets move out to deep water and try for some macks until the ice clears. We moved in and out of various depths and marked some fish at the 130 foot depth and set the downriggers accordingly and low and behold brought four macks to the boat with Bob getting one right around 17lbs (his personal best) and he was stoked. We were able to move back in to shallower water that afternoon and try for browns once again until the end of legal fishing time with not even a strike. At this point I figured it was going to be one of those trips where you chalk up to learning more about browns and their fickle and unpredictable nature than catching them. We turned in after a good meal at the lodge in anticipation of another day of fishing.

We awoke the next morning to high winds and about two inches of fresh snow covering everything including my boat. We headed out in the snow and wind and were able to finally fish our shallow water spot and we trolled and trolled fighting wind, snow and the cold the whole time for one small brown around 3-4 pounds. Around 10 am the wind really came up and we decided to grab a quick cup of coffee and get a little warm in the lodge and head back out. About a half hour later we were warmed up and headed back out only to find the lake even rougher than before, so I decided to fish a spot which was sheltered somewhat but still had potential for browns. I reached deep into my lure selection box and tied on husky 13 which I had recently painted in a new color I thought would work. Since we were not fishing real shallow water I decided to send the lure on the downrigger down about ten feet. After trolling only a couple hundred yards my release broke free to a screaming drag. I grabbed my rod and instantly knew I had a good fish and could only hope it was brown since I was still fishing shallow by mackinaw standards. Bob took over boat controls after clearing the lines and I fought the fish for about 15 minutes or so. When I first saw the fish I was like oh my gosh this fish will make ten….please let me get this fish. After a short dance around the boat with the fish, Bob made a great net job and I was pretty sure it made the ten pound mark. We quickly photographed, measured and weighed the fish and when the scale stopped on 10.4 ounces and measured 29” long, I think they heard me yelling at the lodge. Bob and I made several congratulatory high fives and did a little brown trout dance in the boat and quickly got the fish back in the water and watched it swim away to fight another day. I made a few well placed phone calls of my “burning” success and we quickly got back to fishing.

After trolling another five hundred yards or so and I suggested we turn around and go back through the same spot again. I told Bob I had another one of those lures in the same color which I had painted on a 6.5 trophy stick and he should put it on. He grabbed the lure and tied it on and he sent it down on the downrigger to about 20’. We approached and past the spot where my fish was hooked by about two hundred yards when all of a sudden Bob’s release broke free and the rod stayed bent with drag screaming. I thought well this could be a big mackinaw this time of year but was hoping it would be a brown. I cleared all the remaining lines and Bob fought the fish to perfection allowing it to make all the runs it wanted to. As the fish surfaced behind the boat about 15 yards I immediately saw it was a nice brown and it was all wrapped up in the line. As the fish got a little closer it rolled some more and I said Bob that fish is bigger than mine and is over 10 for sure. After several tense moments the net was under the beauty and she was in the boat. As I lifted the fish at out of the water I knew this fish was a beast and marveled at the girth and thickness of the fish. We quickly took some photos and grabbed the scale and when the scale settled at 15.15 we yelled louder than before and I told Bob do you know what you just did, do you know what you just did. I was shocked and speechless to think here is a friend who decided to go brown fishing and he puts a 16 pounder in the boat the first time out. I could not be happier for him and was even more proud when he said lets get it back in the water and he did exactly that and let the fish swim away. In the celebration we never did measure the fish but the fish looked around the 30-32” mark and was so wide and thick I could not believe it. Of course I had to make some more phone calls about 45 minutes after my first call again to the same people to tell of our fortunate “burning” efforts. We trolled the rest of the night and next morning only to catch one small mackinaw but it really did not matter as the trip was made and the memories will last forever. Thanks to Crescent Lake Resort for all of their hospitality and good food and drink.

P.S. Bob is now in the market for a new boat, new rods, lures and all the brown trout accessories one can carry. He is hooked for life and will be an avid C&R brown trout fisherman from here on out…………………..Congrats brother.

Phil Brelje