I was really pumped. The "Dinkmeister" and I were getting together for our first fishing trip of 2010. What a sweet set-up we have dialed over the last several years. He brings his Lance camper and I meet him with my boat. It is a "fish, eat, sleep" drill that we both have come to relish.

With the passing of my younger brother, Barry, still on my mind, I felt this would be good therapy and some relief from the long trip to California and the funeral we had quickly put together just a couple of weeks earlier. It was time I needed with a good buddy and the fishing was a bonus.

Unfortunately, Dink was sick with a super-lousy cold. On top of that we had a cold front come in on us the night we got there and we awoke to 4 in. of snow that accumulated to around 7 in. by nightfall of the first day....not exactly the way you want to start a fishing trip. It was 22 degrees all day and we decided to hang out and bond.

Conditions improved with the passing of the front and we caught some browns and rainbows to around 4.5 LB. on the next day. The following day was a slow morning but I did get a fatty hookjaw that evening that tipped the scales at 8 LB. even. Things were looking up! The next morning produced a killer hookjaw at 5:45 a.m. that went 7.75 LB. and had the head of a 10 LB. brown for sure......he was longer and a little leaner than the male from the night before.

The highlight of the trip came on the last morning when, while we worked an area that had produced several nice browns for us in the past, I got hit and the reel drag just screamed for about 10 seconds....that is eternity in "fishing time." I looked at John and said "this might be the one." After some hot runs, I finally had the brown to the top and we both sighed disgustedly as we realized that the 5.5 LB. male was snagged right in the tail. If you have ever snagged a trout in the tail before, you know that they feel like twice the size. It was quite a fight, but not the 10 LB.+ brown I was hoping for.

As another big major front was approaching, we decided to break camp and head home. We have another trip planned soon with some more brown trout action and also a shot at a big kokanee at Wallowa Lake. Check back for that report.

Screamin' Drags,
Rick