The hunt for Brownzilla
We launched out of the boat launch on the after supper special trips I offer and headed down river like any other evening, hopeful and prepared. I tied the Live Sucker X-Rap on for Jeff at the boat launch and Ryan had the Rapala Countdown on the go; two proven hooks to catch monster trout on any day or in this case, any night of the week! I fired the Explorer Industry jet boat up and shot out of the boat launch like a rocket aiming straight for “brown town”. After a short ride I spun the boat around and pointed upriver and instructed Jeff and Ryan to cast their lures close to the bank in the choppy deep water I had stopped at. The top of the run was empty but as we entered the middle of the run, Jeff hooked into a total monster brown, the kind of brown that gets your pulse up and your heart pumping rapidly. I instructed Jeff to keep his tip high up and keep reeling rapidly. Just as Jeff slowed down on the reel, the behemoth brown did the death roll and spit the hook on him. To say I was completely dejected and disheartened would be a great understatement! It took me a good hour to shake off that empty feeling of not getting that trophy to the net. No matter how hard we try, or no matter what our skill level, some fish just outsmart us and get away. We had an incredible evening landing many great trout, and even stopped at this very spot on the way back up to see if he would eat again, but to no avail!
I had another evening trip coming up a few days later, this time Chad was gonna go after some fish. Before arriving at the boat launch, Chad had already tied up an X-Rap in the Rainbow Trout pattern. I rigged another rod up for him and off we went, seeking that same fish a few nights later. Most often, if the holding water is ideal, the fish will stay in that water so I was hoping that we could have a shot at this total tank brownie. Once again, I spun the boat perfectly telling Chad the story of “Brownzilla” on the way down the river. Chad fired his lure into the perfect spot, tight to the bank where the water came from shallow to deep and choppy. It was the perfect cast and low and behold, BOOM. His rod doubled over and loaded up with something huge, I could just tell. The fish came to the top of the water, much like it did when Jeff hooked it, letting me see its tail and body profile before again spitting the hook on Chad. That same empty feeling came over me once again, as I hung my head with frustration. I could not believe that this bruiser outsmarted us twice. Again I stopped on the way back but no way was this fish eating again. Many, many casts were tried before it got dark and we had to call it a night.
The next day brought yet another night trip with Rick and his lovely fourteen year old daughter Trinity. I arrived a little early; Rick and Trinity were already there eagerly awaiting my arrival. I got the boat ready quickly and tied on, take a guess….. A Live Sucker X-Rap for Trinity and Rick chose the Gold Rapala Countdown CD-9. Blasting off, heading for the illusive “Brownzilla”. I chose to head upriver for an hour fishing the ledge and hitting another great spot just above the boat launch with no bites or hook-ups. I hit the afterburners and headed straight for where the monster brown was lurking. I figured it would be worth a shot to try for this amazing fish for at least thirty minutes. I spun the boat around and instructed both Rick and Trinity to cast as close to the bank as possible. Rick fired his hook out first and landed it in the perfect location, close to the bank like I said. Trinity launched her live sucker out and it also landed in a great location in the chop. As I turned my head back to see behind me, and watch Rick retrieve his lure, Trinity piped up and said, “Mike I got one”. I swiveled my head around hurriedly to see Trinity’s rod doubled over hard. Right there and then, I knew it could be “Brownzilla". After Trinity hooked the fish, I wanted her to keep reeling as to keep steady pressure on the fish with the rod tip up. She did a wonderful job as I kept the boat in the perfect position for her, net in hand. After fighting the fish perfectly, I lowered the net and scooped this gorgeous male brown trout in the basket. My heart was racing as I unhooked the Rapala Live Sucker from the trouts upper jaw and snapped a few quick pictures before reviving this beauty male and returning it in the choppy run.
The hunt for “Brownzilla” was finally over, letting me sleep at night knowing this fish was, at last, in my net! An amazing trip and Trinity’s personal best brown trout.
