Brown trout are my favorite – especially big brown trout! They’re just plain bad! They’re the fish that are inhabiting that deep dark hole that you just know holds the fish that your dreams (and nightmares) are made of. That deep undercut bank, that jarring take on a moonless night, you know the type. Kyped out and bad to the freaking bone. I’ve been on a mission for some time now to try and coax one of these unruly creatures into my net and so far I’ve been unsuccessful. I’ve had my share of close calls with the unruly: chased down repeatedly out of a deep pool and subsequently head-shaken loose; stopped dead in some slow moving water and left slack-lined – but not tonight! Tonight we would be doing some night fishing for big brown trout. Right place, right time. That’s the bottom line. Combine that with one of Derek’s gnarly nasty big streamers and it was a match made in heaven. Derek and I had discussed  off and on the possibility of finding some meaty browns in this particular water after a large predator was spotted some time ago and a brief stop on our road trip was the perfect time to try. It was black out. I approached the water’s edge and peeled line off my reel to hurl my first cast out into the darkness. The sound of my reel broke the silence and after a few hauls my giant streamer splatted on the waters surface. I slowly counted down and started a slow retrieve. Six or seven strips in I went tight. It wasn’t a hit – it was a dead stop. I set and immediately felt weight. Slow sloshing on the surface told me that this was no lightweight. “I’m tight!” I called out to D. This was confirmed with some thunderous headshakes. I frantically got my excess line on the reel and the beast met me half way as he bulldogged out to open water. “I think it might be HIM!” He wasn’t wasn’t a rocketship like many of the larger bows I’d hooked before – it was different. It was a somewhat controlled but undeniably powerful. I applied constant heat on this fish not wanting to give him the advantage for a minute. I still didn’t know what I had on the end of my line but it felt like if he wanted to he could rip me a new one at any moment. I wanted to end the tense fight as soon as possible but I simply couldn’t move him. I kept constant pressure and before I knew it Derek was in the water with “the livewell” ready to scoop. With a click of his headlamp he quickly spotted and scooped him up like a freaking champ. “It’s HIM!” he literally shouted out. Our shouts echoed in the darkness and I giggled like a man over the sight. Ya, I tend to giggle like a little girl when I fish. I literally couldn’t believe my eyes when I looked in the net. It was the biggest brown trout I’d ever laid eyes on. I reached in the net and hoisted the beast up. I’ve held some great fish before but this was the first fish that felt truly heavy. We captured the memory and sent the bad boy packing. Don’t really know what else to say. It was an absolute beast-mother of a specimen. Not just a big brown trout – but one of impeccable proportions. Shoulders like an ogre, a scary kype, and an overall build that you wouldn’t believe for a fish over 30…a straight thug. Although I kept fishing that night, I was mentally one and done. It was the best freaking cast of my life. 26 Responses Keoni June 4, 2012 WOW!!!!!! That is the fish that dreams are made of, well done. Reply JB June 4, 2012 “‘I’m tight!’ I called out to D. ” Pimp tight. Tremendous fish. Reply Brad June 4, 2012 I love stories like this…SWEET FISH! Reply Kyle June 4, 2012 More fish porn here than any place anywhere. You guys need to retire after this year. Reply Grant June 4, 2012 No one deserves it more than you Nate. All that hard work is paying off. Sleeping in the dirt, not sleeping at all, good knots and bad knots, follows and rejections, broken rods and dreams. This fish right here makes it ALL worth it. So,so,dope. Reply Kirk June 4, 2012 WOW. I need a net named “The Livewell”. I’m with Kyle – there is no way you guys are going to keep this pace up – but I’m looking forward to watching you try! Reply Nathan June 5, 2012 I’ll enjoy trying as well! Lost a #10+ bow at the net on this last trip that would have helped our efforts! It was with “the livewell part deux” cause Derek lost the OG in a near death (really/kinda) experience! I’ll blame it on the new net. Reply Matt June 4, 2012 So stoked for you Nate! At first I though there might be some funny business going on with you and Derek being in the middle of the wilderness in the pitch-black wee hours of the night (especially with the giggling), but I guess this is what has been going down. A true beast man! Reply CC June 4, 2012 Pee eye gee pee eye gee PIG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeehaw!!!!! Nice work guys, what a kick ass brown! Reply Cort June 5, 2012 You are by far the coolest person I have met! That is indeed what dreams are made of right there. Thanks for sharing. Reply Phil June 5, 2012 AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!! Can I get a “WOOOT WOOOOT!!!!!” Thats one we have all been waiting for. What more can one say than THAT is a WORLD CLASS brown trout…..WORLD CLASS! Congrats my boy! Reply Ivan June 5, 2012 That’s a huge adipose fin. The fish is alright or whatever. My mind is blown. Congrats man. Reply Nathan June 8, 2012 Seriously, right?! Theres another shot that was taken as it was released where it looks big enough for the fish to swim just using that! Reply LOAH June 6, 2012 Wow. Ridiculous brown. Nathan and Goliath? It works. Congratulations. Reply Brian June 7, 2012 Unbelievable. Fish. Amazing dude– congrats, what a feeling. Reply Nathan June 8, 2012 Thanks for all the kind words, fellas. It really was the fish I’ve been dreaming of forever. Quite the specimen! Reply peter regan June 12, 2012 Nice fish and great site. What size/type streamers were you using. I have some dredging to do here in NY for these night time beasts! Thanks Reply Nathan June 23, 2012 Thanks mang. It’s probably 7″ in length. It has a huge head with a reverse conehead to push water, triple articulation, marabou, and some other garbage, one front hook and a stinger. All black. Think silhouette and water displacement. We have a bunch of unofficial derogatory names for it. Maybe we’ll do a tutorial on it soon… Reply Jared June 28, 2012 2nd time viewing this post and it still makes me stoked. Killer fish and story! Keep them coming. If that was in Utah it makes me want to search harder for my river monster. See ya on the far bank some day. Reply Trev August 30, 2012 BEAST MODE!! That is one of the gnarliest browns ive ever seen bro! Reply Allcocks September 10, 2012 Wow, a real monster! Congrats, looks like it probably would have pulled my arm off!! Reply CC January 9, 2013 Is it night fishing for browns because they would kick you out during the day? Reply Nathan January 9, 2013 We fish for browns at night cause that’s when the big fish in most systems are active. We’ve fished this water in the day too – it’s unrestricted public water so I’m not sure who would/could do the kicking. Poaching isn’t how we down. Reply CC January 11, 2013 Well I love to poach so how about that? Just poking some fun Nathan because I want to catch a pig like that. I did find a kiddy pond with some big boys in it. We all know they don’t count, but they sure are fun to catch! Reply Nathan January 17, 2013 The fish you speak of aren’t a secret. Fun to catch but they didn’t get big by being dumb! Good luck. Reply Donald Zimmerman November 4, 2014 I believe “controlled but undeniably powerful” may be the best description of fighting big browns I have ever read. Well done! Reply Leave a Reply to Trev Cancel ReplyYour email address will not be published.CommentName* Email* Website Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Sign me up for the newsletter! Δ
Kyle June 4, 2012 More fish porn here than any place anywhere. You guys need to retire after this year. Reply
Grant June 4, 2012 No one deserves it more than you Nate. All that hard work is paying off. Sleeping in the dirt, not sleeping at all, good knots and bad knots, follows and rejections, broken rods and dreams. This fish right here makes it ALL worth it. So,so,dope. Reply
Kirk June 4, 2012 WOW. I need a net named “The Livewell”. I’m with Kyle – there is no way you guys are going to keep this pace up – but I’m looking forward to watching you try! Reply
Nathan June 5, 2012 I’ll enjoy trying as well! Lost a #10+ bow at the net on this last trip that would have helped our efforts! It was with “the livewell part deux” cause Derek lost the OG in a near death (really/kinda) experience! I’ll blame it on the new net. Reply
Matt June 4, 2012 So stoked for you Nate! At first I though there might be some funny business going on with you and Derek being in the middle of the wilderness in the pitch-black wee hours of the night (especially with the giggling), but I guess this is what has been going down. A true beast man! Reply
CC June 4, 2012 Pee eye gee pee eye gee PIG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeehaw!!!!! Nice work guys, what a kick ass brown! Reply
Cort June 5, 2012 You are by far the coolest person I have met! That is indeed what dreams are made of right there. Thanks for sharing. Reply
Phil June 5, 2012 AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!! Can I get a “WOOOT WOOOOT!!!!!” Thats one we have all been waiting for. What more can one say than THAT is a WORLD CLASS brown trout…..WORLD CLASS! Congrats my boy! Reply
Ivan June 5, 2012 That’s a huge adipose fin. The fish is alright or whatever. My mind is blown. Congrats man. Reply
Nathan June 8, 2012 Seriously, right?! Theres another shot that was taken as it was released where it looks big enough for the fish to swim just using that! Reply
Nathan June 8, 2012 Thanks for all the kind words, fellas. It really was the fish I’ve been dreaming of forever. Quite the specimen! Reply
peter regan June 12, 2012 Nice fish and great site. What size/type streamers were you using. I have some dredging to do here in NY for these night time beasts! Thanks Reply
Nathan June 23, 2012 Thanks mang. It’s probably 7″ in length. It has a huge head with a reverse conehead to push water, triple articulation, marabou, and some other garbage, one front hook and a stinger. All black. Think silhouette and water displacement. We have a bunch of unofficial derogatory names for it. Maybe we’ll do a tutorial on it soon… Reply
Jared June 28, 2012 2nd time viewing this post and it still makes me stoked. Killer fish and story! Keep them coming. If that was in Utah it makes me want to search harder for my river monster. See ya on the far bank some day. Reply
Allcocks September 10, 2012 Wow, a real monster! Congrats, looks like it probably would have pulled my arm off!! Reply
CC January 9, 2013 Is it night fishing for browns because they would kick you out during the day? Reply
Nathan January 9, 2013 We fish for browns at night cause that’s when the big fish in most systems are active. We’ve fished this water in the day too – it’s unrestricted public water so I’m not sure who would/could do the kicking. Poaching isn’t how we down. Reply
CC January 11, 2013 Well I love to poach so how about that? Just poking some fun Nathan because I want to catch a pig like that. I did find a kiddy pond with some big boys in it. We all know they don’t count, but they sure are fun to catch! Reply
Nathan January 17, 2013 The fish you speak of aren’t a secret. Fun to catch but they didn’t get big by being dumb! Good luck. Reply
Donald Zimmerman November 4, 2014 I believe “controlled but undeniably powerful” may be the best description of fighting big browns I have ever read. Well done! Reply