It was a beautiful morning. The sky was so clear and so blue. The temperatures felt good and you could just tell that it was going to be a great day. We walked to the river’s edge and it looked favorable. The cold water pained my feet as I waded to the far bank. I made a few casts to likely water only to have my dry fly drift slowly back to me unnoticed. Repeated casts offered the same results. Odd, I thought. The fish should surely be looking up! I worked upstream and began working a nice long cutbank ran below a 90 degree turn in the river. I braced for the take that would surely come only ease another cast upstream working a slightly different line. Nothing. After a handful of unsuccessful drifts, I began to eye a nice, soft inside bend at the very top of this long cut bank, roughly 60ft upstream. As I did I noticed a dark shape move in the shallows of the bend and a small nose broke the surfaces. For whatever reason, this moment was reminiscent of one of my most memorable fish – one I had also spotted from a distance for an awesome sight-fishing opportunity.

I was giddy with excitement. Rather than wade further upstream, I decided to take only a few steps and rip more line from my reel. I began false casting and was able to place my bug right where I wanted it – upstream and further inside the bend from the fish. This would allow the current to leisurely carry my fly back to where the fish lie waiting. As my fly slowly floated down, the fish moved from it’s spot and came to meet my fly in what was probably 5 inches of water. The nose resurfaced. Now you know that moment of suspense between an eat and when you feel the headshake of a hooked fish? Well this seemed like 5 of those combined. I had made a 50ish foot cast up so there was a lot of line to pick up on the set. After what seemed  like 100ft of line, I felt the weight of the fish attached on the other end! So good. I stripped line aggressively as the fish decided it wanted to run me off the road and head straight for me. After a brief fight I scooped a memorable Bonneville Cutthroat up in the net and threw my head back with joyful laughter. I honestly could have headed home after that. It was perfect.

Fly fishing is fun but some moments are just perfect. Rewards lie in those inside bends so pay them good attention!

Like this story? You may like some of our other One-Hit Wonders!

About The Author

Chinese Boy
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The ringleader at OSF, Nathan likes well-proportioned fish, moonlit walks by the river, and stripping streamers through dark lies on the dreariest of days. View full bio.

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