Spruce Creek Monsters (09/02/2012)

Spruce Creek provided me a day on the stream that I will remember for some time to come.  It was a mixture of all types of sizes of fish but this post will highlight the two best fish of the day.  

I've gotten to know the public section of Spruce Creek pretty well over the course of the last decade and I'm always amazed at the new fish that show up from year to year, or the ones that finally decide to show their faces from their respective "hiding" places.  The first fish pictured was completely hidden by faster moving water and a submerged tree until I hooked into another brown trout.  While I was playing out the brown, I caught a glimpse of a gigantic silhouette following the trout that I had on the line.  

Once I saw this fish, all I could think about was getting the brown off the line to begin casting at the fish that I watched following the other trout.  After a few casts I started getting anxious because I didn't know if I was going to be able to hook into this fish.  Next thing I know the fish takes my fly and after the initial run, I saw the incredible girth of the fish.  As you can see in the pictures, the fish was a beautifully colored male that looked like it had been using performance enhancing drugs for years.  

The next fish would be a easier to hook into as I saw it about 20 yards below the first fish I hooked.  I caught this trout and it flew completely out of the water once it realized that it had been hooked.  The fight was fast paced and I was convinced it was going to tear me off on any of the countless overhanging brush along the stream.  After a few minutes I finally got it's head out of the water and I was able to carefully bring it into my Nomad net!  

These two fish will be etched into my mind for some time to come and I hope you enjoy the pictures posted below!