Once in a Lifetime

The Cache la Poudre river is home water for me. I can usually bring a nice brown trout or two to hand anytime I go out. As a child the water was dominated by rainbow trout. An occasional brown was a thrill. And rarer still were brook trout, cutthroat, and the mountain whitefish (I’ve caught just two over 60 years of fishing the Poudre).

Whirling disease decimated the rainbow population in the mid 1990’s, so much so that the tables have turned and 95% of trout caught in this watershed are brown trout. It’s now the rainbow trout that’s a curiosity. Most of the fish we bring to hand are in the 11″ to 14″ range but put up a good fight and always bring a smile to my face.

Last summer, my son Michael hooked into a good fish on a small midge pattern that took him right to the bottom of the river. He played it well, patiently, and ultimately surfaced a gorgeous 15″ cutthroat trout. This species of trout with that kind of heft was a rarity indeed. But we both agreed the coloration of this fish was easily the most beautiful either of us had seen in this river. It was without exaggeration the fish of a lifetime from the Poudre.

The very next day I headed back to that same spot and floated a renegade pattern. First cast, fish on! And wouldn’t you know, it was the same fish from the day prior! No mistaking it. Fish like that are seared into one’s memory immediately. He put up a magnificent fight and I perhaps overplayed him, so resucitating him took some time. I felt badly. Guilty that I hadn’t practiced established protocol for landing a fish and returning him to the water right away.

This summer I have yet to return to that spot, but plan on doing so soon. It’s likely he’s still holed up somewhere along that stretch. These are the simple things of which mountain life is made. Access to clean, cold water, surrounded by the beauty of a mountain wilderness carved by a river, and opportunities to dream about seeing a fish of a lifetime yet again. Tight lines!