Video: Going Toe-to-Toe with an “Impossible” Brown Trout


Simon Perkins’s killer “Damsels in Distress” video from New Zealand reminded me of one of my favorites from a couple years ago. Here’s an angler faced with a dilemma we’ve all experienced: He has spotted a beautiful trout but can’t quite figure out how he’ll hook and land it. Well, thank goodness he brought a couple of cameras along, so we can witness his determination, ingenuity, and patience. This is a long way from the elegance of daintily drifting a dry fly over a rising trout in a flat pool. Instead, this is a close-quarters battle that requires just the right amounts of strength and finesse.

9 thoughts on “Video: Going Toe-to-Toe with an “Impossible” Brown Trout”

  1. The stalk, the approach, laying it out there, catching a branch, trying not to disturb, doing anything to land it….real life fishing. More times than not these are “unsuccessful” but, honestly, just as fun as the successful ones.

  2. I have had a few experiences like that before…..no cameras just minds eye! It is the stuff that your memory returns to time and time again. Great spot, stalk and catch. That brown had no idea how famous
    It would be.

  3. Wow, that was an amazing battle. When I first looked at that log pile I didn’t think he would be able to land that big brown.

  4. Fantastic job with an impossible situation!! I did however find myself screaming at the screen “put that @#$@#$$#@ fish back in the water!” A quick glory shot would have been healthier for the fish but it’s probably just jealousy talking. AWESOME job.

    1. Agree with Bill. Get over your ego trip and think of the welfare of this great fish. Take a quick shot and release the fish quickly. By the way, I’m not jealous.

  5. I constantly come up against videos such as this on Vimeo and Youtube and they get my juices going big time. Nine times out of ten the Vimeo stuff seizes up and becomes unwatchable – God, is it frustrating.

    No more! If it has a Vimeo link, from now on, I’m going to leave it alone – I hate the frustration of it.

    Sad I couldn’t view this one.

    1. Hi Ray, Sorry you’re having a problem. Have you tried un-clicking the “HD” button on the lower right?

  6. Sweet..The hunt is so rewarding. My bud is constantly laughing. Says I`ll stop at nothing. Sometimes you just have to go for it…so what if the waders suffer…A camera shot and a quick kiss…that fish was fine.

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