A Happy Meal

I have a couple of close friends who used to race cars and I remember them occasionally using the term “redlining.” In racing the redline is the maximum engine speed at which an engine is designed to operate without causing damage to the components themselves or other parts of the engine. As full-time fishing guides we go hard every year and all year but there comes a time (especially as we get older) when it helps to back off of the throttle and recharge before we restart our engines again. For me personally, this time usually hits around the end of January. This year was no different.

As February approached, I had a lot of family stuff to take care of and several charters to run before my annual trip to Arkansas to fish the White River with some of my long-time customers/ friends. Some of my charters were late afternoon trips in Matagorda followed by morning trips the next day in Galveston. Getting 4 hours sleep some nights was a luxury. I was “redlining” and didn’t even have time to attend the 50th Annual Houston Fishing Show. It seems like the timing is never right to take a break, but I was damn sure ready for one.

The previous year’s Arkansas trip was a blast. We caught tons of browns and rainbows but never any of the really big ones we were hoping for. River flows were down, air temperatures were unseasonably warm and we were fishing on the back side of the full moon. See, I even make excuses when fly fishing. Needless to say I still had a blast and I obviously know that booking a fishing trip isn’t like pulling up to the drive-thru at McDonald’s and placing your order. You learn to enjoy the entire experience while hopefully learning some things along the way.

Now fast forward to this year’s trip. We arrived and started fishing three days leading up to the full moon. A cold front was pushing through the area which meant increased river flow. Air temperatures were in the 20s and 30s. Everything was setting up just right for the opportunity to catch big trout and maybe even a trophy or two. We rolled into Flippin, Arkansas on the afternoon of Super Bowl Sunday and were on the water fishing by 3:00 PM. There were six of us in our group so we split into pairs on three boats. Kent and I teamed up with Rudy Chelednik (www.ozarkhillsanglers.com) and the other guys jumped in with the same two guides we had last year, Matt Milner (www.risingriverguides.com) and Taylor Wooten (www.flippinflyguides.com).

As we began our first drift I heard the unmistakable high-pitched chirps of a bald eagle. When I turned to look I saw it sitting high atop a tree along the river’s edge like it was the caretaker of that stretch of the river. At that moment I took a deep breath of the crisp mountain air, exhaled and realized that I was back in the same paradise that I had left a year ago and that this was really happening. It wasn’t a dream. While I’m knocking the rust off of my casting skills, soaking up the moment and chitchatting with Kent and Rudy, my 6-weight bows up with a thick rainbow, actually my biggest to date. About that time Kent hooks up with a nice brown. Just like that I’m mentally focused and paying attention to every cast. On our second drift down the river Rudy positioned his boat to where we could land our flies along the edge of a rip current near a drop-off. Kent yells, “I’m on!” I swear it looked like he was hung on a log. Talk about dead weight. Then he gets his fish on the reel and is letting the drag go to work while carefully putting pressure on the fish and gaining on him little by little. At this point we knew it was a true giant of a brown trout. Kent has been fly fishing most of his life and had never caught a fish like this. His trophy brown trout taped out at 31 inches! It was a truly majestic fish.

We caught a few more after that second drift but our bite seemed to fade a bit. It didn’t really matter because what had just transpired less than 30 minutes into the first day of our three day trip was something we probably wouldn’t experience for the rest of our lives! I told Kent to sell his fly rod and find another hobby because he would never top that. At the end of our first day all of our boats caught above average trout before we all headed back to the house for grilled ribeyes, a blowout Super Bowl win and adult beverages. Day one of paradise was in the books.

The second day we met our guides around 7AM. Rusty and I jumped in with Matt who we had fished with last year. He’s been guiding for a very long time so we had lots of stories to share. The bite was steady with us landing three or four really solid trout per drift. It was obvious that other anglers were anticipating the increased release from the dam because there were quite a few other boats for a Monday and especially in the less than ideal weather. It was so cold that ice was forming on our rod guides. We had to dip our rods into the water to melt the ice before each cast.

Unsurprisingly, Matt and I have something in common. We don’t care much for crowds. We had already caught twenty or so trout so Matt decided to revisit a stretch of riverbank where no one was fishing and where we had tricked a few earlier. Our day was winding down and this was probably our last drift. I told Matt and Rusty, “I have a good feeling about this drift. It just looks and feels fishy.” On my third cast towards the bank just beneath an overhanging limb my indicator went down. We were in deep water so my white jig was rigged about 8 feet deep. When I set the hook I could’ve sworn my fly was hung on a rock or some other submerged deep structure but then I felt that slow side-to-side head shake that we often feel with big speckled trout. I told Matt, “This is a good one. This feels like a really good one!” As it finally came to the surface we got a glimpse of just how big he really was. I actually got the shakes. My knees were weak as I told Matt, “Just coach me. Tell me what I need to do. This thing is huge and I don’t want to screw it up.” After all, I was fighting a 10-plus pound brown on 6 lb. Seaguar tippet! There was no room for mistakes. When that giant 29 inch trout found the bottom of the net I can’t explain the emotion that came over me. Thrilled is an understatement. It was truly a fish of a lifetime.

Our third and final day was just about as good as it gets for all three of our boats. We all caught lots of large browns with some solid rainbows and even a couple of cutthroats and walleye in the mix. As always, I learned some new things but I also observed how each guide had their own unique personality and teaching style. They were all different but they were all very good at their craft. Being the client for a change and seeing how they interact with their clients helped me to reflect on how I may need to make improvements on my own boat. Maybe I should have a little more patience sometimes.

Taking a break isn’t just for physical replenishment but also mental health. Sometimes it’s good to step away for a week or so to recharge our batteries. This way we can clear our minds and restart fresh and full of energy for our clients. It’s so important to stay sharp and focused while working hard to meet every customer’s expectations. This being said, I can’t always promise a Happy Meal.