The Blue was on fire and was fishing better then I have ever seen it. This usually technical river had many fish eager to take our flies. We landed a couple of really nice rainbows, with one bow pushing the ten pound mark. The big bows were actively feeding and definitely willing to take a well drifted fly. After wading up the river from the Hwy Bridge and catching a couple of nice cutts, I came across a pool with one of the largest rainbows I have ever seen. It was at the top of a deeper pool and holding right between two boulders. I only hoped I could get a couple of drifts on it without spooking it off. After a couple of drifts it took my miracle nymph. I softly lifted up on my rod and the fish took off up into the next rapids. What followed was one of the best battles I have ever had. Knowing that I needed to keep my line tight to the fish, I tried to follow after it, which turned into more stumbling and falling. After a 20 minute battle up and down the river, I finally got the fish turned into the net. At this point I think I was more wet then the fish. It was a beautiful bright red rainbow with a huge hook-jaw. I managed to find a guy downstream, who after checking to make sure I hadn't caught a carp, was nice enough to take my picture. I returned to the pool with another one of my buddies who had come up river after seeing all the excitement. We took turns casting to another large rainbow, when I finally got it to take my fly. It was another fat rainbow close to 22 inches. I returned to the hole and finally he hooked into another huge bow, close to the same size as the larger one I had landed, only to lose it in the rapids after a short fight. I spotted another rainbow close to 20 inches, but after hooking into it and chasing downstream after it, I realized it was much larger. When I finally got it in the net, I found a fat female rainbow close to 25 inches.

These fish were by far the fattest and hardest fighting trout I have found anywhere. We landed a couple more cutthroats and another nice rainbow close to 21 inches. It was by far the best day I have ever had on the Blue, a river that I have struggled on at times. If you could find the big bows, you could definitely get them to take a fly with a well-placed drift. It was a memorable day on the Blue and I recommend making a trip to this river to catch a hawg of your own.