It’s not Fox Creek in Grayson County, VA; it’s definitely not the Davidson River near Brevard, NC. But the Groudle River (yes, they call it a river) is a five-minute walk from my front door.  You could even see it from my front door if it weren’t all covered by the trees that surround it.

There oughta be a fish under that bush on the right

This is the first time I’ve gotten a chance to go fishing since I got back. Lisa was headed out for a run and since I went “running” with her the last two days (she jogs, I run and walk some), I decided to get in the creek.

I hooked up a #16 black mosquito and hung a #14-ish Prince nymph a foot behind it. I was 100% sure that if I got any strikes, they would be on the dropper. Five minutes after I got in the water I was proven wrong. I drifted my flies right where you see in the picture above. Second float, I didn’t see the strike, but suddenly my rod was doubled over and I saw a flash of white. This wasn’t supposed to be happening – the largest fish I’d caught my first tour here was probably 5″.

This one gave me a good run for my money and when I finally got him to me, he was a honest 8-9″ wild brown. This would be an legit fish in either the Davidson or Fox Creek, but in this little stream, well, this was like catching a 16″ brown in those waters.

You can see that he took the mosquito and not the nymph

I usually get the fishies back in the creek as quickly as I can, but I really wanted documentation of this baby. I have a feeling it might be the largest trout for a mile in either direction. But have no fear, he went back in the water soon enough and high-tailed it for deep safety.

I caught one more – a typical 4-5″, then climbed out and was in the garage taking off my dripping reef shoes five minutes later.

P.S. As I stood there after releasing the big fish, I thought to myself, “Somewhere, ol’ Dean C. Jones is grinning ear-to-ear about this fish.”