Magic Mouths

he fish I was playing was a beauty. It came to the fly at a large stream mouth just to the north of the bach, where I had been fishing the dawn rise. I had arrived just as the golden orb came over the horizon. It was now 2 hours later and time to go. Mist was coming off the lake and gentle swirls of wind mottled the surface. Still looking fishy, but the bite had slowed. I had just shifted from the right hand eddy where I had been catching fish earlier, to the left hand stronger inflow for a final few casts before heading back to the bach. Deep down and far out a fish took and tore line out in a powerful run. It fought for an age in surging runs and when it came to the net I was amazed. It would hardly fit in the net. Anglers around were impressed by the size and gathered to look and I went ashore for a photo shoot. The fish was of a rare quality. It had size, shape, colour and condition. It was 6.5 lbs, a prime jack, my best fish for the season so far. And just an indicator of what was to come. I heard stories later in the day passed around from anglers who had seen the fish and in the telling it had grown still further in the short time since