Memories can haunt

The last day of April felt like we should have been closing out the month of May or June with high temperatures in the low 80’s. Trout fishing today was very good from a hook-up/chase aspect; it wasn’t until the 4th big brown through the fly that  I inspected my hot pattern to see I had removed the barbs. I am all for protecting the fish, but with streamers there is just too much mass to keep fish pinned if the barb is removed.  After some sorting of flies I was able to find a couple similar patterns that were barbed. Pictured is Todd, with his first ever Muskegon River brown trout; the memories of the ones that got away will forever haunt us.

Capt. Steven Kuieck