David and Jared Kabaker returned for their now annual Memorial Day Weekend outing on the McKenzie on Saturday, May 24th. Having lost a big redside last year, Jared was excited to get another chance to get a big one into the net. He wasted no time, landing a nice 14 incher in the first half hour of fishing. Dad and son had a friendly wager going on the first, most, and biggest fish of the day, so the gauntlet was laid. 
 
Although the morning produced several nice fish for both anglers, Jared looked solid to take home the big fish prize for the day. All of a sudden, on a golden stone nymph swung on the surface (!), David hooked a fish in a huge explosion. As it turned and peeled off downriver, I thought, "steelhead!" But the deep and bright red flank showed this was a redside. And it was comfortably over 20 inches; a true trophy! David fought the fish for over 5 minutes through several long runs in heavy current. At last, as it neared the boat, I grabbed the (WAY too small looking) net and looked for my opportunity to try to get this biscuit in the basket. That's when the fly popped loose, and the great fish disappeared. *Sigh*. 
 
While the rest of the day provided great action for cutthroats and smaller rainbows, the one that got away was never far from our thoughts. Maybe next year? 
 
 
 

Posted by: Matt Ramsey