From a 10-year-old's Perspective: How Lane Caught His First Trophy Trout
The White River was cloaked in light mist, the sky partly overcast. A timeless environment for any nature lover — especially an angler.
Logan and his 10-year-old son, Lane, from Texas are enjoying the White River environment one such morning.
In Texas, they usually catch a lot of bass and crappie. "We usually eat the crappie," says Lane in an interview with Rivertown Gallery.
Although TX natives and skilled anglers of their home waters, they enjoy visiting the White to fish trout a few times a year. They've been on the river for 5 days this time.
Like most anglers, these fellas are generational fishermen. Logan's dad fished for 40 years, and his father before him. Now Logan has passed along the tradition to his son Lane, who's been fishing since he was 5.
Lane enjoys fishing the White. "The current is hard up there," he says. He and his dad enjoyed a few guided trips during their visit, then fishing on their own, "We usually just got our waders on and waded out there in the river to fish.”
It was the last day of their fishing trip and young Lane was in for a surprise.
"Dad was out there in the middle of the White River, but I decided to stay in one spot because I scared off a bunch of small trout… I was using a CD 5 and caught a tiny little rainbow and put him on a stringer. Then, I decided to grab a CD 7 because it was a little bigger of a bait."
From his stance in the fast-moving White, Lane had an optimal view of the underwater world, swirling around a rock jetty near his position, where a large brown trout was hunting...and being hunted.
"I threw [the CD7] in there by that rock jetty, and he grabbed that bate and was trying to wrap around the rock jetty. But I saw his tail and knew he was a big one," Lane remembers.
Adrenaline up, Lane and his big brown start a classic angler's fight & chase.
Using a 10 lb line (Lane found out later that his brown weighed 11 or 12 lbs according to its dimensions), and moving against the swift current of the White, the adventure was on.
Lane was persistent. "I got him up on the bank and right before I landed him I fell flat on my face. He kept trying to tug me down river. And the current and big old fish nearly took me down river."
Logan, from the middle of the river, saw the scene unfold, quickly making his way back to Lane as he dove into the fray. "When I got there, he had blood on one of his hands either from the trout's teeth or the hook," Logan says.
A proud angling dad, Logan sees that his son has landed a big, beautiful 28" German Brown Trout, estimated to weight 11-12 lbs and be about 12-13 years old.
"I’ve caught a few big bass, but this was the biggest fish I’ve caught," shares Lane. "Once we finished with all that, I felt sick to the stomach thinking of all the things that could have gone wrong with that fish.”
As much as Lane wanted to keep his first trophy fish, Logan told his son that they shouldn't end the life of this beautiful fish that was possibly older than Lane himself. But there had to be a way to keep the memory of Lane's story alive.
Debbie from the Cotter Trout Dock recommended checking out Duane Hada's fish replicas at Rivertown Gallery. So they brought their photos and videos to the gallery for Duane to look at.
And now Logan and Lane are reliving the story through their replica, hanging in the living room at home in Texas, where they're happily continuing to fish handsome bass and crappie...till the next time they visit the White for more trout adventures.
Thank you, Logan and Lane, for sharing your story with Rivertown Gallery for other anglers and art-lovers to enjoy!
For more angling stories, click here! For your own fish replica, contact us and lock in your memorable catch!
Keep catching great fish!
