Issue link: http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/769056
a somewhat hidden side channel, he suggested I switch flies to a weighted streamer. I chose a big, lead-eyed fly from Umpqua with the prophetic name, "Bennett's Lunch Brown Trout." Something sizeable hammered it on my second cast. "Big brown trout!" Lucas declared. "Gotta be!" I responded, as the fish bore deep. I dipped my fly rod over to the right, applying all the pressure I dared, and in response, the trout broke left. This was exactly what I'd hoped he would do, and from here it was more or less a game of chess, until I was able to bring him to Lucas's waiting net. He was magnificent—a big, angry male at least 22 inches long. I lifted him ever so briefly from the water as Mark and Robert arrived and Lucas shot a couple of photographs. Then I lowered him into the flow, moving him back and forth, one hand lightly cradling his chest and one held firmly around the base of his tail until he was ready to leave. We continued fishing downstream as the wind began to build, until we came to the last run above the Collón Curá. Mark and Robert circled around to the tail of the