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........Without any signs of fish feeding, Bennie said it was possible, at times, to get trout to strike the Stimulator or a Pheasant Tail Nymph if the flies were activated by retrieving them downstream. I was skeptical, but it only took several casts for Bennie to have a strike. We never saw the fish because when the rod was lifted to set the hook, the 4x tippet parted.
........We next came to a scum hole, an eddy off the main current where foam and floating detritus blanketed the water and spun slowly in an elongated oval. Where the current passed by the debris, a couple of fish rose. Giving the trout wide berth, Bennie quietly oared up behind them and beached the boat. He said it would be best to make our approach from the grass bank that lay opposite the fish.
........On hands and knees, we moved forward slowly. In order to have a chance with both trout, I tried for the one downstream. Placing the flies just upstream of where I saw the fish last, I watched for any kind of sign that would suggest a take. For an instant, the Stimulator hesitated in its drift and I raised the rod.
........The trout had taken the scud. It was sizable and shot downstream and out toward the middle of the river. Bennie said there weren't any underwater obstacles so I worked the fish downstream so the other trout would not be disturbed. It was a long and determined fight, but soon Bennie netted a twenty-one-inch rainbow.

At times, we fished from the boat. Most of the time we used the boat for transportation and disembarked to make presentations to sighted fish.

........The other trout was also a rainbow. We could see its back every now and then when it rose. Bennie said it might be as large as twenty-six or twenty-seven inches.
........It was Chris' turn. The rainbow was not holding position and moved upstream and down in a narrow band of water next to the scum as it fed. With coaching from Bennie, the rainbow finally took the scud as signaled by the movement of the Stimulator. For an instant, there was tension on Chris' line, but the big rainbow was only pricked by the hook and the line went slack.

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