Out of all the fantastic fly fishing adventures I’ve had and all the incredible fish that I’ve caught, I’ve got to say the most memorable fly fishing experience I ever had was catching my first big brown on a streamer. I was probably around 18 or 19 years old and had just gotten into fly fishing and was spending the day practicing my casting and working on my drifts on the Black River in Cavendish, Vermont. I had been drifting small dries and nymphs for most of the day and had caught a few fish when I spotted a huge brown trout hanging in the soft water near the tailout of a long pool. I probably drifted a dozen different patterns past the trout’s nose without any reaction from him when I mistakenly hooked a small rainbow. The big brown chased the little rainbow all the way to my rod tip before going back to his lie and it made me realize I had to change tactics. I had never fished streamers much but I understood the concept and so I tied a small Muddler Minnow onto my line and cast it back towards the brown and he hammered it! It took me a bit to bring the big brown to hand on my 5-weight but when I finally did, I was ecstatic. The trout was 25-inches long and even though I didn’t catch him on a dry, it made me realize that there was something to this streamer thing. I’ve been obsessed ever since.