Y2K New Year's Day, I went fishing off the dock on the west side of
American Lake. It was mostly cloudy with sun breaks, 10mph wind roughing up the surface. Water was green with 10' visibility. Air temp 43, water temp 37.

I cast a Roostertail for about 1/2 hour with no action, so I switched to a #3 silver/orange Vibrax spinner. On about the 6th cast, during a sun break, my retrieve was interrupted by a solid THUD. I reared back to set the hook, and felt that glorious feeling of a good fish on the end of my line.

The fish first shook, and then headed for the deep water, peeling line from my reel. He stopped, and I pumped him up close to the surface. He made a huge splash, and then went for the lake again. We had a good tug of war for a few minute. He finally tires, and then I brought him up to the surface again. Finally, I was able to lay my eyes on him for the first time. That's when I realized that he was way too big to bring up on the dock without a
net. I looked around and figured out the best way to walk him to shore and beach him. Just as I finally pulled him up on the beach, the spinner pulled out. At that point, I dropped my pole, and scooped him up with both hands.

He was a beautiful rainbow trout. He measured 25". He had a relatively small head, indicating quick growth, a thick, fat body, and a huge tail. He was surely one of the Fall stockers from Trout Lodge. All fins were intact.

The Chinese frequently celebrate New Years by having fish. The word "Fish" in Chinese is pronounced the same as the word "Surplus - have more than enough". The New Year's Wish saying goes "Year After Year Have More Than Enough", which sounds the same as "Year After Year Have Fish".

On this Y2K New Years Day, I was richly blessed with a great fish.

Happy New Year to you all, and may each one of you "Have Fish, Year After
Year"

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