A Fish Story by Rick Heitman

I saw this (true) story by Rick Heitman posted on ORCA's Reel Talk, and it was just too good not to repost here, with Rick's permission.

A Fish Story

by Rick Heitman

The family has a little Ski Cabin up on the Tye River, just outside of Skykomish, Washington. A few of us were up there awhile back (in the late spring) just sitting around chatting. I decided to grab my fly rod and wander down to the river for a little late afternoon relaxation. My younger brother said, "Where ya goin'?" I simply replied, "Fishin'."

He decided to turn my proposed "quiet solitude" trip into a boastful brotherly competition and announced that I wasn't gonna catch nothin' and that I needed his expertise. Now ya gotta understand, he's maybe had a fishin' rod in his hands twice up to that point. Once when he bought it and the second time when he transported it from his truck to the shed out-back of the cabin. That would have been about 15 years earlier.

So off we went, him leading the way down the trail with mouth in Full Stride. You can imagine, depending on whether you have any experience with a cocky little brother. We reached the river bank and dropped down onto the river rock. The water was down and just about right in volume and flow. I knew I was gonna catch fish. A quarter of the way to the first bend I said: "So, what's the bet?" He stopped in front of me, turned around with a quizzical look and then announced "Twenty Bucks for the first fish." "Okay," I said, being a man of few words. And off we went.

Three quarters of the way to that first bend (where I normally fished), I had to step over a small two foot pool. Looking down, I couldn't believe my eyes! Sittin' in the middle of that pool was a nice 11-inch Rainbow. With the water levels falling, somehow that trout had miraculously gotten land-locked!

Now paint the picture...A beautiful 11-inch rainbow, in a two foot puddle, 6 or 8 inches deep, me standing over it with rod in hand and a cocky little brother with a $20 bill in his back pocket standing on the opposite side of that two foot pool. What ARE the odds?!!!!

Being that man of few words..."Hey! Hold it!" I said. Time seemed to freeze at that moment. It was if the good Lord had laid that trout there himself. A Silver Platter delivery, with a plump Rainbow just waiting to be eaten. And...a $20 Bill tattooed on his head!

"So little brother, let me get this straight. If you catch the first fish, I owe ya $20 bucks, right?"

"Ya" he says, "and you ain't gonna catch the first fish, so ya might as well put that rod down and pay me now."

I said, "Well that's all good, but if I did catch the first fish you'd pay me $20 bucks, right?"

He smiled and said, "Absolutely".

"Okay" I said, "Here, hold my rod will ya?"

As he took the rod from my hand, it was like a natural alignment of the stars and planets all in one single smooth motion. Not a ripple of disturbance in the universe. My body bent with the knees in unison, arm extending and hand opening and closing around that fish in the most fluid motion ever known to man. I was up in a flash, the trout was 3 inches from my little brother's nose, and the words flowed like the river that day:

"You Owe Me $20 Bucks!"

LOL...TRUE Story! "What are the odds?!"