HookBill's Hookbill ... er, yeah that's right!

The very first thing I have to say about this entry is thanks a million to Gordie Richard, a kind gent we ran into while fishing the Cains last Thursday. Gordie was kind enough to shoot the following pics and then take the time to send them to me! Thanks again for documenting Bill's epic fish - we owe you at least a soda or two sometime.

The story of this beautiful Hookbill, not to be confused with HookBill goes something like this....

Last Thursday after bidding our good friend GT farewell and safe travels, Bill and I decided to hit the Cains which would put us closer to the Den for when Dad and Joe were to arrive later that afternoon. Brad went with Paul and John and had a great day on the NW. Our plans were to do a micro, blast 'n cast - hunt on the way to and from the pool - a decent plan that has served us well in the past. Before I go getting ahead of myself, I have to add that a couple fly ideas came to me while I while I was trying to get to sleep the night before and going back to the Den would allow me to get on the vise and get these ideas out of my head. Before leaving Paul's place, Bill joked that he needed a 'fresh' fly for the Cains so I decided that he should be the one to beta test this big old shrimpy pattern. Keeping with tradition, Bill named this fly after it was christened by a fish, and the "Kains Kraken" was born :)
(I dig alliteration - hence the 'K' in Cains)

Here's the fly:
(haha! kidding!)

Enough of the rambling -- here's the money:

Bill hooked up:

The tug of war:

Getting ready to tail:



Sneakin' up behind the brute:

Here comes the grab!

Incredibly powerful fish!

I'll just tell everyone this was my fish! Muahaha!

Back in the water, big fella...

Bill going to work on the big guy while submerged - the fish, not Bill:

Getting ready to fumble a handoff --- it's kind of a fall tradition we have :)

Bill just said "jeezus, it's like petting a dolphin!"

One last pic in case he slips:

About 5 seconds after this pic, he was free after a botched handoff attempt -- he tore off like he was shot from a gun! He was fought and landed fast and held under water for all of about 5 seconds total to snap a couple pics. Thanks for the good times, Hookbill and er HookBill!