Yesterday afternoon I had the pleasure of fishing the batten Kill river under the guidance of Mr. Doublehaul. My outings to this historical river have been few and far between, not to mention I've been skunked each time. I thought it was time to hire a guide in order to increase my chances of catching a fish. In hiring a guide, I was just looking for someone with local knowledge of the river who can lead me to the right spot and give advice on what flies to use. I'm a competent enough fly fisherman to handle the rest. Doublehaul fit the bill for what I was looking for and his price was very resonable for a half day trip.

After meeting at our designated meeting location, we drove to the NY side of the river and fished a pool down stream from a bridge. Within an hour and a half, I caught 5 trout and lost several others. At last I caught my first batten Kill trout! At this point I could only hope for 1 decent size fish and my day would be complete. We crossed the river to fish from the opposite bank when I noticed a dead spot in between 2 fast currents. I love those spots! They always hold big surprises. Sure enough on my second drift my stike indicator came to a sudden hault and I lifted up on the rod. I immedately knew I was hooked onto a good size fish. After an exciting battle, Doublehaul netted a lovely 17 inch brown. Both the guide and client were very happy and high fives were every where.
It was a perfect day. What else can I say. Here are 3 photo's. The first is DH netting a nice brown and the next 2 are of me.

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