26th Day Fly Fishing – June 18th, 2026, Teton River, Idaho
Yes! The Fish of a Lifetime (FOL) was landed by Matt, Mel’s son on the Teton River on our recent fishing safari. Of course, if you know the Teton River, you know it is an unlikely place for an FOL, in this case a rainbow trout, to be landed. And as an experienced angler, Matt has landed bigger fish in his lifetime, but not a larger rainbow trout! This catch was totally unexpected because although the Teton does sport some large fish, a fish this size is extremely rare. Here is the story of how this came to be.
It all happened on day one of our fishing safari. Mel and Matt had arrived the day before as usual into SLC. I picked them up at the airport and we headed up to Victor, which is about a four hour drive. One the way, we picked up the drift boat at Hyde, who was installing some Seadek in the rod holders. The installation included covers on my port and starboard compartment lids. One feature of these Seadek covers is a ruler that measures 27 inches.
Our float began around 11:30am. We had heard from our friends at Worldcast Anglers that PMD hatches were happening around 1pm daily and we were very interested in being present for that. Temperature at launch was 52 degrees and the flows were still on the high side at 750cfs, but still very fishable and water clarity was cloudy but most of the time we could still see bottom, so it wasn’t terrible, and certainly clear enough for fish to see bugs on top.
As we posted up near the put-in we began to see a few rises. Most of the rise patterns looked like fish eating in the film, so we tied on a size 16 PMD sprout that Mel tied on a curved hook. This pattern has a trailing shuck and it rides low in the water. It was perfect for the rising behaviors we were seeing. Fish were rising to the fly almost immediately. We all caught fish in the first spot and as we wore out fish in spot, we moved down to the next location where we found rising fish. The cutthroats were plentiful and we also caught a few brook trout and a couple of rainbows.
Hatches eventually peter out and this one was no exception. With few rises, Matt made the decision to switch to the midnight fire leech that I tied. I really like fishing leeches during run-off and the midnight fire is my first choice. Mel stayed with the dry fly a while longer but eventually he also went to the leech.
As we meandered down the river many fish were caught on the leech, mostly cutthroats but a few rainbows and brookies too. Here is Matt landing a nice 15″ rainbow.
As the day wore on, Matt and Mel were working the edges mostly, but we were also finding fish toward the middle. The middle sported the Teton’s thick vegetation. Not an issue yet because it was still a ways below the surface. However, we noted there some bigger fish using the vegetation for cover. The is also true of “The Ranch” on the Henry’s Fork. So as we approached the halfway mark on the float, Matt was stripping the fly back to the boat more frequently.
Then it happened…Matt felt that he was hung up on the bottom and then the bottom moved! He immediately knew he had a big fish on the line and was determined to land it. His equipment included a 5wt rod and a “click drag” reel. Knowing that the reel was not going to give him the pressure he needed, he rightfully decided to strip his line by hand and not put the fish on the reel. It was also clear that this fish was not participating in his first rodeo and consequently made repeated runs, and Matt hand fed the line in response to the tug of war that was taking place. In each case, carefully picking up line when he was able. Thankfully, Matt utilizes heavy tippet on his streamer rigs.
Mel was manning the oars at this point and I was in the back seat. We made a collective decision about not deploying the anchor, as we knew this would give the fish the advantage. Instead, I moved from the back to a standing position directly behind Matt who was up front. I had manned the long handled boat net and was waiting for my opportunity to assist. In the mean time, as Matt stripped line, sometimes it would tangle so I carefully detangled it while he was playing the fish. The next run with tangled line could have been a disaster!
What we thought would be a five to ten minute fight turned into a 30+ minute battle. I took a short video of Matt below, calling out moments of his play-by-play.
Eventually, Matt’s patience paid off and the fish was headfirst into the net. And he barely fit!
Mel took this video as the fish was landed. Note: Matt was careful to keep the fish wet and the handling to a minumum.
Now here is where my new Seadek comes in. We briefly laid the fish out on the ruler and it measured 27″! Then gently back in the water where she swam away unharmed.
A rainbow this size in a river the size of the Teton is unheard of! Taken from Google AI: “For a freestone river like the Teton River, a 27-inch, 10-pound trout is a local legend. Most seasoned river anglers fish their entire lives without ever breaking the 25-inch or 6-pound mark on moving water. Your fish has a massive, heavy-girth build for its length, proving it was the apex predator of its stretch of the river. “[1]
Truly the “Fish of a Lifetime”. Note the big kiped jaw and chewed up tail. No doubt this fish has been through a lot!
After landing that fish, the rest of the float seemed uneventful. Sure we landed a few more fish, but that big rainbow was all we could talk about. In a couple of hours we had the boat back on the trailer and were headed back to the cabin. And my new Seadek ruler was used for the first time on a 27″ fish!
