The line left the reel sounding a tune which all real fishermen know so well. It went out so rapidly that Bill wondered if he would lose all the line before the fish stopped its run. At that stage of the game Bill was decidedly nervous. He had never before snagged such a fish as this one was. He knew that if he tried to stop the trout too suddenly, the line would break. Bill applied gradually increasing pressure on the reel until the rush was stopped.
The trout made several mad rushes after the first one, but none were as fast nor as long as the first one. Once in a while Bill would get a glimpse of the fish as it darted through the water, but the fish was out of sight again almost immediately. The thought uppermost in Bill’s mind now was, “Could he net that fish before it broke the line?” The rushes became shorter, and it was apparent that the fish was getting exhausted. At times it would allow Bill to bring it in almost to the rock where he was standing, and then without the slightest warning it would sink to the bottom of the pool with a speed that bent the rod double while the line was going out.
The fish finally came up and Bill worked it around to where he could use the net. In his excitement of netting the trout, he almost lost his rod and line, but he never risked the loss of the fish. Bill was so elated that he did not try to remove the fish from the net or the hook from its mouth. He carried the rod, net, and fish back to the road and waited for the other members of the party. He was still sitting there holding the netted fish when Sam Crouch came up.
“What have you there?” asked Sam.
“You tell me,” said Bill. “I finally caught it, but what kind it is I do not know.”
“It’s a nice big brook trout,” replied Sam. “I guess that you have the largest one caught this day. I have several that I thought were large, but none to compare with that one.”
The others returned and Bill felt quite proud of his accomplishment as each in turn admired his fish. They returned to the hotel and unloaded their fishing gear.
“You had better take this fish, Sam,” said Bill. “We leave tomorrow, and I cannot use it.”
“Let me see that fish,” said a stranger who came up as Bill was handing the trout to Sam. “I think that you have a gold button trout there. We will take it into the hotel and measure and weigh it.”
“What’s a gold button trout?” asked Bill. “Do you have to pay a fine for catching one? Is it unlawful?”