When you hook a large trout on a spring trout get downstream from him as quickly as possible and reel in all of the slack line. Apply a gentle pressure with your rod at a low angle just above parallel to the stream. If you fight him with the rod at a high angle it will cause him to dive into the grass. If he does run upstream into a grass tunnel all is not lost. You must be able to coax him to come back out of the grass by applying a gentle low rod pressure exactly opposite of the direction he went into it. Whatever you do don’t horse him. This will cause him to go deeper into the grass and break your fine tippet. Use patience and you can land very large trout on grass-filled spring creeks on very light tippets.
