Karim Jodor
SANTA CRUZ, Argentina — I held the huge trout under its belly, which was swollen with thousands of eggs. I cradled her gently, pressing lightly on her flanks, trying to keep the fish upright, moving it backward and forward, forcing water through her gills, seeking to revive her.
It had been a long fight, with a 45-mile-per-hour wind buffeting me and blowing spray off the whitecaps that covered the lake. No need, I thought, to keep this trophy. Her enormous form — 20 pounds 8 ounces — was fixed forever in my memory, my biggest rainbow ever.