I fished San Juan for 35 years, I can no longer enjoy the experience, but I enjoyed watching her enjoy the experience. I did many rainbows in Texas Hole but NEVER such as her BIG, no HUGE brown. This video brought back so many special memories. I will rewatch this many times. Thank both of you.

What an incredible story - thank you for sharing that experience with us Sarah and Jude.

A beautiful story of two beautiful people living the dream. Kindest thoughts from down under in NZ.

What a beautiful story with beautiful people and an amazing Brown! I fished the San Juan the first time in 1969 with my Gand father and great uncle ( I'm dating myself here) then moved to the four corners and lived within an hours drive for many years, I have so many wonderful memories of the beauty of the river and times with family and friends for many years. Congratulations to both of you and my heart felt thanks for caring for such a gorgeous fish. I'll be back to the Juan soon!!

Awesome recap of what it was like to sight fish the brown trout of a lifetime! Thanks for sharing!

Wonderful outcome and story. Thanks for sharing.

I’ve been excited and anxious waiting on this video to drop Jude!! Great job on the video and again…. GREAT JOB to you for rigging Sara up to catch it after you saw it, great job to Sara for winning the battle with that beast!

Jude was our guide on my first flyfishing experience. He is an amazing guy that taught me well. It was 3 of the best days of my life with my dad. Jude is patient, intelligent, and informative. I hope to go back and see him again.

I SO enjoyed this great story. You both stepped into a Blessed moment and I suspect your lives were changed through it. Thank You for Blessing me out here in Bend Oregon today..

What a great experience for her and you! A story of a lifetime for her! Kindness and sharing are a gift that is priceless. Super video Jude!

Jude I have been watching your videos for awhile now. Not many male guides on the river would do what you did! I thank you for taking care of us gals and what a great memory for the both of you! You never mentioned what she caught the fish on= probably size 24. I have been fishing for quite awhile and am still amazed that you can catch big fish on these tiny hooks! I hope that feeling never goes away! I love the San Juan!! :)

Jude! You’re an absolute legend bud! Great video and amazing video and fish

Awesome fish and great story! There are not many female fishers out there, happy to see you sharing her story. I floated the San Juan last year with a friend, it was a lot of fun. Heading up to Yellowstone next week and I'm stealing a day away from family to sneak over to try my luck on the Madison River, it would be awesome to land some big trout.

Great story my friend! A special memory you both will share for your entire life! 👏👏

Amazing story! Thanks for the share!

I've seen a lot of big browns over the years , but that fish is the thickest one by far...... Congratulations !

My dad, Buddy Belt, would take me with him to fish the San Juan when I was little. He had two hogs mounted and displayed in his store. One brown and one Rainbow. A nod to you dad for the great memories. Joshua 1:9 John 3:16

This story made our day. Much love and respect to both of you. What a great guide and human!

Amazing story! Thanks for sharing.

Wow, amazing!Thanks for sharing this story!

Great story about this fish. You both did an awesome job!

Awesome job buddy!! Great video!!

I don't fly fish and rarely fish for trout but what an amazing and heartwarming story. Memories made for a lifetime with a beautiful fish. Thanks for sharing the experience.

Wow! Thats what it’s all about- That whole story was beautiful too! Congrats to you both. :)

Great story!!! What an adventurous angler!! I wonder how many great trout streams she drove by to get to the San Juan. You both are truly blessed. I think your phone is going to be very busy, Jude!

HOT DAMN! Didn't know it was a state record, congrats again Jude!

Incredible story of blessed redemption… this is what paying it forward looks like ! Congratulations to you and Sarah 🙏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽

I’m so happy for both of you. What an amazing story. ❤

Such an awesome story. Thank you Jude for investing into other anglers, and great job Sarah on a fish of a life time.

What a great story and told so well. I couldn't stop watching! What an amazing fish and an amazing young woman willing to go out there on her own to try her hand at the craft of fly fishing!

Unrelated but similar experience. When my granddaughter turned 9, I got her started in Cowboy Action Shooting. By her third year she won a national championship for her age category. The training went very well. Many times teaching a woman is much easier than a guy. They tend to listen & pay attention better. They don't usually act like they already know a lot about what you are teaching. Similar to your experience with Sarah. Same with my daughter.

Unbelievable! In a good way. Serendipitous. For that young lady to decide to just go, hit the road, come all that way, to run into you. For you to make the decisions you made, to help a stranger, to stay a little bit longer. For that fish to present itself to you all. I think it shows why we flyfish. To capture a fleeting moment of magic. I'd say you got a full measure that day.

What a story! Congratulations! God bless you both!

That was awesome. I am so amazed at the size of that fish. Great job guiding sir

Awesome catch and release.

Fished the San Juan many times. I've seen the big browns feeding on rainbows twice, but I have never caught one. Great Catch and story!

Wow. I love this story. There are no strangers on the river!

What an experience! A moment in a lifetime that will never be forgotten by either of you! Congrats to both of you on a fish of a lifetime! Catching that would be an experience - but to be able to put someone else in those shoes doesn’t get any more rewarding!

AWESOME FISH AND STORY!

Awesome story ,beautiful fish of a lifetime . Congratulations to both of you .

Awesome catch! What was the weight and length of the trout?

Awesome catch:)

You are an essential man brother. Thanks.

Congrats! Epic catch.

Pure magic. Wonderful story.

Great story! What is also mind bending about this is that a fish that size is still eating bugs! You've got to love that about trout.

beautiful story. happy a pnw baby got to enjoy that! love, from west coast.

Like many of you all, I too had many experiences fishing the San Juan, and caught many big trout. BUT The one that got away was MASSIVE, Snapping my line in flight as it had breached the water. I WILL NEVER FORGET THAT MOMENT.

GREAT STORY!!!

Long time no see Jude, do you still tie flies...?

Congrats to Sarah and Jude for capturing one of the giants. These are the fish that beat all the odds, they are the greats, the dinosaurs. What an honor it must have been. That is a connection with the earth and the wild you will never forget. I think it is safe to say the entire fishing community thanks you for your excellent care in handling and release too. Well done!

Hell of a Brown,once in a life time fish,congratulations 🎉

What is the name of the boat you using?

Yes to 20lbs . I have caught 20lb king salmon and bigger and this brown is a 20lb trout . As for you two thanks for sharing this inspiring story with us .

Great story for great people. Aloha spirit stuff❤️❤️❤️

Memory for a lifetime for those who lived it

thanks for sharing. again a great story, its amazing to be a part of something thats life changing in many ways, memories that remain imbeded. and its only through the grace of Christ we can witness these blessings first hand. cheers to a job well done amigo! cheers to you as well Sarah!

What a beautiful place!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I fished the San Juan in 1997. Good memories!

Wow, great lady and an amazing fish!

Did you get a length/girth on that fish .... what a beauty! Congrats to Sarah, and to Jude for helping her catch what may be the catch of her lifetime! Take care to the both of you, and wishing you continued tight lines.🎣🐋✌🏻

I fished the san juan for 2 years straight using all different streamers before I caught the 33inch brown in my picture

No way it’s 27 pounds, but definitely a giant.

wow! what an amazingly powerful experience.

Incredible fish!

Crazy how many times this same fish has been caught lol so wild you’d think he’d learn

Awesome!!!

Congratulations Sarah, fish of a lifetime for sure! Yay Washington representing!

This is the kind of shit that happens when people are nice, humble, kind and generous to each other. Be a real human, be nice. Karma is real!❤❤❤

Straight up MAGICAL fish!!! Good job girl

KILLER Jude, congratulations to you both. I’ll look for ya on the water. Stay safe out there.

A great story an a great fish

So glad it was not caught on a salmon egg with a Zebco closed faced reel!

Fantastic 🔥🔥🔥

cute story, congrats and thank you both for sharing. I agree karma is a thing and i have caught enough fish for 10 lifetimes but seeing and helping some one catch there first or biggest fish is 10x as rewarding at this point for me.

Hopefully the next angler that meets this fish releases it too

AWESOME !!!!!

I've never seen spots like that on a browntrouts tail.

Sick what an awesome fish.

Great fly fishing ( and just plain human) story of a lifetime for both of you. Great team effort , I totally believe in the karma. So glad to see him swim away safely. All fisherman and ladies can learn from this experience. Be kind and help one another when you can.

That was amazing

At the San Juan when you go under, we call that "getting baptized"!

Awesome

So dope.

Jude the Dude! Right on!

Beautiful

Yes you were blessed by the lord for catching that fish.

Love the story, love the fish, love both of their passion for trout.

An Aggie on board! Whoop!

love it

This is what life is really about.

Those big trout literally run into you when you are wading...

😎👍

The Kraken!

The cool thing is she made the trip on her own and was getting it done. Be great if more women were doing this.

Whoop. GIG'EM

Great story and i believe in karma as well. Good things happen to good people for a reason.

Sarah, the time to start talking smack is......right now

Share and the share comes back... E

Ive caught a 20+ brown (female as well) before but it was a great lakes run Ontario fish to be specific while out on my daily steelhead grind. Same thing though, just massive headshakes and almost couldnt move itself bc it was so fat. This tops that for just a river fish and not being lake run. What a slob