Craig Thompson of Mars shows a roughly 20-inch Palomino Trout he caught Saturday at Eckert Bridge at McConnells Mill.

The camera was rolling Saturday as a flash of orange glistened and thrashed in the sparkling water of Slippery Rock Creek in McConnells Mill State Park.

“I was drifting some flies, and the indicator went down,” said Craig Thompson of Mars. “I started fighting the fish. It didn't take me too long to realize it was a big palomino.”

Thompson, an avid fly fisherman, said he has his own YouTube channel called Wild Blue Discovery, and he managed to capture the catch on video. He said he hoped to post the video soon.

Fishermen such as Thompson, flocked to streams around the county hoping to be the early birds on Saturday's opening day for the state's trout season.

This is an excerpt from an article that will appear in Monday's Butler Eagle.