A few sleepless nights

Last week I decided I was going to go fishing on Saturday whether the river was in shape or not. When I said this I was pretty sure that it was going to be just right by Saturday morning. Unfortunately its hard to predict the water flows around here, so by Friday night when I checked the river level online I was none to happy to see we were still 2 feet higher than I needed it to be. I called my brother to see what he thought and he wanted to go give it a try. So we started an hour after daylight. We put the boat in at a ramp about 3 river miles above where we normally fish. The river was swollen and really moving fast, but looked safe enough to float. There was a drift boat on the far side of the river, just up stream from the ramp, hugging the shore. We decided to hug the side of the river we were on and see how it went, back trolling some Hot Shots on the way down. The high water kept us moving through most of the fishing holes too fast to feel like we were fishing very effectively. I was rowing with all I had just trying to slow us down a little. My brother got some practice in on the oars as well. It took us a few hours to get down to the stretch of river that we like to fish. The river runs slower through this section and it was a relief to not have to work so hard to feel like we were working the water well. Halfway down through a certain section, my brother's rod went down hard, surprising both of us. He picked up the rod and the fight was on. A strong tug on the other end of the line, sent line screaming off the real. We took our time playing the fish and trying to get into a good position to be able to get it to the boat and net it. My bro played the fish well. I had the net in hand when the fish finally came side up next to the boat. It was a beautiful spring chinook salmon. I waited for the right moment and went to dip the net to scoop up this big fish. My net stopped about a foot from the water and I realized I had caught it on the rod holder on the side of the boat. I pulled back and got it loose, looking for the fish. Now the fish was next to the boat, inside of the oar. My brother moved the fish out into a better spot for me to try again. Well, instead of taking my time to make sure I did this right the second time, I put the net in too soon. The outside of the next got tangled in the hook sticking out of the fishes mouth. Then I started to panic. I tried a few different things trying to get the fish in the net, but it was not going to happen. I pulled the net up next to the boat and reached down to try to gill or tail him into the boat. Just as my hand touched the fish he thrashed, the hook came loose, and I watched him swim away.
This was a real heart breaker for both of us. I was in shock at how bad it all had gone. My first botched fish netting. My bro's first springer swimming free. I can't help but replay it all in my mind over and over, just thinking of all the things I could have done differently to have landed this fish. My brother didn't beat me up too bad. He said not to worry about it, but as I told him, I don't think I will ever forget this fish. So, I'm really anxious to get back out there and get a fish in the boat and start putting this behind me. Thanks for reading. I'll keep you posted.