Legendary
What do you think of when you hear the word "legend"? Mickey Mantle? Stevie Ray Vaughn? Audie Murphy? John Wayne? Lee Wulff?
What are the criteria that qualifies someone...or something as a legend?
I think performance is certainly one criteria.
Another is probably durability. Most legends perform at a level that is above average consistently. In some cases, decades.
What if we apply these two criteria to legendary trout streams...which would hit the mark? Or asked differently, those streams that have legendary status, how did they earn it?
Are some also - rans, those streams that are a sentimental favorite because of past glory, but miss the mark today because their production (performance) has slipped over the years?
I don't have the answer...just curious what your thoughts might be.
Comments
In applying it to the subject of your post, I would consider any stream that consistently produces stories of huge (or absurdly huge) trout or overly fantastic fishing year after year from various sources to be "legendary". I don't particularly think of "the best" as being synonymous with "legendary" because the best can (and usually will) always be bested at some point - when something is repeatedly referred to in spite of its place in the proverbial food chain, that is what I would call legendary.
And of course, if you really need examples of legendary, consider the inimitable (and fictitious) Captain Morgan or The Most Interesting Man In The World. Those are legendary characters...quite literally.