June 2007.
It was getting late into our trip and everyone had caught at least one big laker with the exception of myself. Travis had caught two 20 pounds or better and Rob had two including a 36 pound beauty. I was fishing from the same boat, using the same hook and letting out the same amount of line yet I was having no luck with the big lunkers!
At first I thought, “Oh S*** I’m hung up!” It didn’t take long to realize I had a big laker on the line. Straight down to the bottom and there it stayed. Ten minutes into the fight I thought I’d muscle the lunker up. I put some extra pressure on the rod and for a brief second I thought I’d pulled the hook out and lost the fatty!. Needless to say there may have been a few choice words! There was no horsing it up, it was a stalemate for another few minutes until finally up it started. Once at the surface, Rob scooped and we had landed my first big lake trout. We quickly removed the hook, were amazed at the half eaten whitefish still in it’s mouth, took some pictures and released it to catch another day. I can still remember the excitement of catching my first big laker, a thrill I won’t forget anytime soon!
