The 4-Pounder Was Bait
A few years ago, two guests, Rod & Rick from Colorado, were just outside the weeds in one of our many trophy pike bays. Rick hooked into a little 4-pounder and was bringing it in when a massive monster Northern came jetting out of the depths and just hammered the hell out of his smaller pike. This trophy northern ended up getting hooked and took off with Rick's pike and lure in its jaws. The pike screamed-off about 50 feet of line before it even knew it was hooked.
Rod put his fishing rod down and grabbed the net only to realize his rod was about to fly in the water. He put the net down and grabbed his rod only to realize he had a big trophy Northern on to. Somehow they both got their trophy pike in the boat, measured, then admired both fish for a few moments and then let them go. Rod had the bragging rights as his pike was a little bigger then Rick's, which was 47 inches and around 40 pounds.
Snapped 20-Pound Test:
We had two gentlemen in their 70's that would be out fishing by 5:00 AM every morning. They are both avid Lake Trout fishermen. The one morning they came in all excited both talking at the same time about the monster trout they hooked and fought for a long time. They were using heavy weight trout rods with 20 lb. test line. Finally they got to see the trout but then it took a final run straight under the boat and busted the line on the keel of the boat. They both said it was at least 35 to 40 lbs.
Monsters Eat Flies:
Al Rowliston from Colorado Springs asked me (Randy) to come along with him and do some fly-fishing. We went to a great place on the lake called Grand Rapids. There is a major waterfalls running in from another lake and big pike patrol the area frequently.
We pulled up into a slow moving pool off to the side of the rapids. Al threw out a fly and the second it hit the surface of the water, there was a huge splash and then all we could hear was Al's fly-reel screaming. Al hooked into a giant pike, which took more then 15 minutes to bring in.
Al was using a red and white deceiver with a silver flash insert. We were both using 9 weight fly rods with floating line and steel leaders. We finally landed his monster pike. It measured over 45 inches. Within 2 hours we caught lots of pike including 2 more big pike measuring 41 & 42 inches. It was a great afternoon and a good chance to get use to bringing in a big fish with a fly rod.
Too Big For The Net
A couple of guests were fishing and hooked onto a big Lake Trout. The man finally dragged the monster lake trout to the boat. His wife tried to net the fish with out large nets, which are 2 feet in diameter. The fish was way too big for the net. Unfortunately, the fish flopped around on the surface and it was gone.
July Feeding Frenzy:
Another true trout story from last year happened during the days July 7th, 8th and 9th. Three of us were fishing for Lake Trout using pink 3/8 ounce jigs with single white tails and a minnow. In 3 days we caught 180 Lake Trout.