Goal Species Acquired - Lake Trout

[colin519]

Hello all,

Just wanted to share a great time. I have become a citiot and don't get to fish as much as I'd like any more. I've been able to target bass, pike, perch, walleye, but trout have always eluded me because they are just those little arcs on the bottom at 65ft+ in August. I've had a great time at Bruce's spot on Temagami since I was a kid and there's no place I'd rather fish. After getting a nice 29" northern walleye vertical jigging I turned my attention to trout simply because I'd never caught one wild. I started making sure I had an additional small spring 'trout trip' so I had better odds and although I couldn't get up to Temagami , I tried many Algonquin trips, a Kawartha trip and a few times in North Frontenac. Also tried the fly rod in Huron county. First time in Kawartha, my buddy got into 1 stock rainbow trout. Nothing else was caught. Same friend had a 'possible brook trout' on and lost in Algonquin after waaaay too many years of group trips, nothing else for anyone in the group. He got a couple more small trout in Algonquin at a cottage dock one time. Two years ago, another friend finally got a 4lb laker (which we thought was a splake for ages, and may still have been) at his cottage lake on the last cast of a short weekend trip. It was a random trout on worms after being blown off a 'good spot'. Hardly a scientific plan to match the hatch but we knew we found some fish worth catching. I personally had still never caught a trout outside of a stocked pond after organizing and driving for these trips. 

We tried again last year with no success due to the wind and some engine worries, finally, this year we would get it right. We managed to boat 3 nice lakers on Saturday evening, losing 2 more at the boat and 2 behind it. I got my first ever wild trout, a beautiful lake trout. I'm horrible at guessing the weight of these trout, but I'd say the smaller ones were 2.5-3.5 lbs and the largest one, I caught on a gold Little Cleo was probably 5-6 lbs. Nothing special compared to what I see on here, but there is nothing like honing your skills, scouting new water, dialing in a pattern, and being rewarded by catching beautiful fish with your pals. I went on my first musky excursion last fall and I'm hooked, so it was great to knock off a bucket list species and find success after arranging trips where others caught fish. I wondered if anyone else had any stories of putting in years for a species and finally getting the reward you were looking for. 

Keep those rod tips high! 

[jimmer]

Thanks for sharing.  Sounds like everything came together for you. Yeah, brown trout were always on my bucket list, but were elusive to me.  I finally caught one shore fishing at a generating station, but they don't even look like browns, then I caught one at the Ganaraska that looked more like the traditional brown I was looking for. Jeez, I don't know if I've caught another one since then, that was years ago and I avoid those locations like the plague.  It is rewarding when you finally find success though.  I have that brown mounted, so I can always remember.

[jimmer]

[chris.brock]

congrats on checking that one off the list, that is a good story