January 2nd Lake Trout, A first and a heartbreak

Got up to the cottage with two friends for a day trip Friday. Found a new access point on the lake for a bay I've fished open water twice. A saddle between two basins separate from the deepest part of the lake but not far from it.

We got down to the lake via a narrow, lightly used, trail that was short and steep. The walk out was short (~300m) so I decided we would set up the pop-up right smack in the middle of it and I'd get to rigging some tip-ups towards the edges of the saddle. An hour or so passed and we were right into the mid-morning lake trout window. I thought to myself we should be seeing more activity on the graph...

Finally, the first mark of the day appeared right off bottom and before I could tell my friend to grab his rod from the stand, his rod pulled forward and nearly straight down the hole. Thankfully, he grabbed it in time and after two short runs, he landed his first lake trout!

Stocked lake trout, 21":

About 30 minutes later, just as we had started cooking lunch, I could faintly hear the bell on one of my tip-ups jingling. I ran out and frantically sprinted towards the tripped flag. Quick hook set, I could feel it was a decent fish and it had taken a good amount of line. It came up fairly steady, right up to the ice and then proceeded to immediately undo all the progress I had made. This played out 4 or 5 more times, each time the run a bit shorter as I could feel the fish tiring. Finally, I angled its head upwards, I had it in my sights and then nothing- the hook popped out.

2 photos clipped from a video my friend took while I was battling the lake trout:

#1

#2

It may take a while to get over that fish. I've replayed in my mind things I could have done differently, should I have waited longer to tire the fish, was the bait hook on there the wrong size etc.

Anyway, here are some other photos of the fish that DID make it onto the ice and back to my kitchen for processing.

Note the orange colour of the fat on this lake trout (they feed heavily on freshwater shrimp in this lake):



Stomach contents, packed full of amphipods:



Can't beat the colour on these fillets:

Beautiful filets!
Sorry about the one that got away.
I lost my first laker of the season in a similar way. Fought for 1-2 min on a rod and close to the hole the hook popped out. Saw it not moving for some time 3 feet away and deep from the hole on the finder. It was the first bite after a couple of hours if not marking much. Fortunately I landed two later, but the first fish fought harder.

Bound to happen, hopefully I got the lost fish out of the way and I can land the next few! Glad you were able get a couple after that first one missed

I’ve been there, it’s a tough one to swallow. Happening on big fish makes it way worse. I did the same today, however mine was just a single run and maybe a 4-5lb. laker, no giant. Good report and nice looking fillets.

Thanks Drew, hard to know for sure but from the few glimpses I had of it, I’d guess maybe 7-8lbs. Mostly curious to see if it was a natural or stocker

I liked the play by play until the hook popped. Been there done that and its hard to take. The fillets look great!

Awesome report, thanks for sharing, most who fish have been there, feel your pain. Filets look great.

Sometimes the excitement of a lost big fish, is just as thrilling as a catch. We anticipate landing it, and then it is gone. A brief moment of disbelief, followed by a few seconds of silence. Then back to work on catching another. A day of fishing always creates a few lasting memories. Great report.

I smell some lox in your near future. Beautiful fish.

Nice report! As for your lost fish -- well, we've all been there LOL.... Lucky you getting out already; I'm hoping that I can get out later this week.

Nice catch and boy that fish was feeding well !!