Glide Baits for Summer Lake Trout
FUR-FISH-GAME|July 2023
I didn't expect the fish to zoom away like it did. Though nearly to the surface, it plunged down and down, trying to get back to the 100-foot depth where it had been hooked.
Glide Baits for Summer Lake Trout

Just before this, we'd learned from the boat's sonar that the bigger lake trout were holding very deep in Lake Champlain - the mammoth body of water between New York, Vermont and Canada that some call the Sixth Great Lake.

On a light spinning rod, the hooked laker had fought hard from the bottom up. When I had it about 15 feet from the surface, I thought I was steadily winning.

But then the laker - I estimated between 8 and 12 pounds - turned tail and dove headfirst. As my drag was set with medium tension, the line went out in spits and spurts. The bottom was a long way down and the laker was still going when I felt the start of a tissue tear, like ripping cloth.

The tear continued into a complete gap and all too quickly my laker was gone.

Dejected I turned to my friend.

"I lost it." "You lost it?" "Yeah." Longtime fishing friends probably have that conversation many times over the years, but I couldn't remember a more dispirited announcement I'd made to Captain Jamie Vladyka. I know he doesn't like to lose fish, so I searched for an explanation.

"It out-ran the drag," I said.

Vladyka was skeptical.

"Don't tell anyone it out-ran the drag." he said, shaking his head like a father being presented a bad report card.

Okay I won't repeat my excuse, but that's how strong this laker felt coming up from Champlain's deep waters. Lake trout are powerful fish and can test a drag and bend a rod into nearly pretzel shapes.

There are moments in a fight when you just hold on, not getting any line back, and the big fish is still taking it out. So yes, I lost that laker. But when you fall down, you get back up, or that's what they say. in karate movies.

Bu hikaye FUR-FISH-GAME dergisinin July 2023 sayısından alınmıştır.

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Bu hikaye FUR-FISH-GAME dergisinin July 2023 sayısından alınmıştır.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.