Lake trout

Spent the better part of a couple days hunting lakers at a new-to-me location; Williams Fork. Like the first time on any big body of water, it was tricky. Finding the fish was tough, getting them to bite was tougher. Landed a nice laker the first afternoon. Not the giant I’m after, but at least I got a taste of what’s there. Left the tent home and planned to sleep outside but paddled into a literal swarm of mosquitoes on the shore after sunset. So I “slept” in the driver’s seat of my truck. Not recommended. Tough session again the next morning. I found a few lakers on the sonar (60-90ft deep), got some to rise and chase, but couldn’t get the bites. Only landed one tiny laker. I learned a lot for next time. However, the highlight of the day was an up-close encounter with a bald eagle that found a dead lake trout on the shore (not one I caught). I filmed with my phone for about 10 minutes, and cut it down to a 1 minute clip for you. I’m also posting some pics from the drive which took me through some epic scenery.

Great day on Charron lake Manitoba

Drift jig in 80' of water

Not a good day

Nice Laker in Algonquin Park! Surprise becuase we were going for bass, but I was completely ok with pulling this out! Really fun to catch and no, it did not die (if you were wondering becuase of the blood lol)

With air temperatures near 100, it was a good excuse to head to higher ground for a day. While it looked fairly clear, there was still enough smoke haze in the air to make my eyes bleed, but at least it was 25 degrees cooler than home. Brought stiffer rods. Looked for a MH FAST action rod at Walmart and found a 7’ Penn Squadron III (an $85 rod) for $26! A good laker rod. I’m guessing not many people are looking for a fast action saltwater inshore rod at Walmart in Colorado! Still trying to figure out how to keep a big laker on the hook. Lost a few again. In spite of the stiff rod, I realized that my hook-setting leverage while sitting in a kayak is significantly less than someone standing on a boat deck. Will keep learning and experimenting. Landed one decent laker; not a giant, but its large pink butterfly-wing pectoral fins made it a particularly beautiful specimen!