I had a tour around the Bonnet on Saturday hoping to mark a few fish out in the deep but there wasn't enough out there to keep me interested. I decided to head in shallower and see what the trout were up to. The lakers didn't disappoint me. I got the first one in around 40' of water with the rigger down 25' with a flasher and spoon. I took a quick pic and slipped him back in. I figured him around 12lb or so.
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I kept in the same depth and the next one came with a bit more pull. If he's not a 20 lber than I don't know what is.
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Again on the same depth the third one came in with a a lot more fight in him. I had to reel in the second rod with one hand and stop the boat for this guy. He was shorter, but fatter and fought a lot harder. I took a few quick pics as well and slipped him back in the water.
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I had drifted into about 15' of water by now as you can see bottom in the pic. He gave a couple of kicks so I let him go. It surprised me when he turned sideways then sank straight to bottom. I turned the boat around and dropped anchor right beside him. As there was no wind I could see him clearly straight below so I put on a musky spinner and dropped it down. I could see easily and manouvered the hook to his mouth. I started pulling him back up thinking this wasn't the fish I would like for the smoker but not having much choice.
Halfway up he righted himself then began to fight again! I reeled him back a second time. This time I kept him beside the boat for about 5 minutes by which time he was not happy to know me anymore. The second release looked much better as he headed for bottom and I watched him swim off.
By that time I had to be back at camp but the ride back was done with a grin from ear to ear.
Sorry for the bad measuring shots, kind of hard when you're loning it out there.
Another memorable Adventure.