Post Opener

Alain & Cindy were with me this morning for a frigid spring fishing day. I knew we were going to have a tough time when the water temps were more than the air temps but hit the water early, nonetheless. We began with 32 degrees and I think by the end of the day it might have even climbed all the way to 40 degrees. With a strong NW wind blowing 15 to 25 knots it felt more like the 20’s. Water temps were at best 43 degrees and somewhat stained with all the north winds lately. My set up was going to be two deep lines and only one shallow line as I was marking plenty of bait down and hoped for a quick biter. This wasn’t going to happen however as it took until almost noon for one of the reels to go off. Cindy was quick to react and was tight to a heavy fish on a deep line. As she was fighting hers, the other deep one went off and now Alain was battling a heavy fish as well. I was pretty sure that they were both lake trout as there were plenty of head shakes and some weight was definitely there. Well to everyone’s amazement, Cindy was the only one with a laker on the end of her line. I was surprised to see that Alain actually had a Northern Pike on his and concentrated on the better fish. Both were netted and only one released as the 24 inch laker went into the livewell. We weren’t going to be skunked today! We continued fishing this area and as usual, boats started to gather. It really doesn’t take much for someone to get excited and fish right on top of another boat! Unfortunately, we managed to hook up twice more in the next 20 minutes and both were pike of equal size. Seeing as how Cindy & Alain were feeling the cold, we decided to head back to their place on the lake and break for lunch. It’s really nice to have that option and I was quickly in agreement! I thought this would be a good time to take a couple of pics and they decided to release the laker afterwards. This was to be its lucky day! After lunch we headed right back to where the action had taken place and made sever unsuccessful passes through the same zone untouched. Off to other places with similar results and finally we stumbled into a warmer area of 43 degrees and the long, high line went a screaming. Alain was tight to another heavy fish and I really hoped it wasn’t a pike! We were thankful to see by the boat that it was of a trout persuasion but weren’t sure if it was a brown or a laker. It was a big one though and that’s all that mattered! Eventually I was able to get a better look at the fish in the waves and slipped the net under an even bigger lake trout than the one from this morning. It would have gone about 25 inches or more and was a real fatty! Into the livewell it went and back to fishing we went as well. Despite all the moves and water we were to cover afterwards, we weren’t to hook up again. Somewhere after 4:30, we decided to call it a day and I dropped Cindy off at the dock, released the laker and headed back to take out. Although we were to only land two trout today it was still a great one. It wasn’t my first trip of the season but they were the first lakers of the year. Previously I had boated many a salmon but on a different lake. Reports hadn’t been done up but there will be a pic to follow. Overall it was a pretty good day for the initial trip, two days after the season opener. Can’t wait for tomorrow!!