Despite the beautiful weather, Hailey and her husband Shane, himself a veteran angler and former state-record holder, weren’t having much luck on Henrys Lake, according to the Idaho Fish and Game Department. They decided to raise the anchor and try again somewhere else on the lake, but then Hailey hooked something. And it was heavy.
After a "stressful" minute, Hailey and Shane reeled in a rainbow/cutthroat hybrid trout so big it hardly fit in the net they used to scoop it up.
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Lake Amador, one of the lakes I used to fish for BATs (Big Ass Trout) at in California had its own hatchery for that hybrid they called a Cut-bow.
They wouldn't even put them in the lake until they hit 3 pounds, then those fish grew incredibly fast. I wouldn't even keep anything under 5 pounds or 24 inches.
They were a hard fighting, aggressive fish too - if you were baitfishing, you kept a grip on your rod. If you didn't have a hold of it when the fish hit, you'd lose that rig.
Fishing with a spoon or Rapala was the best, though. When they hit, it was hard and fast and you had a hell of a fight on your hands.
But yeah, I'd fish for a couple three hours, then leave with my limit of 5 and have 30+ pounds of cleaned fish for the smoker when I got home.
Trout is delicious.
ReplyDeleteMy brother is a recent transplant from central Florida and now lives in BF Tennessee. He and his son are enjoying the bountiful trout fishing in local spots. I just sent a link to this story to him with the caption, “Trout fishing in Idaho: Hold my beer”.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the opportunity to jerk a knot in his chain. 😆
Better fishing through chemistry....
ReplyDeleteKenny, what test was the line you used?
ReplyDeleteFor that lake, I used 6 pound test braided line and a medium/light rod. I've had quite a few fish break off using that, too.
DeleteBeing on the coast, I fish saltwater most often. About 40 yrs ago I started using 8 to 10 lbs mono in a 6' light rod. I landed a lot of halibut up to 35 lbs.
DeleteI usually used lighter gear, but at Amador I fished on the dam face which was covered in huge chunks of quarried rock. I needed a stiffer rod and heavier braided line because the fish would nosedive into those rocks and break off on the sharp edges, so I had to horse them in.
DeleteI've live in that part of Idaho. About 15 miles away from that lake is a trout breeding spot that is the source of Big Springs River. Does not drain into Henry's lake but it has a bridge just down stream from the hatchery you can feed trout from. There are some really big ones you can see in the river.
ReplyDeleteLocal joke goes a guy was fishing off the bridge and caught one. Ranger walks up and says that will be 100 dollars. Guy says here is 200.
Some really big fish west of that dock.
I am in Michigan, and as a teen, my twin brother and I used to snag salmon on the White River that ran right through our small town. We used the heaviest rods and 20# test line, along with a huge treble hook, with lead poured around the middle of the thing. We called it the White River Spider. The biggest one I ever caught was 28 #, and that was a female that had spawned already. The river runs into Muskegon lake and ultimately into Lake Michigan.
ReplyDeleteThe DNR tried to plant a trout called Skamania, which were supposed to be nearly impossible to land in the river once they reached 10# or greater, they fought so hard. But they never worked out, for some reason.
Back in the late 70's, we had a sea lamprey invasion, and they had to poison the river, killing just about any fish that was in the river. But when you caught a salmon with a lamprey stuck to the side of it, you were glad that they got rid of them. They are one ugly critter. And while the DNR planted the salmon in the 1970's, and they sort of disappeared in the past decade or so, the past few years they have come back with a vengeance. I remember wading the river with blue jeans and tennis shoes in deer season, which starts in mid November, with snow blowing, fishing for salmon. I was probably 13 or so at the time, as if I were older I would have been hunting. That is dedication, because since I could not afford waders, that water was cold, and once you got over your crotch, it took a lot of bravery to keep going.