Sk8man

Hughes Marina (Sunday 7-26-15) - Admiral Byrd and I got off to a late start (for us) in his boat and started fishing about 9AM. Based on what we had heard we started in about 170 ft of water with three wires a 10 color leadcore and two downriggers with one cheated and headed northwest. Initially we marked a few fish suspended but no takers then a while later Bob pulled in a laker about 9-10 lbs that had a malformed mouth ( pic didn't take for some reason). It was a gorgeous day with a relentless sun and after that fish we marked hardly anything and worked out way out to 600 plus ft of water hoping to run into some steelies at least...nada. Bob had a real ripper on the spinney fly combo along the way that ate his fly after ripping line. and another brief one ...I had zip no hit no runs no fish left on base . After 6 hrs of fighting thick fleas and moderate biting flies without any action whatsoever (normal refusal to give in by both of us but anyone else's sanity would have been checked) it was going on 6PM as we returned to the 100-150 range considering whether to call it quits but opted not to just yet and started marking a little bait near bottom and a few fish down there. We figured they were probably lakers but what the hell so we located our downriggers one with bob's secret weapon rig on it and mine with a slider and parked the spoons at 85 over 100 ft. A little while after marking those bottom oriented fish my rigger fires and line starts peeling out. At first I thought that because it headed for bottom it might be a real big laker but another run made it obvious that it was a king.I was expecting it to come up and shoot out of the water but it didn't and it stayed down and under and heading toward the boat fighting like H the whole way and taking line intermittently. We had a brief look and confirmed it was a decent king then back down. It was then he decided to head toward the wires and a leadcore and there was absolutely nothing I could do to keep him out of that area. Bob was trying to move rods and I was threading my rod with him on it under and over rods etc. but to no avail he finally succeeded in tangling us in two wires and the leadcore.....add to this we had severe fleas on each of those lines so no way to quickly clear them as well as intermittent fleas on the 30 lb Sea Flee downrigger line he was on. Finally after several chinese fire drills Bob was able to get some of the tangles undone and fleas cleared all the way in and he attempted to net the fish who tried to stay down all he could and was not cooperating at all and made some more runs when he spied the net. I finally managed to get him to the net and we had him fully inside the net and he jumped up in the air and out of it (not just sliding over the side of it like they sometimes do...he jumped totally clearing the rim of it) and peeled line again. Once more we managed to get him in the net and thought we had him and he again jumped over the rim of the large salmon net and took line. He was starting to tire a bit and the third time we finally managed to get him in the net but but still fighting. In all my years of fishing in both fresh and salt water this was pound for pound this was the best fighting fish I have encountered and he has earned my total respect and unfortunately he was totally expended at the end so I couldn't release him or I would have. He was a 20 pound specimen that fought like something twice his size and a valiant fighter. Hail to the king! A few minutes later Bob's secret weapon rig peeled line and he was on to another king which he boated without incident since some of our lines were still out of the water etc. It was one about 16-18 lbs. We were still digesting the experience of the other fish all the way home and thank God I wasn't fishing solo as I never would have got him in and it was an experience I won't soon forget despite having caught many larger fish. It was one of my more memorable fishing experiences.Thanks Bob.

Nice going fellas It hasn't been the easiest lake to fish for much of this season either....maybe things are looking up a bit out there

Can't help but wonder if the gobies have won the battle and like Dave and Goliath they have slayed the big boys over time by maybe eating their eggs and young? Chimney Bluffs used to be one of the best smallie places in the area and now it is an apparent wasteland.

Beautiful bow... even some coloration. Nice too to let that one contribute again to the gene pool

WTG Mike and great father and son pic. Good report Ben looks like things are starting to shape up out there.

Better get your rain gear on Nick. Looks as though it is just about there....

tir426 hit the nail on the head Adk1

That is a real beauty Nick Nice going They are truly one of my favorite fish to catch too.

John I think what Nick means is that sometimes the tail may not be as pronounced in the forking (i.e. just slightly forked) and I've also seen it fairly often so really to really be sure the position of the upper jaw jaw and its relationship to the eye (extends to the edge of eye not past it as in the brown) and with a rainbow the entire tail is spotted top and bottom as well as on the dorsal fin. The fork in the tail of the one you caught on the ice was classic but it isn't always that distinct.

Good for you Jim :yes: It looked like a female and if she spawns again those are real good genes to contribute back to the gene pool