Lake Champlain United - Forums

Sometimes reality trumps fiction. Fishing this afternoon off colchester reef. I am alone so decide to run cheaters. I get things set then see port line going nuts and by the time I get there I see a salmon jumping just off the boat. Main line still attached to the cannon ball. Suffice to say I miss him. Looks like he hit the cheater and swam up towards the boat. Unbelievable. Another 4-5 misses on cheaters and I give up and move the riggers up and abandon the slide cheaters. I catch this guy in the pics about 7lbs. Then bam I get a hit that starts taking line and drag. I stop the boat and fight this fish for 20min. Finally get it to the boat and its a HUGE Laker. Double the length of the one I caught. Since I have a 15’ 8lb leader up to a rudder it’s challenging to net it. I move my rod to the bow and start to pull the line with my net in my other hand. And? A huge Laker. Yes. A Laker. Jumps through the bottom of my net. I slow motion I see the net jerk out of my hand, the line break, the lure spit and my net sinking. Then I see this huge Laker slowly swim towards deeper water I and swear his tail fin was giving me the finger.

OMG ! Sorry that happened, although it makes for a great fish story. Nice healthy looking 7-lb laker there.

I have lost a couple nets to the depths in ways I never saw coming.

I am still laughing. Never ever had to come in early because I didn’t have a net.

Nice story..... so there a huge laker fishing with a net wrapped around his head.....

Great post. Love the pic.

Gecha (Gerry) wrote: ↑Mon Jul 04, 2022 10:32 am Nice story..... so there a huge laker fishing with a net wrapped around his head.....

No he got out of the net…

Sounds like a hell of a day… glad to hear you getting lots of action…

A fixed cheater can help the hook up rate by getting a better hook set before they slide down… that is why I don’t use sliding cheaters anymore… look up Ablerta clipper… great unit…

Fish on!!

Will do. Never heard of a fixed cheater so will need to learn.

Big Bear wrote: ↑Mon Jul 04, 2022 3:51 pm Will do. Never heard of a fixed cheater so will need to learn.

Here is link;

https://www.ebay.com/itm/133280680234?m ... media=COPY

Ah ok. So it’s essentially a stacker but on the drop line instead of the downrigger. I’ll order some and check them out. Thanks, Matt.

Awesome story......!

striper192001 wrote: ↑Wed Jul 06, 2022 6:52 am Awesome story......!

Hey Eric,

If you are ever looking for someone to fish with, I live near Mallets Bay. My boat or yours......let me know

Ok. I am in the bay. Can you DM me with contact info?

Eric.........did you get my DM ? It says it is in my outbox ?