Tossed it back out into the rapids, the bag finally started to settle down, slowly tumbling along the bottom...tap tap! Set the hook, FISH ON! With the camera rolling, we got some nice footage of a tagged 17" Steelhead! Jumped clean out of the water to make a nice loud splash as it hit, right in front of us, awesome! Got it in Lawrences net, measured it, got the tag number (I'll have to ask Lawrence for it, I forgot) Then we got an underwater release, but the fish didn't take off slowly like we wanted, he darted. Only problem is I forgot to take a quick picture with my phone, oh well it'll be on TV!
We continued fishing for about another hour or so, then we decided to move on to the first point, then the second point. Surprisingly no luck, but I did have a fish that kept wacking a crawler I was letting flutter around in the current, he cleaned me 3 times in a row then left me alone after that. Once we were done with fishing the points, we headed back to the beach for a few more drifts. Lawrence set up a drift rig with an October Prince, I setup a spinner, then a spawn bag again. Shortly after that, Lawrence was hooked up! Only for a few seconds unfortunately, he must have shaken right off.
We took a lunch break, and they were gracious enough to treat me to some lunch at Papa Franks. Chicken Pesto was awesome!
We headed back down after that for some Q&A footage, I hope I didn't make myself look like a fool.....
I did however give a shoutout to the LCU forum! Lake Champlain United baybay!After Q&A we fished the beach some more, hoping to get another Steelhead. After a little while, Lawrence was hooked up into a smaller fish, he thought it was a Fallfish until he got it closer. A little Brown, sweet!
We kept fishing and fishing, both trying different setups and offerings to the fish, no luck! I ran out of spawn bags (I had about 20) from so many snags and hits that just crushed the bags. We all shook hands, I thanked them for their hospitality and the opportunity to be on the VPT Outdoor Journal, and they were off. The episode should be out around April they said, and they'll also have it on Youtube so you'll be able to watch it online.
Now heres the best part of all, once they left Lawrence told me I'd better not get a fish once they left...
So I packed up and headed to the point after seeing someone out on the rock pile, figured I'd go have a chat to see if he had any luck. Right as I get there, he's cussing out the fish he just lost on his spinner, bummer! I drifted a crawler through a few times, then switched over to a Rapala, but before I could even cast out he was cussing and slapping his pole on the water again! Another fish off! Damn, that sucks....
Few casts into the Rapala, YYYYYYYANK YANK! Wooooo FISH ON! Felt HEAVY! Shook its head, came to the top of the water, laughed at me and then spit out my Rapala. Must have only gotten 1 barb in its mouth...figures! Looked like a nice female Salmon, JUST WHAT I WANTED!
By that time, a fly fisherman by the name of Tim(?) arrived and fished about 10 or so feet away drifting some egg imitations for Steelhead with his flyrod. We chatted for a little while, and I was going through my usual plethora of baits and lures, then decided to stop and keep throwing my silver sized 2 Vibrax. A couple casts later way far out, FISH ON AGAIN! This one was HEAVY! Tim and I thought it was a Steelhead at first, I swear I saw a flash of red. I'm thinking in the back of my mind (FINALLY a Master Angler Steelhead!) Then I got it closer and realized what it was.
A Laker! On a spinner!
Barely hooked, 1 barb in that took little to no effort to pop right out. Funny thing is, a half digested minnow somehow got stuck on one of the hooks, which was cool to see. Tim was gracious enough to help me with some pictures, and coincidently he just joined the LCU forum a few days ago, and recognized my 8 LB LL post, small world!
I headed out after that, was getting dark and I was exhausted. I'll be back down tomorrow probably with my waders if the water doesn't get any higher, the rock pile is looking like a hot spot right now. Thanks for reading, hopefully more reports coming soon.
