Lake Champlain United - Forums

After a good weekend day of fishing I decided to bail from work and take my boy fishing. Said winds 5-9 out of the north but when we got to Converse it was way stronger winds. I decided to set up in the bay before we hit the swells and I was just setting up the 3rd rigger when the drag started screaming from my second rod. I had all I could do to get it out of the rod holder and give it to my son. Once it stopped running it darted to the surface to jump and we saw a jaw dropping big steelhead come out of the water. Was massive!! Even bigger than the one from last weekend. Once it hit the water it was screaming drag going side to side and down deep. I started to clear the first rod while trying to keep us going down wind in the big swells. Then the fish jumps again about 20’ back and my boy yells the fish is tangled in the line. Somehow the fish got the line wrapped around its self during the fight. I told my boy to ease it in and let it take all the line it needed but then another fast charge and snap… the line broke about a foot up from where the lure was tied. The fish was on the slider that had a large purple people eater honeybee lure. The rigger was set at 70’ so I’m guessing the slider was running around 35’. Stinks to lose two lures but to top it off my reel bearings got messed up from the screaming drag. Good thing I always bring extra rods. My boy was bumming… His largest fish yet… we regrouped and made a few more passes and we decided to head south with the waves to our laker spot. Didn’t take long and bam! Another rod was screaming!! He fought it for a while and only caught a glimpse of it… big ass laker.. but just like that pop and he was off to fight another day… it was not our day as my boy had over a dozen nice lakers on but lost all but one. Maybe they were light biting or maybe the big swells added to the lure pulling out. We will never know. We ended our day back in Converse out of the wind for the last hour. Had one rod fire off and pulling line… my boy grabs the rod and boom… gone again maybe next time lol… all in all it was a good day with lots of heavy fish and a steelhead memory my son will never forget. I think the fishing is just going to get better from here on out! A lot more bait than last month… and hooking into a lot bigger fish! Get those lines in the water as I think some monsters will be caught soon!

It is time for you to get some new line on those reels buy you some gamma line will never lose a big fish again the best there is trust me

Nice report John.
Loosing multiple fish during that trip is a sure sign you need to update your lines.
Even if you were not able to land them, those huge fish were memorable moments you will both remember for a while.

The lost fish were from spitting the hook except for the steelhead. Thinking the line wrapped around the fish caused the line break. I usually run 8lb leaders and check them often. Sometimes you get lucky and sometimes you don’t lol. I know I can’t wait to get back on the water! Lots of nice steelhead this year

When was last time you changed all rod lines? If you fish a lot ,once a year, the sun kills the line, twists, cheaters etc. I put rods away inside boat until next time,

Another Great Post! Thank you for the info, I now I have a little more valuable Intel to use for my initial dropping points(depth, etc.) I would love to hook into one of those Steelhead!

Not sure how someone
Would dial in a steelhead bite but you have done it!!!

Amazing results!

Thanks for sharing