22 inch trout taken at Angle Lake!!!

I got a late start--and I mean a very late start--out to the lake and arrived around 2:30 or 3:00 pm. There was no one on the lake. I took this new 906 fly rod I purchased up in Vancouver B.C. a few weeks ago along with to give it a try and decided to tie on an olive woolly bugger with a piece of lead around the tippet knot. The rod proved fairly easy to load up the double taper floating line with its 4ft 3x leader. I originally tried working a strike indicator, but, after a half hour, I felt that the fly needed to sink deeper. By then I had worked myself out by the angle of Angle Lake.

As I neared the inside of the angle, I noticed that the water was much too shallow to do me and my gear any good. I quickly turned my inflatable towards the opposite shore and paddled until I couldn't see the bottom. Once clear, I settled into making some casts for distance. I finally managed to make a couple of good ones, practicing several different return strips, when I felt a strain and saw my fly line sink down. At first I thought I snagged bottom, but when the "bottom" pulled back, I knew I had one on. But how big? I set the hook.

My line then took off. The few feet of lime green fly line quickly uncoiled itself from my lap and jumped into my reel. That angry bee sound was like a drug taken through my ears as yards were stripped off. When the fish took a pause, I quickly added a little more drag and prayed that my knots would hold. About then the fish--I mean "the slab"--broke surface into the air. My God it was huge! It was like watching someone's leg, from the knee on down, kicking above the water. I then felt the line go slack as the fish turned towards me. I reeled in line as fast as I could. When the excess line was pulled in tight, the fish began making short thrashing runs. I could tell that it had worn itself out pretty good. It was now close enough for me to see its black-speckled dark-green back. This trout was big!

I managed to dig my trout net out, but soon realized that it needed to be a little bigger--like another foot bigger. I tried measuring the fish, but the whole affair was too clumsy for a fish of that size. My first guess was at least 19 inches. I dug out my camera and snapped a few pictures and then headed for shore with the fish. I figured that one that big was enough. No sense in getting greedy. when I got ashore and measured it there, it turned out to be 22 inches! This was the biggest freshwater fish I've ever landed.

As a last note, I believe this fish to be either a planted steelhead or one of those triploid trout that I've read about. This fish was as large as some hatchery steelies that I've seen (others catch). I'm not completely sure if this is a triploid, as I've heard some people say that these fish have rather small heads--imagine a fish bulked out on steroids--and that they don't fight much. By my opinion, this one certainly gave me a pretty good effort, taking to the air about two or three times. Considering that the water was in the low 40's, I'm surprised that he had the energy to go airborne. If anyone is sure they know what this lunker trout is, please email me.

Thanks!

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