Guided a 1/2-day trip today getting underway just after 7:45 am. Today I had Robert, whom I hadn't seen in probably 16 to 18 years and his nephew Travis and nephew's son, Dominic, who was only 6-years old! Six-years old is a couple years too young for my style of lake trout fishing, but Robert had been out with me before and knew what was entailed. Travis worked with Nick until he was comfortable with the tackle and then we were pretty much hands-off with Nick, with the exception of a good amount of coaching and reminding! Lakers are too strong/heavy for youngsters of that age, but fortunately the first fish he hooked was a nice landlocked salmon around 3lbs! It fought well and went ballistic close to the boat. I came inches away from being able to net it, but wasn't able to before the fish threw the jig. Nick hooked what appeared to be a decent lake trout a little bit later, but unfortunately the hook just pulled out. He was a great sport and knows fishing beyond his years! He just shrugged off the losses and went back at it. After a couple of hours, the fatigue of getting up early got to him and he took some breaks.
The adults did well today with a couple 31" lakers and a couple of 29"s to start! Can't beat that! Afterwards a few smaller, more normal-sized lakers made it to the net. The bite was slow during our first hour, then picked up markedly when the cloud cover rolled in and the wind was still up. Once the wind died down, it slowed down again until we had some sun poke through and some light breezes start up. Fun day and I hope to see the guys again as Nick grows up.
