My First Trout Pond

I had intended to write another post about the greenback run, with some more pictures of the Red River and a few nice walleye, even another channel catfish. They were great pictures, I promise, but you can’t see them. I made an expensive mistake and dropped my phone into the live well while I was sorting through our catch.

Despite having a waterproof rating, the phone was fried almost instantly, and I lost all my newest pictures and video from it. Remember folks, backup your media on the regular!

Moving on.

The other day, after a week of miserable rainy, windy, cold weather, I finally got a break and had a nice day to take the kayak out. I knew that this might very well be my last time out with the kayak, so I wanted to go after something special. I decided to head to the Lac Du Bonnet Ponds and see about catching my first trout.

Looks promising

Now I’m sure most people are familiar with the common Rainbow and Brown trout, and that’s what I expected to see here. I was surprised to see a new type of trout on this sign, and took a quick look around at the information that was posted near the pond. It turns out Tiger trout are a new hybrid species of trout that can be found in some of the stocked ponds in this area. Perfect! What an interesting fish that would be to catch.

The weather was nearly perfect, the water crystal clear, and I had the whole pond to myself. After the miserable week we’d had this was about as great a set up as I could ask for.

Picture perfect

I loaded up and paddled out a little ways and was absolutely amazed at how clear the water was. When the sun came out I could see the forests of plants underneath me, and not two minutes in I had already spotted about 8 trout swimming around underneath me and around the plants. I figured this was going to be an easy day.

Its a whole other world down there

As with many things, I was very wrong.

I parked myself over a few different spots where I had spotted fish swimming around under me, and started casting. I spent several hours trying different spinners, blade baits, crankbaits, and spoons and watching the fish swim disinterestedly right by them. I think that when it comes to fishing, being able to actually see the fish ignoring your lure is the height of frustration.

At least I had some company

As afternoon rolled into evening I finally hit onto a lure that interested them, a small brown colored Rapala husky jerk. I cast it out and immediately got hits on it, now I just had to get them hooked. A few more casts into a new area and it happened. The rod twitched, then bent, and the fight was on.

Having never caught a trout I was really not sure what to expect, and I certainly was not expecting the acrobatics that started. This fish was flopping and jumping all over the surface trying to spit out the hook. I thought bass were a fun jumping fish, but this guy put my best bass to shame. I finally reeled the little guy in and got a hold of it to settle it down and take a look. My very first trout was a beautiful Tiger!

What a pattern on these fish!

It was no monster, by any means, measuring around 10 or 11 inches, but the coloration and pattern on these fish is mesmerizing. I could very easily drop one of these into an aquarium and watch it for hours. I felt very lucky and happy to have pulled one of these in for a close look and got him back into the water quickly before I stressed him out too much.

Mission accomplished! It took me all afternoon, it was a small one that I couldn’t keep, but I got my trout, and it was a beauty.

After that I caught one more small Tiger and had a number of strikes that I couldn’t hook, but it had taken me so long to find a lure that worked that I was pretty much out of time for the day. I slowly paddled back to the dock while I enjoyed the view around me, packed things up, and headed home.

A relaxing way to end the day

I’m always sad to see summer come to an end and never look forward to putting the kayak away for the winter. I hope to get out a few more times before that happens but I know its a very real possibility that I won’t. If this ends up being my last trip out for the season, I’m satisfied at least that I was able to end it on a high note by trying something new and accomplishing a goal.

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