For Madison, it may be a fish of a lifetime… but she’s young and she’s got time on her side. For her Dad, I’m sure it will be a memory of a lifetime.
The story starts a couple years ago with a text message from a friend asking if I had any dates open to do a father and daughter fishing trip in the fall.
Anyone who knows me well knows how much I cherish fishing trips that involve a parent and a child… I’ve done lots of fathers and sons; mothers and sons; mothers and daughters; but I had never had a father and daughter trip – and I was excited!
Ron had fished with me before on a guy’s trip, and he had been successful in catching his own Personal Best 24 inch, trophy Brook Trout (not to mention the only Smallmouth Bass I have ever seen landed on Lake Nipigon!)
So I knew I had one good angler as part of the tandem, and he assured me that his daughter, Madison, was equally enthused to fish Lake Nipigon.
So in the fall of 2024, I met Maddi for the first time and, sadly, it had been an exceptionally warm summer that yielded shorts & t-shirt weather and way warmer than normal water temperatures in the last week of September.
The hopes of casting for large Lake Trout on shallow reefs with light tackle were quickly replaced by the need for down-riggers to be able to make some fishy connections.
Maddi had a crack at a very large fish that coughed up a foot-long Burbot beside the boat, but we didn’t get the fish to net, and the resulting feeling was complete and total disappointment – it happens – everyone loses a fish along the way. So it ended up that her best of the fall was a 29 inch / 9.25 lb. Laker.
Determined to give her a chance to redeem herself from the agony of the previous fall, Ron booked me for a Spring trip in 2025.
Day 1 of the trip was devoted to exorcising her Lake Trout demons, and Maddi’s first Laker checked in at 34 inches / 12 lbs. establishing a new Personal Best… but she wasn’t done there!
After watching her Dad land his own Personal Best Lake Trout – a hefty 34.5 inch / 16.5 lb fish – Maddi was intent on improving her score, but the bite just died.
We tried everything – lure changes; speed changes; depth changes; lead length changes; voodoo (just kidding)… nothing seemed to work and after a couple hours without a strike, I asked if they trusted me and suggested we try one more spot.
And then it happened… at nearly 3 pm on a flat calm, warm & sunny June day on Lake Nipigon, magic occurred!! Our patience and persistence were rewarded.
After seeing a single fish mark on the sounder in 75 feet of water over a 90 foot depth, I figured we might have an active feeding fish, and I dropped the down-rigger to it and then all heck broke loose!!
The rod bent intensely and the drag started screaming as the fish ran, pulling more than 180 feet of line off the reel. Suddenly Maddi found herself battling a monster fish that was more than 320 feet away from the boat and in 90 feet of water.
For those that don’t know, roughly every 30 feet of depth equals 1 atmosphere of pressure on a fish’s air/swim bladder… so like scuba divers returning to the surface from a depth, periods of decompression for the fish are required.
As I coached Maddi through the process of letting the fish rest every 30 feet that she brought it up, I told her that it required constant rod control and pressure… and (although tired at times) she played the fish expertly for about 20 minutes.
By the way, did I mention that Lake Nipigon requires an angler to use only a single, barbless hook on any lure?? It’s true… adding even more complexity to landing large trophy fish.
When the fish finally appeared about 20 feet below the boat in the calm, clear water all Maddi could say as she was shaking was “Holy (expletive)”! And after one last 30 foot run, this monster fish was finally brought to net. This petite, young lady was completely in awe, shaking and overcome with excitement… a very touching moment for father and daughter as they celebrated the accomplishment.
Maddi had just masterfully wrestled a new Personal Best, 42 inch / 30 lb. Lake Nipigon Lake Trout to the boat… a fish of a lifetime… eclipsing her 12 lb. previous best Laker by 18 lbs!!!
The greatest accomplishment of all? The fish was successfully released to hopefully become someone else’s dream one day.
These are the moments – for me anyways – that make Guiding such a rewarding experience… sharing my outdoor world with others, and waiting to see what unfolds.
So, take your kid fishing… or, if you’re an older kid, take your Mom or Dad fishing… live and experience those magical and memorable moments!
Congrats to Maddi & Ron… see you “On the Water” again soon!!
