As Dave Woods of Ridgway loaded his fishing tackle into the
vehicle, he wondered if he might be wasting his time.

It was Dec. 5 and a cold front had moved into the region. This
weather system brought with it not only high barometric pressure,
but clear, bright blue skies and large fluffy clouds.

It was a beautiful day to look at, but as any fisherman knows,
high pressure systems generally mean poor fishing.

Dave loves to fish though, and as we all know, a poor day
fishing is always far better than a good day at work.

Dave had another reason he felt he should go. The East Branch
Dam was conducting its annual fall draw down. Water levels in the
dam were being lowered in preparation for heavy fall rains or the
annual spring run off.

As the gates were opened Dave knew occasional large fish washed
through and took up residence immediately below the dam. You just
never knew what might be lurking in the depths.

Once at the dam spillway, Dave baited one pole with a minnow and
still fished while casting spinners with his other rod. After an
hour of diligent casting, he hadn’t had a single hit. On a hunch,
he dug around his tackle box and pulled out a special attractant,
Trout Gravy.

He applied some to a fresh minnow, which he tossed back out and
then applied some of the attractant to his Rooster Tail spinner. It
wasn’t long until he had a hit on his spinner and landed a small
lake trout about 16 inches. Lake trout this size are pretty darn
skinny and Dave tossed it back to put some more weight on. It
wasn’t long until he caught another small laker on the spinner,
which he released also.

Suddenly, he was startled to see a large fish raise up out of
the swirling depths and swim just underneath the surface
immediately in front of him. When he looked again, he was shocked
to see his fishing line trailing out the corner of the fish’s
mouth!

This called for fast action!

Dave cranked in his spinner in record time, threw that rod down
and grabbed his minnow pole. He frantically reeled in all the slack
line until he felt the fish’s weight, then set the hook!

The big trout’s head jerked to the side, there was a momentary
pause, then the startled fish rushed for the center of the tail
waters, ripping line from Dave’s reel.

The see-saw battle continued for well over five minutes. Dave
would work the fish into shore, then the powerful laker would run
back into the deeper water.

With the trout weighing more than his eight-pound test line,
Dave was careful not to horse the fish, letting her run when she
wanted too, gently stopping her, then carefully working her back
in. Gradually, the fish tired and finally he was able to beach the
big lake trout.

What a beauty!

The tape put the fish at an incredible 32 inches long! Not only
was this trophy long, it was heavy and thick, over four inches
across the back. The heavy shouldered trout pulled the scales down
and down, finally weighing out at over 11 pounds. That’s quite a
hunk of trout.

The hungry laker had completely inhaled the big minnow. It was
nowhere in sight when Dave peered down into its mouth, past those
tooth-filled jaws, looking for the hook.

Dave stood for some time admiring his magnificent trophy. As he
gazed at his fish, the roar of the rushing waters spilling over the
dam filled his ears, the sun beamed down in all its glory, the
waters sparkled and the cotton white clouds sailed past in the
bright blue sky. Yes, this had turned out to be an incredible day,
a day to always cherish and remember.

Now though, it was time to get back to town and show this beauty
off!