Monster Lake Trout Catch
In Canada, Sam Boucha fought a monster lake trout for nearly an hour before realizing the hole in the ice was too small to reel the monster fish in. So her boyfriend Brad Molloy drilled a second hole to help Sam reel in the big catch.
Boucha plunged her arm into the icy water and grabbed ahold of the fish, waiting for the hole in the ice to expand.
“I was frozen,” Boucha told CBC. “We had a shack to warm up in afterwards, so it was nice, but, yeah, it was bare-handed, arm down the hole to my shoulder, holding on to that fish until the second hole was drilled.”
Boucha told said she “could barely hold it” through the 2½-foot ice hole.
Boucha pulled the lake trout through the opening. The lake trout measured 57 inches and 3/4 long with a 31″ girth. On a hand scale, it weighed 50 pounds, but it was estimated to weigh 57 pounds by calculation.
“I’ve caught a 35-pound trout before and this was something similar, so we’re pretty excited,” she said. “It was unreal.”
In order to determine the fish’s age, Boucha donated a pectoral fin and an ocular bone to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry for research. She also plans on mounting it since it was one of her biggest catches.
While some people were upset that the fish died, many commenters on social media were positive about Boucha’s catch. I would say good catch Sam I’m sure it will make a very nice mount.
This species naturally inhabits northern North America. Most of its populations live in Canada and Alaska, but some naturally extend into the contiguous states as well. The fish has, however, been introduced to other regions in the United States, South America, New Zealand, and Sweden by humans.
Unlike some other members of the Salmonidae family, these fish live in cold, freshwater habitats. They do not have anadromous tendencies and are primarily found in freshwater lakes and ponds. Their primary habitats also include deep lakes and ponds. Deep water rivers are also part of their range.
This fish’s diet depends on its age. Younger fish prefer smaller invertebrates, while adults prefer larger prey, such as fish. Juveniles hunt for plankton, insects, insect larvae, worms, and more. Sculpins, alewives, smelt, minnows, and other small fish are eaten by adults.
