The Gulf of Mexico from the Florida Keys in 2016.Minnesota’s Mississippi River headwaters in 2006.Arkansas’ Lake Quachita in 2002-03 and ‘09 Bull Shoals in 2007 and Lake Norfork in 2014.South Dakota’s Lake Oahe in 20 Lake Sharp in 2008.The following two years, they fished at Lake Texoma in Texas, followed by two years at McConaughy Lake in Nebraska and again in 2012. Tour,” as the shirt refers to it, kicked off on a Kansas reservoir in 1996 when the group made the trek to Wilson. “Sure were fun to catch and put up a heck of a fight,” Schwerdt said. Schwerdt said none of the anglers ended up eating any lake trout, so they weren’t quite sure what it tasted like, but they’d heard it was a much-less mild flavor than rainbow trout. Lake trout tend to feed on a variety of organisms, including freshwater sponges, crustaceans, insects, fishes and small animals, though some populations subsist entirely on plankton their whole lives. Members of the group tried to resuscitate the trout but were unable.įemale lake trout are also known to breed with male brook trout to create splake, a hybrid species. A would-be world-record lake trout weighing 83 pounds was accidentally snagged and killed in 2017 at Great Bear by members of the Deline First Nation tribe while sustenance fishing with gill nets. By comparison, the largest lake trout ever taken on rod and reel weighed 72 pounds, caught in 1995 on Great Bear Lake in the Northwest Territories of Canada by Lloyd Bull. The heaviest laker ever recorded came in at a massive weight of 102 pounds, caught on a gill net in 1961 out of Alaska, but it only measured 49.5 inches long. An average lake trout is about 20 inches long, with the longest trout ever recorded at 59 inches. Fish and Wildlife Service, and patrols the deep, cool waters of the northern continental United States, Alaska and Canada. Lake trout is the largest of the freshwater char, according to the U.S.
“Bite was consistent both days, which made for a lot of fun.” “We had 13 lines out while trolling, with 10 being long lines and three on down riggers, fishing in 180 feet to 240 feet of water,” Schwerdt said. Schwerdt, who works at Heartland Door and Window, said the group fished approximately 6 to 8 miles from shore off the back of a 41-foot Viking Yacht, leaving the marina about 4:30 a.m. “We caught 20 the first day out and 27 the second day, with 30 being the limit for six of us.” “We were actually going for king salmon, but ending up catching a bunch of nice lake trout, with the biggest being 20 pounds,” said Schwerdt, of Topeka. During the previous trip, they fished from the Illinois side, while this year they set off from the Wisconsin side, lodging in Kenosha. The anglers made a return visit this year to Lake Michigan after last fishing the Great Lake in 2013. The group consists of Chris Schwerdt, Martin Gray, Keith Kerns, Ardell Rodgers, Kent Schwerdt and Brian Yingling, though this year's trip saw Steve Bissette filling in for Rodgers. They even make shirts to commemorate the occasion. A group of six friends from the Topeka area ventured north earlier this summer for “the worst fishing trip ever,” a 23-year running joke that has become an annual tradition.Įach year, one of the friends picks a destination for the fishing trip, and regardless of their actual success or failure on the water, it earns the dubious honor.