This monster lake trout, estimated at about 38 pounds, looks like something you’d see from northern Canada. Most surprisingly, though, it came from a small lake in New Hampshire where it was netted and released by state biologists doing a late Fall survey a few weeks ago.
The lake itself is one of a dozen small lakes that I fish fairly often. And no, I’m not going to tell you which one or where. More to the point, I had no idea this kind of thing was lurking in the depths where I sometimes fish. It’s almost scary.
Chances are that no matter where you fish there’s one or more trophies living, elusive and undetected–so far, at least. It might be a 3-pound perch instead of the 8-inchers you most often catch, or a pot-bellied 30-pound pike hidden deep in a lake best-known for 6- or 7-pounders. Such fish are indeed out there, and they give us something to think about all winter long.