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Hey TTH Readers,
Just got back from our summer family camping/fishing trip to Crescent Lake with the Leibelt family.
We had such a good time last year that we made sure to reserve a yurt well in advance and pick the dates of when we wanted
to be there. Glad we reserved them early because it sounded like the yurts were booked solid for months to come. Heck for
only $30 a night, it’s kind of a no-brainer! Keeps the wife happy too!!
We arrived on Wednesday afternoon and got our gear unpacked into our yurt. The Leibelts’ had arrived
a day before us and warned us that the mosquitos were awful. They did not lie! Those little buggers got more than their fair
share of blood by the time our trip was over. Thank God for deet!! As evening rolled around, we rounded up the kids and headed
out for our first stab at Crescent. Water temps were running around 62.5 degrees F that first night. We tried a few different
depths and trolling paths, but there would be no bites for the kiddos that evening.
Thursday morning came bright and early with a 4:20 am alarm going off. Dustin and I met up and hauled the gear
down to the boat. Little did we know what would be in store for us on this historical morning! In less than an hour on the
water, I felt the tell-tale signs of a fish pick up my lure on the flutter back and instantly I set the hook. There was instant
tension and a heavy weight on my 9 foot ugly stick rod, and then it started peeling line to no end! I knew this was a heavy
fish and was hooked good, so I passed the rod off to my childhood buddy Dustin who I’ve know all my life growing up
in our small hometown of Myrtle Point, OR. Dustin caught an 8lb. hen with me last year, but other than that is relatively
new to the brown trout fishing game. I wanted him to catch a good one, and this felt like the one. He took the rod and stayed
right on top of this fish. Every move made was countered and controlled making sure to give this fish no slack in the line.
Dustin did a good job letting the big fish tucker itself out while keeping everything tight. Once he got into the fluorocarbon
leader, I knew we would see this fish soon. It was staying deep and still pulling heavy on the fishing pole. And then like
that, the big fish broke the surface and I just stared in awe of this magnificent beast! Not only was I relieved it was a
brown instead of a laker, I was just dumbfounded by the size of it. I don’t remember if I said it out loud or not to
Dustin, but I do remember thinking “Oh Lord, this fish is easily over 10, Please God, let us land this one!” As
expected, the big hen brown woke up a little when she broke surface and quickly took a deep line peeling run to the bottom.
I hollered at Dustin to hold on and keep that rod right on top of her. He did a great job following her around the bow of
the boat as she took off again on the surface. She did a few repeat runs and slowly swam towards the boat. I had the net ready
and started to slide it under her, but all of a sudden she exploded to the left and I quickly got the net out of the way.
Phew! She wasn’t quite ready yet and I didn’t want to rush it. Dustin and I did a great job communicating through
the entire battle and we both knew she was close to giving up the fight. Finally she came back around and in one big scoop
she was ours! Instead of whooping and hollering, Dustin and I just high-fived and kinda giggled. I think we were both still
in shock at the size of the first fish that came to the boat on this trip. I just stared at her in the net while in the water
and couldn’t believe the girth and mass. She was just an oinker! Knowing my rubber net (thanks Jimmy Lewis!) weighs
5.5 pounds, I grabbed my boga-grip scale and weighed her net and all over the floorboards of my Smokercraft. I could easily
see the 18 pound mark on the scale as the line hovered above that tick mark. Dustin broke the silence with “Oh my God,
12-1/2 pounds, R.D.!”
| RD Set the Hook and let Dustin Fight this Monster! |
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| Dustin Leibelt with the biggest brown trout of his life, 30 inches, 12 1/2 lbs! Congratulations!! |
WOW, what a PIG of a hen brown. I got a quick measurement from the tape attached to the seat across the bow
of my boat and she was 30 inches even. Unfortunately, the thought of getting a girth measurement didn’t cross my mind
until after we released her. But from experience, I would say she was easily 19 inches. After some picture moments and frequent
soaks in the net to keep her fresh, we decided to let her swim away. She was pretty tired from the event, but with some wiggle
in her tail, I shoved her off and she slowly swam back down to her territory of darkness.
| RD Releasing this Incredible Brown Trout! |
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| Back to the lake for this beautiful hen! |
Dustin and I celebrated with a few more high-fives and then we got right back at it. One small 18 inch
brown was the only other fish we caught that morning, and Dustin decided it would be a good one for the grill and to show
the kids. Back at camp, the wives and kids couldn’t believe the pictures of our trophy brown. Now the kids couldn’t
wait for their chance to get one.
As luck would have it, the evening would
be another special moment. This time for Dustin’s oldest son, Cole. With all the water skiing and Jet Ski activity from
another beautiful sunny day on the lake, I decided to give a different area of the lake some lure time. With only about 30
minutes left of legal fishing, we decided to reel in the gear and move to a proven productive area just before dark. My daughter,
Madyson, and I reeled in our artificial offerings and Cole was doing the same thing on his pole with help from Dad. I had
just finished setting down both Mady and my rods in the boat and happened to look up at Cole’s pole tip. It was loaded
and I yelled “Cole, you got a Fish On!!!”. Cole squealed and the fight was on. Evidently, Cole was reeling with
his opposite hand and was getting tired bringing in all that line we let out. Dustin was jokingly making fun of him and told
him to stop reeling and switch to the correct hand to finish reeling in. There was only about 50 feet of line left to reel
in when the brown slammed the lure. I think the fish reacted to the stoppage of the swimming lure, and once Cole started reeling
again the brown instinctively reacted by hitting the lure. Cole did a great job battling the brown and I was the first to
see the fish since he came up by the transom of the boat. I hollered, “Whoa! That’s a dandy! I need to get the
net!” I fumbled around for the net as Cole held on for another line ripping run. Finally the hookjaw male came to the
net and I got him! The look on Cole and Dustin’s faces was priceless and I will never forget it. Cole was the proudest
little boy on the lake that night and right fully so. This little missile was all of 5-1/2 pounds and was a mere 22 inches
long!! Just a stacked male brown trout. We got some GREAT pictures of Cole with his first brown and of father and son.
| Cole Leibelt catches the Largest Trout of His Life |
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| 22 inch, 5 and 1/2 lb Piglet of a Brown! Way to go, COLE!!! |
| Cole Leibelt with proud dad, Dustin! |
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| What it's all about! A great catch that will create a memory that will last a lifetime! |
Knowing this was Cole’s first brown trout ever, and a dandy at that, I asked him if he wanted
to keep this one to show Momma, Grandma, and his siblings back at camp. He lit up like a kid on Christmas morning and said
“Yes, Yes!!”. I told him this would be a good one to keep since it was a male and around the 5 pound mark. The
kids sure got a kick out of me knocking the stocky buck in the head with my wooden club a couple times. Funny how kids react
to things sometimes! We put the fish in the net in the bottom of the boat and headed for camp. Mady and Cole were as happy
and proud as any little kids could be! It was a great moment and one I will cherish for years to come. And Cole did it all
by himself without Dad’s help too which made the entire thing that much more special. Cool stuff.
Friday was slow and tough. I snagged up 3 different times in the first hour of fishing. The first snag
was an 8 foot long piece of PVC pipe with rope on it! At first I thought I’d hooked another monster, but quickly realized
it was a snag. With my trusty snagmaster lure retriever, I pull the whole 9 yards off the lake bottom and salvaged my lure.
I kept the pvc device in my boat too so it wouldn’t foul the next guy. Ten minutes later I snagged some old fishing
line that once again tricked me. Dangit! I pulled what felt like half a spool of line off the bottom of the lake. The last
snag was my fault by getting too shallow with the lure I was running. Thankfully, I managed not to lose any lures from the
ordeal. No love from the brown trout gods this morning.
That night, my son Wyatt got to reel in the last 100 feet of line on a descent 3 pound brown that Dustin
had hooked. He was excited to say the least, but wouldn’t hold the fish for a picture. He’s six and still not
sure about those slimy creatures. Either way, he was super proud about his catch and told everyone back at camp that night.
It must have had some effect though, because he asked me to go again the next night! It sure is a proud feeling to have both
my kids in the boat with me. I thank the Lord above for the successes we’ve had on the boat when the little ones have
been out with us. Sure makes it fun and exciting for them and only gets them more interested in the sport. Saturday morning proved
to be the most productive of the entire trip. We caught 4 fish with Dustin having the hot lure. He landed a scrappy 4-1/2
pound, 22 inch male and an incredibly beautiful silvery colored hen that was ONLY 24 inches long but weighed in at 7-1/2 pounds!!!
| 24 inch,7-1/2 lb Hookjaw for Dustin |
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| What an incredible trip for Dustin!! Released right after the photo! |
She was just a fat, thick healthy fish. Both of these fish were released after pictures. Dustin and I fished
for another hour and then headed in for breakfast. We fished that night with the kids, but only caught one small dink. I knew
I was low on gas, but I my estimate was a little off. Luckily we were not too far from the resort when my Mercury started
sputtering. Time to break out the oars and get a workout! After rowing for a couple hundred yards, a really nice guy from
Glide, OR came to our rescue. We hooked on with a rope as he towed me to the docks. Thanks again man!! Sure appreciated that.
With that, it was too late to get more gas. Felt good to sleep in on Sunday though. All in all, we managed
10 fish for the trip. All fish were caught on kokanee colored lures in the 25 to 30 foot range. The lake surface temp rose
to 66.5 degrees F by the time we left. Sure felt nice to swim in though during the heat of the day. It’s trips like
this that make me wonder why we hit it so hard during the winter/spring when it’s 20 degrees outside and the water is
in the 30’s! haha! Fishing like 16 hours a day and not taking any breaks. It’s all about paying your dues in this
sport and I wouldn’t trade any of it for the world! Something special about them summertime browns though. Man I love
trophy trout hunting!
Take care all and best of luck on your next fishing adventure!
R.D.
“Browns – Coyotes of the Fishing World!”
| Family and Friends! What it's ALL about!! |
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