Every angler likes battling a big fish, but their worst nightmare is having that fish completely spool the reel down to the knot. It's a recipe for disaster, and more than one big fish has been lost like this over the years. When it happens, an angler must act fast to ensure the fish doesn't break free, and that's exactly what happens in today's video featuring YouTuber Jay Siemens and his cameraman Brandon. Jay wants to put Brandon on a lake trout since he's never caught one before; and not long after getting set up on a remote Manitoba lake, a big laker strikes the bait.
After Jay passes the rod to Brandon, the fish keeps taking line and takes the spool down to the knot before Brandon quickly reacts to start bringing the line back in. The first part of the video covers the road trip to the lodge they are fishing. Jump to the 13-minute mark if you just want to see some great angling action.
It doesn't get much more exciting than that while ice fishing! Jay was skimming ice out of the hole when that fish hit, so it's understandable he didn't realize what happened at first. It did look like he hit the line by accident with the scoop at first. Fortunately, the guide recognized it was a strike and, from there, it was a rather exciting battle to bring that giant lake trout to the surface.
One thing we've always appreciated about Jay's videos is that he often puts the rod in the hands of friends, family and, in this case, his cameraman instead of focusing all the attention on himself. It's just nice to see someone spreading the love of fishing around to others. We're thinking it's a safe bet that Brandon will now be hooked on catching lake trout through the ice after this one!
For more outdoor content from Travis Smola, be sure to follow him on Twitter and Instagram. For original videos, check out his Geocaching and Outdoors with Travis YouTube channels.
