The best way to characterize the fishing at Red Lake this year is "Big Trout and Plenty of Them." The Troutmen hammered the Lakers as never before. A total of twenty Trout were boated during the week. All but five were released, and many Trout were brought to the boat but not netted for one reason or another. These weren't counted in the official stats. Our intrepid Trouters caught Trout every day, Sunday through Friday.

FAST ACTION

The first Trout was taken by Goka. It was a welcome ice-breaker, coming as it did early in the first morning's outing. Hardly an hour had passed before Goka hooked up with a nice sized Laker. This was particularly heartening for the Troutmen who have seen most of a week go by without a single Trout in the boat. Goka did a great job of landing the first Trout of the trip, skillfully playing the powerful fish until it was ready for the net. A true sportsman, Goka released the first Trout and set the ethical tone for the others to follow. Everyone caught Trout on Sunday. Tofu hauled in a respectable eight and three-quarter pounder, and Raj made what was to be his biggest mark in the book for the whole week with a ten pounder. The latter was taken within minutes of Raj's having tied on a weird lure he bought at the Lodge which claimed to attract all kinds of fish with a unique gurgling sound. Tofu and Goka figured it could have been the liberal dose of WD-40 Raj had applied, rather than the gurgle effect. No matter, Raj, never one to stick with success, switched lures as soon as he had the big fish off the hook. Tofu took a seven pounder to round out the first day's Trouting.

REAL PIKERS

All Trout and no pike make for dull boys. Goka and Raj both netted nice northerns on "opening day", two superb eaters totaling four and a half pounds. Real fighters, these big tackle busters can be caught all day every day at Bow Narrows. They provide an amusing diversion for hardened Troutmen, and are the favorite of women, children and effeminate Europeans. Once an expert removes the pike's millions of tiny but treacherous Y bones, the meat is quite good. Tofu didn't catch any pike on Sunday, but his disappointment was eased by a hearty lunch of fried pike served that noon at the Lodge.

MORE TROUT

Twenty Trout were boated over the week, for a total of one hundred forty-five and a half pounds. Tofu broke the century mark, netting a big one hundred eight and a half pounds of fish, (all species). He caught the most Trout, with a total of twelve that added up to ninety-seven pounds. As hard as it was for Tofu to come so close to a personal total of a hundred pounds of Trout, there was a bigger disappointment in store for the hairy- backed Troutslayer. Raj pulled only four Trout from the lake this year, as did last year's big winner, Goka. The biggest Trout seen all week was brought up to the boat by Goka, but was lost when the monster spit out the hook at the last minute. All estimates put the fish at a minimum of twenty pounds, about half as big as Raj's giant up-to-the-boater last year.

WILY WALLEYES?

Wednesday saw our Trouters ready for a break from the rigors of the cannonballs and fried fish lunches at the lodge. They asked Trevor and Ian to prepare bag lunches, which were efficiently assembled as the three weary and overfed Troutmen forced down their Grand Slam breakfasts. Tofu wore a French Beret, and Raj was mother. The day started out with a futile attempt to locate the mysterious hidden honey-hole in the Big Lake. Then the Trout- boat graphed the area near the islands in the Big Lake, finding no Trout. So it was off to Golden Arm, the long, narrow bay with shallow water that had yielded many nice northerns in years past. At the mouth of the bay, they saw a strange sight. Several boats, some with Indian guides, were working the water. Drifting small jigs, the Black Bear Camp fishermen were clearly going for walleyes. They all were tense, their every nerve attuned to the tiny sucking bite of the walleye. Thinking this sorry excuse for sport beneath them, the Troutmen went on into the bay to troll their big Rapalas on heavy steel leaders for tackle-buster northerns. Goka steered the agile boat in and out of the grassy baylets and past the rocky points of Golden Arm. Where the weeds were too thick, or the stickups in the way, our boys stopped and cast for the feisty pike. Luck was with them, seven northerns came into the boat. Noon found the Troutmen-cum-pikers at the far end of the bay, where they enjoyed a bucolic lunch on the shore. When the bar was closed and the Tums passed around, the trolling resumed.

MIRACLE AT GOLDEN ARM

As Goka pushed the boat close against a rocky outcropping, his Rap was hit hard. The seasoned fisherman knew right away that it wasn't a northern that was fighting at the end of his ten pound Trilene. The first flash revealed the beauty for what it was: a big walleye! Who could imagine taking an ordinarily placid, sissified walleye on a fast troll with a giant Rapala on a steel leader? Goka netted the miraculous prize with his usual casual mastery. Tofu couldn't believe his eyes. He said, "You won't see anything like that for another ten years." Well, it was hardly ten minutes before Tofu had a walleye on his line. When landed, it proved to be even a little bigger than Goka's. Raj didn't catch any walleyes all week.

ALMOST 15 POUNDS

Thursday was fated to be tragic for Tofu. Although he boated six nice trout that day, averaging almost ten pounds each, this was the day the big 15 pound mark he had dreamed of would elude him.