Today, while out on a lake mainly fishing for bass, my Dad hooked into a 3 1/2 lb rainbow trout. After quite a battle we managed to get him landed.

One issue that I had though... in a lake while boating, how do you cleanly release that large of a trout? It was nearly impossible to hold him upright and/or by the tail while he regained his strength. After 2 failed releases, he finally came around, stayed on the surface for another couple minutes before returning to the depths. We were a little worried. Didn't bring along any "keeper" gear for keeping our catches.

Off topic... After a 2 weeks of having my Dad here, was very happy to help him land his first trout (and at that a monster too!) Likewise, I landed my first trout on a fly last weekend. A wonderful 14" Rainbow up in a mountain lake.

Thanks,
Paul