In June of 1986, my friend Michael and I had this trip to Portage Lake on the west coast planned for a while. So with all of our gear, and the canoe ready, we set off. That morning we both woke up at daybreak. It was a great morning for fishing; as soon as we launched our canoe from shore, we frightened a loon that was echoing down the lake. We started to fish; after trying so many different types of bait and getting no bites, I decided to try my miracle bait - a piece of orange peel on a number 6 hook. Michael and I were stunned when something grabbed my line. I knew it was a fair-sized trout. I would reel in so far, and as soon as I would get him close to the canoe, he would take off, using almost all of my line. Two or three times I had him close, but finally he came close enough for me to make a grab, and when I did, I caught him right at the gills and got him into the canoe. He started to flap around so crazily that I grabbed a plastic bag, put it through his gills and tied him onto the centre bar of the canoe. We stayed for the next couple of hours. All Michael was catching were fly bites; of course, he didn't use the miracle bait. Of course, I was too excited to even fish, so we finally made it into shore. When we got there, a bunch of guys from Nova Scotia saw me pulling something in; they couldn't believe that the fish I got was just under 6 lb. They were all so impressed they all took turns taking pictures with my "big fish." We were on our way home when Michael said, "Who do you want to show off your trout to?" I said, "Let's stop at the club." We knew most of the guys would be there. In we walked and plunked our prize right there on the bar. The boys couldn't believe their eyes. Of course, I had to rub it in, and tell them that this was the one that didn't get away. I came home, and right away knew I had to have him mounted - which I did, and now my big lake trout sits proudly on my living room wall for all to see.   Submitted By: NULL