A Rainbow Tale

"It's about four pounds," pronounced Dave as he reeled in, somewhat lazily, what he thought was a relatively meager trout.

Grant giving Dave some encouragement as he lackadaisically
plays his Gerrard rainbow.

Given that the potential size of Kootenay Lake Gerrard Rainbow can reach up to 30 pounds, this trout`s somewhat less than vigorous response to inhaling one of Dave`s hand-tied polar bear bucktails left us all a little quizzical and confused. Little did we know what was actually hooked at the end of the line.

The rod tip had bounced decisively and the line broke loose of the planer board clip just as the fisherman pulled the rod from the holder and began tentatively to  turn the large arbour reel, trying to gauge with what conviction the trout was stealing line.
Rainbows can be deceiving. If it's not an immediate line screamer, it is often difficult to judge the size and veracity of a monster trout. At times the rainbow will swim toward the boat or come in serenely without protestation, guided by the tug of the hook on its lip, conserving energy until it spies the boat - when it will explode into the depths like a demon bound for hell.
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Dave, Grant, and I had left early that morning on what turned out to be a fine, if not unremarkable day. We boarded Dave's Thunder Jet, tied bucktails onto two large salmon rods wound with 20-pound test, which we pulled on the surface, and sent one "can't miss" plug down to about 90-feet on the downrigger.
At about 9:30 a.m., a 10-pound trout smacked one of the bucktails and went for a good run. I was the first out of the toasty cabin, grabbed the rod, adjusted the drag, as the rainbow peeled line, heading like a bullet for the horizon.
Suddenly, the trout stopped, the rod straightened, the line went still. The trout began swimming rapidly towards the boat. I reeled like mad to keep up. The last thing you want is slack line, because you know eventually the trout is going to turn and run, either throwing the hook or breaking the line in the process. But this one just kept coming, from a distance of about 250 yards it ran hard towards the boat, as I reeled furiously, until about 30-feet from the stern, the savvy rainbow stopped and bolted for the depths.
It went for several strong runs, each getting shorter until finally, Grant netted and landed the beautiful rainbow.
We were happy with the early success, and after losing a shaker on a bucktail, we double-checked the rods reset the lines and soon after Dave was into his "four-pounder."

As I said, the rainbow came in easy, almost too easy. Even the unflappable Dave seemed almost too relaxed, that is until the wary rainbow unveiled  itself from the curtain of water about 50 yards behind the boat.

Dave with his surprising 22-lb rainbow caught on
Kootenay Lake.

The mighty Gerrard breached its watery bonds, rising high out of the water, writhing like the appendage of some ancient gorgon, its olive green head changing the complexion of the whole scenario with one sinister glance.
The rainbow was a huge dark male, a spawner. It finned the surface, taking line seemingly at will now.
Letting it run, Dave adjusted the drag, and when the trout paused, he would patiently take back the line surrendered without trying to park it before it was ready.
 The trout rolled and dove,  drawing the fluorocarbon from the trusty Shimano into the liquid darkness, deeper and deeper, until at last it would relent, coaxed to the surface only to thrash and sound, repeating the manoeuvre over, and over again.
At last David played the trout to the net, and Grant with the precision of a surgeon pierced the water and netted the rainbow just as the hook dropped from its mouth.
He hoisted it to the side of the boat, we quickly weighed the Gerrard and released it back into the depths of Kootenay Lake. The four pounder turned out to be a 22 pound behemoth, the largest trout boated by Dave and his Thunder Jet yet, an epic rainbow if there ever was one.

We also had another large rainbow on that Dave lost, and after someone fell asleep at the wheel, we snagged a four-foot buoy that consumed the fishing gear, as they say, hook, line, and sinker. Otherwise it was another great day on Kootenay Lake in southeastern B.C. Thanks guys.