SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Chloe LeTourneau says she had only caught two fish in her life before last weekend, when she boated three huge lake trout, the third weighing in at a whopping 44 pounds.

Chloe LeTourneau, with Damian Watson, holds a 44-pound lake trout she caught on Yellowknife Bay on Saturday morning. It's one of the largest trout ever reported this close to the city. - photo courtesy of Chloe LeTourneau

LeTourneau said she went fishing on Yellowknife Bay in the early morning hours on Saturday with her boyfriend Bradley Dawley and their friend with a boat, Damian Watson. After 25 minutes at Watson's "secret spot," she said she got a bite.

"It fought for about 20 minutes and we brought it up to the boat and my boyfriend netted it," she said of the fish, which weighed 28 pounds. "It was the biggest fish I'd ever seen, and the biggest they'd ever seen. They were so excited. I was in shock."

The huge fish was unhooked and released while Dawley tended to a mess made by a nervous puppy who was also along for the trip, said LeTourneau.

"So my boyfriend went to clean it up and handed me his rod," she said. "And two minutes later I got a bite on his rod."

LeTourneau said the second fish was a 12-pounder which they decided to keep for the table. At that point, LeTourneau had used two different fishing rods to catch her fish. The trifecta was complete when Watson suggested she give his rod a try.

"Damian was so excited. He had a brand new rod he had used a couple times but he never catches anything with his brand new rod.

He said 'the pressure's on, make my rod magic," she said.

About fifteen minutes later her rod tip jerked downward once again.

"This one fought a lot more than the first one," she said. "It took a couple of nosedives. Once it got close to the boat they were freaking out."

When the fish was tired out, Dawley dipped the net into the water a third time, said LeTourneau.

"It was a really massive fish," she said. "And almost didn't fit in the net."

This fish was an incredible 44 pounds -- huge by Yellowknife Bay standards. One of the largest lake trout caught by rod and reel to come from Great Slave Lake was a 62.4 pounder landed by Yellowknife's Chris Bromley in 2005 ­ but that was from a more likely setting in the East Arm near Indian Mountain Lodge.

Watson said he's never a fish as large as LeTourneau's in his boat.

"I've been fishing for quite some time," he said, adding he's lived in the city all of his 26 years. "My dad has taken me out lots when I was younger. That was my first time going out early in the morning so it totally paid off."

Watson said his rod, a one-piece Abu Garcia rig, was strung with 50-pound test line at the time of the catch.

"It totally justified having that super high test," he said.

Watson said the crew were using teaser lures baited with ciscos hanging under a four-ounce sinker. He said they weren't downrigging although the water was quite deep at the spot, past Dettah and Con Mine.

"Our lines were about 20 feet down," he said.

Carlos Gonzalez, owner of guiding service Yellowknife Outdoor Adventures, said he's heard of 30 pounders caught in the bay but to land three fish of that size within such a short period of time is "a great day's fishing."

He said it's a good sign that fish are returning to Yellowknife Bay now that Con Mine and Giant Mine aren't operating anymore.

"Trout are delicate," he said. "The mines were blasting (ore) once a day. Now that that blasting has stopped the trout and inconnu are coming back into the bay."