Trophies

This page lists many of the trophy fish I have managed to catch over the years. Although I don't specifically target trophies very often anymore, I have an appreciation for the skill and technique required to successfully land them. I won't include all of my big fish here, just the ones that stand out to me.

Lake Sturgeon

60'' Length x 30'' Girth (~80lbs)

This fish was caught in Fall 2017 on Lac St-Louis near Montreal using classic bottom fishing tactics. Simply anchored in ~40ft of water and threw out a slip sinker rig baited with nightcrawlers. Specifically, 50lb braid mainline with a 50lb fluorocarbon leader, a 4oz weight, and a 5/0 octopus hook. This was not an easy fish to handle; my girlfriend Alexandra had to help me get it in the boat as we did not have a net with us.

Greater Amberjack

~60lbs

Before catching the sturgeon above in 2017, this was my largest fish for a long period of time. I'm not sure of the exact year this fish was caught, but I must have been around 12 years old. I remember the captain asking me if I had experience fishing in the ocean to determine whether I would be able to handle it; I responded that I had indeed been offshore before, but this fish still gave me quite a ride! It even managed to run off into another boat's lines. Needless to say, this fish put up the hardest fight of any I've caught so far.

Muskellunge

50" Length x 22" Girth (~30lbs)

I caught this trophy Muskellunge trolling on Lac St-Louis with my friend Michael Dion. We had spent a couple hours trolling for musky before giving up and making the decision to try for some Walleye. As fate would have it, this beast hit my lure shortly after we had stored the big musky lures and switched to some smaller jerkbaits. Luckily, I was prepared for this and had decided to keep my wire leader on just in case. It hit so hard I was certain that I had snagged the bottom. We managed to safely net the fish, snapped a couple photos, and then released it back into the lake to hopefully grow even larger!

Blue Catfish

~30lbs

This big Blue Catfish was caught in the Potomac River, on a last-minute trip to Washington DC. It hit a piece of cut Bluegill like a freight train, nearly pulling the rod into the water. I was super happy to have caught such a nice specimen, especially since I spent the day before being avoided by them in an area where they're supposed to be very abundant.

Common Carp

~25lbs

I was a bit late to the Common Carp fishing scene, having only started targeting them in Spring 2017. I had been missing out; these have to be some of the strongest fighting fish in our waters, second only to sturgeon. The specimen above is my largest so far but I would not be surprised to catch a bigger one soon; they are quickly becoming one of my favourite game fish. Not only do they put up incredible fights, but they require a lot of technique to catch and the fishing style is quite relaxing. The fish above nearly spooled me in a small tributary of the St-Lawrence River.

Northern Pike

20lbs

Northern Pike are one of the fish where it's been a long time since I've broken my pb. Although I've caught many other fish in the 10-15lb range since this monster, hitting that 20lb mark again remains one of my goals to this day. This one was caught in Lake Massawippi while fishing in early May for Lake Trout. In fact, it even coughed up a small Lake Trout while in the net!

Channel Catfish

31" Length (~12lbs)

This one was actually caught while I was jigging for Sauger in the St-Lawrence River during the 2018 CFN Fish-Off. Needless to say, it was quite a surprise to hook into something so large while targeting one of North America's less exciting species (2nd only to Walleye lol).

Longnose Gar

~12lbs

The so-called "Prehistoric Trio" in Quebec consists of Lake Sturgeon, Bowfin, and Longnose Gar. The gar has to be one of the most interesting fish we have, with its diamond-shaped scales and long snout filled with razor-sharp teeth. As a matter of fact, they are caught without using any hooks! A simple unwinded string of yarn or nylon rope is tied to a swivel, and the gar gets it's teeth tangled in the strands if it strikes the lure. The fish above is one of the largest ones I've seen come out of my home province of Quebec.

Smallmouth Bass

~6.5lbs

The Smallmouth Bass is a species that will always be special to me because it's the fish that originally got me into fishing. Although I don't spend as much time fishing for them as I used to, they're a fun fish to catch and put up a decent fight. Caught this trophy using a spinnerbait with my bro Brendan Barritt on Lake Massawippi; I was all smiles for the rest of the day :)

Speckled Trout

~4lbs

Hiking into back-country lakes in search of wild Speckled Trout is an activity I look forward to every spring as the small lakes thaw. It was on one of these small lakes that I caught this beautiful trout along with several others of similar size. It has been a long time since I've caught one of this size, but I hope to run into more of them eventually; you never know what lurks in the next hidden lake deep in the forest.