Gun metal grey clouds swirled and pulsated overhead, spitting down half frozen rain drops. The lake resembled a small ocean, as dark, wind pushed swells buffeted the boat. Anyone with an ounce of sense would have headed for the dock, but we knew it was big trout weather and were determined to hook up.

"If we don't hook up by the time we troll past Shrimp Island let's head over to the Eagle's Nest, drop anchor, and try fishing worms," Jim English suggested. "I'm with you, we've covered a lot of ground without a hit," I replied.

Forty minutes later, we were anchored along the edge of a drop off, our trolling lures having been replaced by slip bobbers, Gamakatsu bait holder hooks, and 4 Lb. Berkeley Vanish fluorocarbon leaders. I adjusted the bobber on my rod to suspend the bait at 12 feet. I set my wife Gena's bobber for 8 feet.

Jim and his wife Mary Anne adjusted their bobbers similarly. For the next 30 minutes, Jim and I tended the rods, reeling them in and recasting once the bobbers had drifted too far down wind.

Just about the time we started to think that we weren't going to get hit, Jim's bobber disappeared off the port side. From the start it was obvious Jim was into a good fish. For long minutes Jim put pressure on the trout as it swam back and forth across the stern.

Finally after Jim's Fenwick had taken its toll the dime-bright rainbow materialized aside the boat and I scooped it into the net. The trout was 20 inches long and weighed just over 3 pounds. We were off to a great start! Before I could get a photo of Jim with his big rainbow, my bobber went out of sight and I had my hands full battling a determined Eagle Lake trout of my own. My trout stayed deep and I initially had a tough time gaining line with the light spinning rod. Gradually the trout tired and I slid it into the waiting net.

"Okay, Jim let's get that photo," I said after dispatching my 'bow and putting it on the stringer. I hadn't got the camera out of its water proof bag when a trout grabbed Gena's worm and took off.

Closing the reel's bail, Gena set the hook and her trout took off on a sustained drag spinning run before settling in for a give and take battle. Gena's trout had a lot of power and I could tell she was really excited. At one point the rainbow was nearly within reach of the net, only to surge away toward the bow before making a u-turn around the anchor line.

Hustling up to the bow, Gena handed me the rod. I wove it around the anchor line and passed it back to her. Seconds later she brought her exhausted prize to the net. It was a miracle that her 4 pound line hadn't snapped. The 22 inch trout weighed 4 pounds and turned out to be the biggest fish of the trip.

For the remainder of the afternoon, we continued hooking big trout amidst the wind and rain. At a little after 4 o'clock Jim and I had a double hook up. After landing both trout, we decided that was a good note to end the day on. Before pulling the anchor I weighed our 6 trout stringer using a Berkley digital scale. The trout had a combined weight of 17 pounds 11 ounces!

When we got to our cabin in Spaulding, we learned that our friends Olin Bycroft, Tom Tadlock and his wife Sarah had had a productive afternoon as well, landing several beautiful trout while trolling rainbow Needlefish.

Needless to say, we couldn't wait to get back on the water the next day.

Day two dawned partly cloudy with a stiff breeze. Jim and I headed out early and planned on picking up the girls at the marina around 11 o'clock. The fishing proved to be frustrating for Jim and I early on. We were getting hit and both landed trout, but the wind caused the anchor to break loose repeatedly.

When we headed back to pick up the girls we were disappointed to learn that Mary Anne wasn't feeling well and opted to stay back at the cabin. However, Olin's wife Darlene wanted to try her hand at bobber fishing and took Mary Anne's spot on the boat. While the girls loaded their gear in the boat, Jim grabbed a piece of chain from his truck and attached it to the anchor.

Back at the Eagle's Nest we quickly found that the chain had done the trick and our anchoring problems were over. Almost immediately we were into big hard-fighting trout and Darlene had a limit of 3 pounders on the stringer in short order. We spent the afternoon fighting and releasing trout, bringing more than 20 rainbows in the 2 to 3.5 pound class to the boat.

Throughout the afternoon, we stayed in touch with Olin, Tom, and Sara on the radio as they enjoyed fast trolling action, pulling a variety of spoons. I'd be remiss if I didn't point out that Sarah out fished the boys, hooking a total of 8 trout.