This big fish put up a good fight

Glen Gisel only caught one lake trout bigger than this one from Sebago Lake, where he has fished for about 40 years. And that was five or six years ago, he said.

Gisel, 57, of Raymond said he had taken Kevin Ronan, who is his friend and president of the Sebago Lake Anglers Association, and Ronan’s son Nick and Nick’s girlfriend Dylan out in the boat he uses for his business Sebago Sport Fishing and Guide Service last week.

They were all fishing for landlocked Atlantic salmon, for which the lake is famous . That meant the 8-pound test lines had light tackle on them. He was down eight colors, about 40 feet, where they were catching a few salmon.

Suddenly the rod bent down and the line began streaming off the reel, he said. Gisel slowed the boat down and hauled in the lines from the other fishing rods.

The level wind — the part on the reel that goes back and forth to make sure the incoming line is disseminated evenly on the spool, kept jamming, so Gisel had to pull the line out by hand whenever the fish decided to run.

In the end, he had about 800 feet of line out with a fish trying to take more. Gisel gave the rod to Nick, who by taking turns with Dylan, was able to play the fish out. It took a full hour.

People and the fish were all tired in the end.

When the fish got close to the boat, its tail breached the water and Gisel could see by the size of it he would need a big net. Gisel had a smaller net adequate for salmon and a big net on board. He called out for the big one.

Kevin Ronan brought it, although he doubted Gisel’s need for it. Gisel said he never would have gotten the fish out with the small one. He would have needed to grab it with his hands instead.

“You always have to be prepared for that fish of a lifetime when you go out,” he said.

The fish was 39 ¾ inches long and weighed 22.8 pounds. It was the biggest fish reeled in on his boat in the six years he’s been in the guide business. The biggest laker he has caught from Sebago was just slightly larger at a little more than 40 inches long and just more than 23 pounds.

Gisel said the guide service was supposed to be a collaboration between himself and his dear friend Bob Dunham. While they were still talking about it, Dunham died of cancer. Gisel went on to get his registered guide license and started their business in honor of a dream he shared with his close friend.

Salmon fishing has been a successful business, and he knows his friend would be happy to see it, Gisel said. This year, he brought in a 6-pounder. He has a 9 ½ -pound and a 7 ½ -pound salmon he caught in the lake mounted on his wall at home.

But the lake trout was the largest fish he’s seen in a long time.

“The key to getting the fish in the boat was client patience — handing the rod back and forth — it was really them who got it in the boat. They were super patient,” he said.

Gisel has a special plan for the big fish. He has taken it to Squaretail Taxidermy, where it will be mounted on an antique ice saw.

The saw has special meaning to Gisel. He took it in trade from an elderly neighbor whose yard he plowed. It was made in the late 1800s and had belonged to her great-grandfather, who worked for Chamberlain Ice Company hauling ice out of Sebago.

Somehow, that’s fitting.