It was a weekend in February of 1998 when this story begins. On this cold and windy morning a group of five decided to take on the rugged waters (ice) of Diefenbaker Lake. Daryl Bray, Guy Giroux Brian Adolphe, Wayne Phillips and myself would test the lake to see if it would relinquish any of its jewels ... fish. The prior weekend had been my first experience with winter fishing. That trip included essentially the same group, with the addition of Ken McWhirter, and provided no fillets for that weekend skillet. I was not thoroughly convinced of any reasons why we should fish in the winter with that kind of success. That was all to change.

I drove over to Wayne's house decked in traditional fashion in order to stay warm. Wayne and I then swung by to pick up Guy and we would meet Daryl and Brian at a restaurant ... fishers need their strength in case they catch fish; no chance of that in this group I thought secretly. After the traditional breakfast at Fuddruckers we were on the road for the lake. The trip was uneventful except the usual comments on who would catch and who wouldn't. Most of our time was spent talking about the concerns for the environment of Saskatchewan.

We finally arrived at the shore of the lake and decided on a spot from which to fish. I was a little embarrassed because I did not have an ice fishing rod, but everyone assured me I would not need anything special ... I just needed to hold my mouth right! We began to fish, all choosing our spots carefully. There were some that moved from spot to spot hoping that their flies would find a fish. It was cool but not uncomfortable. Most of the morning was spent fooling around staying warm and engaging in valuable conversations. We had no idea what the afternoon would bring.

The sun eventually graced us with its presence warming our wind burnt faces. Brian caught a fly in the back of his $400.00 jacket because of that wind. I knew I had chosen my bait rod for good reason given I was not nearly as experienced as Heir Adolphe. Wayne and Brian decided to try to add ice to the water by stomping on it near the edge, while Guy and I shook our heads at the childish display ... and Daryl he just continued to fish ... he's pretty serious. I changed spots and decided that deep water may yield what I pursued. A change to my faithful lure, it was sure to help the cause ... with a little bit of bait.

I fished this new spot for some time and eventually drifted off into dreams of heavy fishing on small lakes in summer, of catching trout, pike and the elusive walleye. My rod suddenly jolted my attention ... had I hit bottom in my dream state? As I pulled on the line the feeling was bottom, at least as far as my experience led. I am not a person who wants to draw any attention to an error, especially around the crew I was with, so I said nothing. Eventually the line began to yield and slowly I reeled up, my rod beat nearly to my knees. Brian was the first to notice the struggle and asked, "Have you got something there?" Then I saw the flash. "Oh my God it was fish" and damn it was heavy.

It wasn't long and everyone was crowded around me shouting all kinds of advice. I had caught the fish and now everyone wanted to tell me how to land it. "Set the Hook ... Don't let up on that line ... Keeps its head ... What kind of fish is it?" I had a hard time responding and stuttered out " It ... It ... It's brown!" The fish just pulled down continually. This was a different kind of fight. Finally it came to the surface again. Everyone nearly pushed me into the water as they crowed me. "Holy shit its a rainbow". This bad boy had one more dive in him and everyone started with the advice again "Don't lose that fish... Let him run... What were you fishing with?" I ignored their waste of words and brought this lunker to the top again. Brian nearly jumped into the water after debating with Wayne about whom would land it. All I could think was, "If one of you lose this fish I may have to kill someone."

Brian, ankle deep in cold water, pulled a leviathan out of the water with all the strength he could muster. Everyone crowded around Brian and I couldn't even see my own fish! "Are you keeping it?" I hardly had the breath to form a syllable. I nodded and the fish was brought out to rest on the snow. I could hardly believe my eyes ...this rainbow was the pot of gold ... A male rainbow in a colour that I had never seen. There was a brilliant slash of red through the center of the body and a large head, which sported a huge mouth that included teeth the size of a large canine. I was essentially speechless. 'We gotta get to a scale. I think he's got the record," exclaimed Daryl. The record ... but this is only my second time fishing in the winter. It couldn't be. Guesses started as to the weight of the monster. I stood quietly in awe. The decision was made to stay put and keep on fishing after we had taken countless photos.