We just finished the last group of anglers for the spring Lake Trout season. We had 4 days to go before the brook trout anglers got in the camps so I said to my brother Lucas,” let’s go try our luck with fly rods.”It was a cloudy cool day for this time of year so we got dressed quite warm for the boat ride of about 10 miles upriver to the 2 miles rapid pool. It’s a pretty nice ride upriver in the wide Outardes River. Nice, until you notice the river getting narrower and then suddenly rising up 150 ft toward the sky a huge sand filled bank. The bank is a remnant of the last ice age. The shoreline is covered in young small Jack pine. All of them the same size and height. Proof of the forest fires that ravage this area every 10 to 15 years. We zig zag in the narrow channel of the river until we reach a wide opening where two small cold streams enter the river. This area is called the Two Spring brook pool. We dock the boat next to an old Native Portage trail. I shout to Lucas, “tie the boat to that old black spruce. I will get our fly rods ready. This is a great spot for some serious fly fishing.” I chose my powerful right angle anti reverse reel with intermediate sink line matched up with a Gatti FR 107 (#7 10 ft). My choice of flies is a long Magog smelt tied tandem. My brother chooses a STH turbine reel and a Loomis GLX #8 9 ft with a slow sink line and a huge Blue Gorges fly.I point out the fish that I see holding about 2 ft behind a big rock. My brother shoots his line upriver above the rock and makes the fly swim right in front of the fish nose without even making the fish twitch. I tell Lucas to strip the fly close to the rock and make the fly swim past the trout. Like a fine tuned predator the trout turns around and grabs the fly firmly. “Viola you got him keep your tip up, he is big.” I can see my brother is getting worried because the reel is getting empty. “Tighten up that disc drag, it will slow down the fish a lot faster and apply some side pressure.” Finally the fish slows down and he reels it in slowly. Then out of nowhere he bolts again. Upriver this time. My brother runs with him and the fish finally stops in the Big Rock Pool. I yell to Lucas, “send him my way I have the cradle ready and the fish seems pretty big.” I check my watch. “It’s been 15 minutes,”I yell to Lucas. He responds, “ I know my forearm is hurting. “ I say, “he’s almost here show him the way over to me and I will cradle the laker.” But, he had another idea when he saw me. The fish jetted down river again to the Two Spring Brook pool. My brother ran again with the fish and positioned himself on the steep point that extends into the pool. He manages to bring the fish in the calm area where I can finally cradle the big fellow. He weighs in at around 18 pounds. A nice river Lake Trout, indeed.