At 8:15 a.m., as the scorching June sun took command over the skies above Crystal Lake in Gray, a fishing trip far from routine was just starting to heat up. Mike St. Pierre of Brunswick was still unaware of the test he was about to be issued.

For the second time that morning, St. Pierre’s old glass fly rod took a sharp bow toward the surface of the lake. But little did he know at the time, he had tied onto something with a lot more heart than the 17-inch brown trout he boated earlier. It also had more heart than the 51/2-pound brown trout his fishing partner Dan Daigle of Dayton had caught.

“It felt like a decent one,” said St. Pierre, explaining that early indicators didn’t tip off the fish’s weight.

Instead of viciously ripping off line, and exhausting himself, St. Pierre decided to take it at a steady pace, “almost like [the fish had] been hooked before,” he said. St. Pierre knew the longer the fish could stay on the line, the better his chances were of shaking the hook.

However, after about 15 minutes of giving and taking back line, it was evident a heavyweight was in control with no chance of rushing him to the boat. After all, St. Pierre was playing this fish with a reel that had absolutely no drag system.

” The only thing I could do was hold my hand against the reel,” said St. Pierre. While his two fishing partners, Ken Hilton, of Durham and Daigle, watched in awe, the fish took back any line St. Pierre had retrieved before his size could be revealed.

“I’d reel him up to about 20 feet, and he headed straight for bottom,” said St. Pierre.

It seemed like the fish was sensing the warmer water above the thermocline (the layer of water between the warm surface zone and colder deep-water zone). On a few occasions he’d turn, and run straight out, using as much of this small long lake as possible. Hilton would counter, turning on the boat’s electric motor to close the gap between the fish and boat.

This went on for about 45 minutes, until finally the fish surfaced, just long enough for Daigle to verify it was a brown trout, and a “huge one” at that, said Daigle. St. Pierre’s aged and tired reel again let the fish take every inch of fly-line through the rod guides, leaving only the backing.

The fish played this game more than hour before finally tiring enough for St. Pierre to bring the net into serious play. The fishermen had some nervous moments seeing it this close while waiting for the opportune time to boat the fish.

“I told Hilton to make sure he netted him on the first try. I don’t want to lose this one,” St. Pierre said.

Neither did Hilton as he buried almost every inch of a six-foot net handle into the water in order to bring a 1-hour, 17-minute show to a close. Hilton’s timing was perfect as St. Pierre’s 101/2-pound, 291/2-inch brown trout rested safely between the rails of the boat and then promptly spit out the hook.

Mackerel in at Belfast Harbor

The mackerel are in at Belfast Harbor, although they’ve been spotty according to Belfast Harbor Master, Kathy Messier. They’ve been catching them for the past several weeks, said Messier, but added the majority of the action was taken place outside the harbor. However, anglers have caught some mackerel from the walking bridge. A couple of days ago a pair of fishermen took home nearly two buckets of mackerel while fishing from the bridge, said Messier.

Brown trout biting

George Peavey of Hermon has had a line on the brown trout this season. In the past two weeks, Peavey boated browns from Molasses Pond in Eastbrook, Flanders Pond in Sullivan and Lower Patten Pond in Surry.

Molasses and Flanders have given up some 19- to 20-inch fish, but Lower Patten holds the record as Peavey caught a 26-inch trout which may have weighed nearly six pounds.

Brook trout surfacing

Although brook trout are presently favoring spring holes during these warm summer month, there’s action back on the surface. In the Greenville area, the Green Drake hatch is on, and it’s time to hit the small trout ponds, according to Dan Legere, owner of the Maine Guide Fly Shop in Greenville.

However, don’t procrastinate, this hatch will probably be over in a couple weeks, and it’s already a few days old, said Legere.

Busy bass

For bass fishermen, Big Lake next door to Princeton remains high on the list, according to Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife fisheries biologist Ron Brokaw. Last week anglers fishing shallow coves with dragon flies received action from scrappy smallmouth bass between 14 and 17 inches, according to Brokaw. However, if you are coming up empty, then tie on a medium jointed “fire tiger,” said Brokaw. It may not resemble a dragon fly, but these smallmouths seem to enjoy it just as much, Brokaw explained.

Outdoor Calendar

The dipping of smelts in Long Lake in Aroostook County will be the subject of a public hearing July 9 at 6:30 p.m. at the Van Buren Community Center.

Question of the week

What is possibly the most common dry fly used on brook trout?

Answer to last week’s question: What fish is the most abundant when migrating up coastal Maine waters? Alewives.

Terry Farren’s Outdoor report is published each Friday. He can be reached at 990-8067 or by e-mail at outdoorreport@bangordailynews.net