Saul Ellis of Rangeley got out on the ice Friday for the first time this winter.
He had just celebrated his 10th birthday and his parents had given him brand new Jack traps as a gift. He decided to try them out with some friends and family at a lake in central Maine.
Saul and his family arose around 6 a.m. and went out on the ice. It was windier than they thought it would be, but the breeze died down later in the day.
The fishing party drilled holes through 18 inches of ice, and Saul put his new traps out. A half hour or so went by and Saul had his first flag. There was nothing there, so he reset his trap and when the flag went up again in about a half hour, he knew he had a fish this time.
The big fish didn’t put up much of a fight, he said. It just kind of swam toward the hole. Saul easily fetched him from the ice, photos were taken quickly, and the approximately 7-pound large-mouth bass was released back into the water.
It was his biggest fish he’s ever caught, he said. It also was the only one he caught that day. He had more flags but he either jerked the hook out of the fish’s mouth or the fish spit the hook before Saul could pull the line in, he said.
He caught his bass on a large shiner.
His mom Danielle Ellis, who is a registered Maine guide, caught a pickerel. Other members of his fishing party caught a white perch and a pike, but it was still a fun day on the ice, he said.
Ellis said her son loves fishing and often will go out with friends or family in little boats or kayaks to fish open water.
“He fishes every day in the summer. He doesn’t miss a day,” she said.
Saul mostly practices catch and release but occasionally keeps a fish to eat, he said.
His favorite wild fish is landlocked salmon. The biggest one of those he has caught weighed 5 or 6 pounds and was 23 inches long, he said.
“I almost lost him,” Saul said.
He does other types of fishing too, including saltwater and fly fishing.
He caught his first trout on a fly rod on a mosquito fly he had made in Junior Guides. Saul wants to be a registered Maine guide, like both of his parents are.
When asked what advice he would give to novice fishermen, he said, “Have patience.”
That certainly worked out for Saul.
