 What is up guys, Joe Holland here. I am here at the Rip Dam Sporting Camp. It's a couple nights today already and Max and I are fishing today for something totally new to me. We're going for the GMO of Maine. We're going for the Splake, which is a half brook trout, half toad. The Splake has been in Maine for several years now. They cannot reproduce, but the state likes them because they grow really fast for, they grow faster than a lake trout, and they're pretty aggressive fish. I don't know how they taste. I really don't know how they look. I caught one in my life. I caught one once when I was in high school. I was fishing with a buddy and I thought I had a four pound brook trout, four and a half pounder. It was big and we were really excited about it. And he was like, oh, you gotta get that thing mounted, man. That's four and a half pound brook trout. It doesn't come very often. So we brought it home and his dad looked at it and he's like, wow, nice Splake. And it turned out it was a Splake. We couldn't tell because the tail had been pretty well chewed probably from the hatchery and it had like a square tail and it was really colorful. But hopefully we get a couple of these top side today and show you what they look like. How deep do you think we got? I'll play 40. Wow. I would not have guessed that. I'm gonna set the second trap and the first one's up. Did you leave it up? Yeah. Maybe it's a bait flag. Right. What's she doing, bud? Running? Yep. Anyway, whole colors. Splake, yeah, beautiful. Perfect. That didn't take long. No. Internet fishermen be like, you don't own the whole lake. We got a fish. Any sauce? Nah, it feels like the same as the last one. All right. Oh, he's spitting it at the hole. Oh man. Doesn't look like it's rolling yet, but that doesn't mean anything. You want one? Yeah. Feels all right? Nice. Beauty. That's a pretty fish. It's prettier. A lot prettier than a lake trout. Hold them up. Jump. All right, that's three flags. We're not even set up. Three flags, two fish. Perfect. Look at this frigging area. Holy cow. He's almost got all the water. Ha ha ha. It feels decent about it so far. Still feeling good? Peter? Nice. Wow, that one's even got like a purple tint to it. Yeah. That one looks more like a lake trout, man. Yeah. Very nice. Well, we are fishing with dead shiners and you must kill your bait before you cross any water coming in here. And if you're worried about dead bait working, what are we at? Five flags, three fish, and we just got our traps in? Yeah. Yeah, we don't even have, I mean that's four traps in. Right. Because we're playing on jigging. Not very big, but he's there. Might be my first flake of the day. He feels small, real small. Oh yeah, there he is. That's a pretty one. Yeah. Look at that guy. Nice. Oh, we got one, two flags up. Yeah. We better get to it. Yeah, I know. There he is, guys. Wow, he is pretty red. Most orange like. Nice. All right, on the board, first flake that I ever tried for. Right. Let's, I'll just leave this. We'll go get yours, because you got two flags up, I believe. Yeah. So. Nice. Number. Five. Five. I think. Anything? Well, I got a flag too. Wow. He made a nice little run on you. Maybe different size. Average. Oh yeah, a little bigger. Wow, look at it. They get prettier each time. Super pretty fish. Yeah. And I got a flag too, man. Yeah. I got another flag too. Actually, that might be a gold one. Was that another hook from there? Hold on, there's another hook from there. There is another. Yeah, I can get that one if you hold that one. Oh, there, we'll help him out. That's not from you. No. Cool, we got a leader. That's a pretty one. Wow. Holy cow, look at the colors on that. Yeah. He's like blue when you turn over. Yeah. Nice. Smashing them. Down and dirty? Down and dirty. This one there. Yeah, he's real small. I might have lost him. I don't know. Yeah, I think I lost him. Nope, he's still there. He was coming up. He feels a little better now, but nothing, nothing. The right home about. Wow, he took some line. They bite pretty good for pound for pound. Wait, outside of the mouth. Just barely hooked. Look at that, buddy. Holy cow. Beautiful, huh? Yeah. Oh, my big smelts up outside. Yeah, that's my big smelt. Got him. That's a super pretty one, guys. You got orange and purple, orange, purple, yellow, all the colors, and they got dots on their cheek plate, which is another sign that it's a splake and not a brook trout. And then the tail isn't flat. The tails actually beat as well. My big smelt's been up for a minute. Oh, nice. Cool. Good job. There's something there. That's bigger. That's bigger than the last couple. It's not huge, but he's definitely bigger than the last few. A huge bigger bait on this one. Saw the hole, he got a little active. Pretty light line, so I don't want to horse them. And the bottom edge of your ice is always a little bit sharp, so you got to be careful when they're working you, just to let them go through. Yep, always backwards. Oh, he wrapped himself all up. Nice one. He's in a pocket. That's weird, eggs coming out of them. I thought these things are sterile. There he is, guys. Nice one. Beauty. Guys, we're having a day out here. We got a bag of dead bait. That's all you need. If you're fishing dead bait, my advice is don't let it freeze and have like frozen stale dead bait. You know, keep it as fresh as you can. It's freezing as the day's going by, but we're going to bring it in the shack. We got three holes drilled for the pop-ups because we were going to do some jigging with a life scope, but we have not had a chance to stop. No, we have not. It's an awesome opportunity for you, having this close to home, having just such an amazing fishery. So if you get your teeth kicked in like we did yesterday and have a hard day, you can always come over here and have a good day fishing. Have a great day fishing. Yeah, right. Really. And I mean, we're fishing these splegs pretty much like tolls. They're all set up anywhere from 30 to 60 feet of water. Water's relatively, I mean, as far as Maine goes, it's pretty clear in here. We're fishing our baits anywhere from eight to 10 feet off bottom. And the fish are really cooperating today. Splake are pretty aggressive. We've been getting, I mean, every fish we've been catching today, they run like a tog. They take tons of line. So don't sit around, let your traps up forever because you'll show up and have a massive line on the ice, especially if you get a cold day. I'm running size six eagle claws, tying on 10 pound floral leader, running anywhere from 10 to 15 feet. Normally you'll run barrel swivels with live bait, but we ain't got that problem today. It's dead bait only. So they ain't swimming around and messing our lines up today. Just barely a splakeage. Yeah. Pretty fish. Yep, got him. He's not huge, but he's also not close. Oh yeah. It's in that range. Yeah. Yeah, he's good. He's like that other good one I got. Nice. I will say one thing. These guys fight like crazy. Oh yeah. Look at that guy. It's funny, like every single one of these are different colors. I know. Sorry to say, buddy, but you got another flag up too. There you go. Is he on? Yep. He took a run on you. Yeah. Yeah, it doesn't feel very big. Just a little. Oh, dude. Beauty. What is he eating that smelt? He's half the size of the bait. There he is. Got him. Got him. He's another decent one. Oh, they're nice. That's 17, 18. Holy cow, yeah. Fat belly. Pretty. I mean, feel that. Dude, feel how hard his belly is. Yeah. He's loaded with stuff. And they're still eating something else, huh? I'm just blown away. I was just picking it up to check it. And I got it up like two foot in the air and something just grabbed it. Got another one on, gosh. Feels pretty solid. Fighting like crazy. Oh, here we go. He's turning back for you. Oh, he's coming in on you hard. Eat it, eat it. Oh, he's coming to you. He's coming. He turned. That was pretty exciting. How you gonna fly? High flyer. Ha ha ha. Jesse, I'm not getting that coffee. No, you're not getting the coffee, I guess. Might be better. Big headchigs. He's just flying a hundred miles an hour. Got him. Nice little spleek. How's he feeling? Comer night. At 10.30 in the morning. That's crazy. Good average one. Number 20. That's crazy. Yes, sir? This one feels decent. Really? It's got green on it. That one looks more towed than anything. Yeah. Look at that one, guys. Beautiful. Like it? Yeah, I do. Big one? Oh, yeah. Nice one. Beauty. Good one. It has just switched to rain. So we took a minute and got the otter set up. So we're gonna be in there jigging out of the rain unless we get a flag, which is pretty highly likely. Got him. That was a runner. Here he comes. Yeah, a little bit better. Not a lot. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you're getting other flags. They're out of this world. I hope the camera can pick it up. Being wet. All right. What do you think, buddy? Another one? You in there? Yeah. Got it? Killing it. Oh, nice one. Yeah, by far the biggest of the day. Look how dark he is. Is that a tog or a spike? That's a spike. Yeah. It's a nice one. Oh, yeah. By far the biggest. Good one, buddy. Oh, wow. He's long. Yeah. Skinny. You feel like purple on the gills. Iridescent. Every one of them is different colors. I know. I don't know if he's come back. Oh, there he is. Got him. Got him. Got him. He came back. He's tiny. This might be our smallest one, yeah. Yeah. He's shaking his little tiny head. Oh, is that a brook trout? Jesus. Don't believe someone. I don't think so. No. Oh, you can see the stripes on this one. Yeah. It only looks more like a brook trout. I know. Like a young brookie. Like, look at that. Wow. That thing's like bright purple. That is. That's the prettiest one by far. That is beautiful. That is the new record. That's the record? That's the new record, 32. Nice. Native mainsplake. Quick release. Another nice one. 36. Nice. Yeah, we're getting wet. One comes in from the left and then like another one will come in from the right. That's purple. This is insane. This is insane. That's right. That's it. There it is. Number 40. All right. Well, I guess we can count them. Biggin. Biggin. He is a pretty one. Gave a wicked fight. That is a good one. The tip of his tail is even charred orange. I don't know if people can see it or not. Oh, I'm up. Nice. Yeah, that's usually the next one after that. All right. Well, here we are. Joe's fighting a fish. We got a flag there. And another flag there. And we just got, what, three more fish? I don't even know at this point. Quick release. There we go. That's how you do it. Yeah. A closed way and extra 40 pounds right now. Oh, man. Rain. How about you? Oh, I am. I'm extra heavy today. This ice fishing gear is not made for rain. Yeah. And it has been raining for a while. Nice one. Another pretty one. Pretty? No. We need that bait. Another good one. Yeah, I had that earlier with those big head shakes right at you. Nice one. Beauty. He's a chunky one. Yeah. Feels decent, but he's a mile away. Oh, yeah. Nice one. That bait. Good job, buddy. Nice. Beautiful. Nerves of steel. Come on. Come on, baby. He's in the hole. He's out of the hole. There it is. That is the 50th fish on the day. Half a century, Mark. There it is, guys. Half a day. We got 50 on the ice. We only fished four lines each all day. There it is, number 50. Going back. Can't believe we did it. Cannot believe we did it. I'm going to have to watch the film myself. He puked up a pin. See it? Yeah. He's something. What a boy. You getting bigger? I think he was around the boulder. Yeah, he got a little bigger. He's 17, 13. 12, 11. That was a nice one. Yeah, just... These things are gorgeous. Beauty. Fortale. Way bigger than I thought. Yeah, he's not tiny. All right, pick it up. Guys, this is the last trap of the day right here. Feels like a cask. Yeah, imagine. Last trap of the day, we got a flag. And it's a dandy. Is it? Oh, look at that. Look at the color on that one. Oh, man, that's a beaut. What a dandy. Holy... Nice. That puts an exclamation point on the day. I would say so. And look at this fish. Do you see the color on that? Look at that. It's like a char. Holy cow, yeah. Oh, man. He's got a hook already coming out of his face. Someone come in here and wasted a bunch of hugs. You ain't kidding. All right, guys, that is going to do it for the fishing part of today's video. We're going to head back to camp, so stay tuned for that for dinner and some camp life. What do you think, bud? How do we do? Last track. Oh, that was incredible. What do we end up with? We ended up with 56 fish. Crazy. 56. 56, give or take a few. We might even lost count. Ah, yeah. I honestly, I couldn't tell you, but it got pretty hectic there for a while. Awesome fishing. We didn't lose many fish, but we had a bunch of other flags, too. It could have been a bigger day. We only fished four lines each. Yeah. As you guys can see from the overhead, we covered just about every square inch of this 200 yard patch where we caught all those fish. Maybe. Maybe, not even 200? Yeah, maybe. How many miles did you put on? I put on six miles today driving a 200 yard square. I burned one click of gas in a 200 yard square. Oh, man. We had a pretty well buttoned up. That was awesome. Yeah. What would you say for these flakes? So we targeted them what from 35 to 65 today? Yeah, 35 to 65 anywhere from 8 to 10 off bottom. Yeah. Dead bait. Dead bait. Yeah. Light line and small hooks. Yeah. Yeah. That was pretty much the ticket. Yeah. Pretty awesome day. So hope you guys like this video. Hope you like the format of it. We might do some more like that in the future. And we're going to talk over tonight what we're going to do tomorrow. We have endless possibilities going out of Maxis Camp. There's literally 100 different opportunities within 20 minutes. Yeah. We got some decisions to make tonight. We got some, we got some decision making for sure. Some deer with onions and peppers and potatoes for dinner. Doesn't get a lot better than that. This is some deer that my good buddy Russell Oluwisha and gifted to me. And the cool thing is Russell and Max are friends too. They work together in the Rockland area a couple of years ago. So small world, very small world as you guys know. Okay guys, that's going to do it for tonight. Dinner was pretty well awesome. Had an amazing day on the hard water. By far the most trout I've ever seen in one day. And a lot of people, I mean, some years I don't see 56 trout in a whole year. And to see that many in one day was pretty special. So pretty amazing day. Hope you guys enjoyed it. And tune in for tomorrow. So we got a little multi-species day going on tomorrow.