Wayward lake trout creates a buzz

When Canton angler John Deem reeled in a feisty, silver-sided fish in Lake Erie's western basin recently, everyone aboard the 32-foot "Room For More" charter boat looked puzzled. They had seen plenty of walleyes, perch, white bass, sheephead, catfish, smallmouth bass and even an occasional steelhead come from the lake, but never anything that looked like this fish. A few calls and cell phone pictures confirmed it was a lake trout -- an extremely rare catch in the shallow and warm western end of Lake Erie. Lake trout prefer deep, cold water, so a few are present in the big lake's eastern end, with larger populations found in the Upper Great Lakes. Details on Deem's chance encounter with the laker are in today's sports section, along with a photo of the fish.