Worth the Wait!!!
Eleven and 1/2 inch head - 40.5 inches - 19.3 pounds
Hello Everyone!! Yes… I went to Lake of the Woods AGAIN! This past weekend was the final weekend of spearfishing for the season. I went up to get away from the stress of the city. I find peace and solitude in Baudette. I have met very nice people there and lifelong friends.
I was using a spear shack Gary Hull rents at www.hulldecoys.com
I used one of Gary’s first few original decoys named “Fang”. Many people have got giant fish by using this decoy. Gary had 6 clients in town from Rochester, MN and Appleton, MN…
Northern Guys Rock!!!
These guys fished on Friday and joined Gary and LeeAnn and I for dinner on Friday night. John (left end) is 76 and had never spear fished before.. So we took delight in naming him “the virgin”. I asked John to fish with me Saturday in one of the double houses. The guys were all using large live sucker minnows and I was using decoys hand carved by Gary Hull. It was hard to see the bottom that day and a big fish swam in and grabbed John’s sucker minnow. I told him to pull the harness string and see if the fish was on… Unfortunately, the harness came back empty…. Poor John!
Randy was spearing 50 yards away and was busy chatting with one of his buddy’s and when he closed the shack door a big fish was leaving his hole with the sucker in its mouth. Again….. the harness came back empty. You men had better start paying attention! Northern Pike are aggressive when they are feeding.
I never saw anything that day. I wanted John to get a fish so we switched him to a bright and shallow hole at the north end. He got his fish.. It wasn’t much bigger than the sucker minnow but at least John is not a virgin anymore!!! Gary cleaned the tiny fish and I presented the tiny filets in a zip lock bag to John at dinner….
I think John had a great experience. The guys planned to spear for a short time Sunday morning as it was beginning to snow… I met them at the lake and they speared until 11. AM and then departed for home. I sure hope I get to spear with you wonderful guys again next year!!!
I moved to Randy’s house about noon and sat there the rest of the day while Gary started removing the other 5 houses from the ice to close the season down. I really wanted to get one more big girl for the season. I let many small fish go by. I spent the afternoon day dreaming about my dad Al and how wonderful it would be if he was still alive. I miss him so much. Dad used to really love sitting in the spear house with me.
It was getting late in the day, so I cut up a potato and dropped slices on the bottom to brighten up the hole. I opened a can of diet coke and took a big sip. I remembered that one of the potato slices had got caught by the current and floated under the house out of site. I decided to bend way over and look under the ice (out of curiosity) to see where the potato landed, and if I could see it. To my surprise I saw a monster fish underneath the house. The head was already out of sight but I could still see the gills and a very thick long body. I reacted instantly… total instinct .and grabbed my spear and threw it in the direction of the gills. I was certain I hit the fish in the middle of its body!!! The spear kept traveling and the rope was fully extended when the spear hit the bottom.
I looked under the ice and saw a cloud of silt. I pulled gently on the rope and when the spear left the mud, it felt much too light. I gently started pulling in the rope and felt the fish thrash. OMG… This is what we all live for! The thrill of knowing you have a trophy on the other end!!!! I let go of the rope just as I felt the fish turning to swim back in my direction. Was this too good to be true??? Suspecting I hit the body of the fish, I knew I had to be extremely gentle or risk losing the fish. When I had enough slack in the rope and I knew it was under the house again, I reeled in the slack. She thrashed around again so I let go of the rope so the spear would drop down into the mud again.
My heart was ready to beat out of my chest!!! After what felt like 10 minutes (really about 30 seconds) I started pulling up the rope . As the spear came out of the cloud, I could see the top curve and it appeared empty. Much to my surprise…. as I lifted the spear another 2 inches, I saw the fish’s head and it was speared right behind the gills. I screamed “WOOO HOO:!!! I opened the door and slid the heavy fish right out onto the ice.
Lake of the Woods has a slot limit where you cannot take fish between 30-40 inches. This fish was 40 and 1/2 inches with an 11 1/2 inch head. The girth was amazing.
I sent Gary and LeeAnn a text that said “GET HERE QUICK!” They arrived and LeeAnn and I did the “ice dance.!!!” It was the perfect way to end the season. I only wish my Appleton, MN buddies could have been there to share the joy!!!
We headed for home so Gary could clean the fish. I couldn’t wait to see what was inside the fish’s belly. I have an 18 minute video of Gary filleting the fish. He cut the fish open and inside was a fresh (one day old) large sucker minnow. You could still see the harness pin hole. I don’t know if it was John’s or Randy’s sucker minnow…. but I am sure glad I was curious enough to look for a lousy potato slice. LOL! I wonder how many people miss the trophy of a lifetime when a fish is under the house instead of in the hole… This is the best experience I have had spear fishing to date! If you would like to try spear fishing, shoot me an email and I will be happy to arrange a trip for you and be your guide. Spearfishing is a blast!
So what does 2011 have in store for NorthernGirl??? I have two friends with boats that are interested in trying a few fishing tournaments this summer. I am going to go out with Walleye Amy in her boat and see if I can learn how to catch elusive walleyes. If so, we may try a tournament together. As some of you know, I got my motorcycle permit last summer and I plan to get my license early spring. Amy & I plan to do alot of riding. I will buy Jeff’s Yamaha V-Star 1300cc, as my starter bike to see if I enjoy driving as much as I love riding.
Live to Ride!
I have a trip planned to go fishing on the opener at Gunflint Lake. I also plan to visit Gary in July and fish sturgeon on the Rainy River. The Appleton boys promised to take me deer hunting in the fall… and I plan to hold them to it.!!! If I love driving motorcyles as much as I think I will I may have my friend Wayne “short” start to build my mid-life crisis present. I want a custom motorcycle that is painted like a northern pike. That is just what every Northern Girl needs right?
You know me! I am Northern Girl! I live for adventure. As Gretchen Wilson stated, “I ain’t never been the Barbie doll type!”
Have a great day and get out there and …Live Life*Love Life!!!
Love to you all. Tammy