The Fish of a Lifetime

Okay...you've seen the pictures...now here is the story. I swear that every word of this is true and as you all know I am a Hurlburt and Hurlburts, Poncelets, and Thompsons NEVER stretch the truth. Last night, as I was jigging my butt off at 2:42AM in the shack on Lake Bemidji in 22 feet of water near the pod bar, I looked at the dog as it was just the two of us in the shack and said "let's go to bed Daisy. I'm tired." So I got up, shut off all of the gas lanterns and found myself in complete darkness. As I reached for the door to go use the outdoor restroom one final time in the darkness I heard "jingle, jingle, jingle". At 2:45AM a rattle wheel tipped with a large light northern sucker minnow on a plain red hook with a pinch on sinker and a nine foot lead made up of eight pound flouracarbon began to jingle in the darkness. At first I thought it may just be the minnow overpowering the bobber. But then the jingling became faster and faster and faster. I looked at the dog and said "well, here we go". So in the darkness I knelt down next to the hole and waited for the jingling to slow down. This took about two minutes and of course during this two minute time I COULDN'T have thought ot light a lantern. Oh no, I had to sit in the darkness. At that point I decided the time had come to set the hook. i gave it a good tug and it tugged just as hard back. As I pulled it in hand over fist it came in fairly heavy. I thought it would be a four to five pound walleye or eelpout. As I approached the ice and felt the flouracarbon lead, I slowed down so as to ease it through the hole. To my terror, the line snapped just as I got the fish to the top of the hole. I uttered a four letter word that you only hear your father say when the wrench slips from his hand while working on the truck. Keep in mind I am in total darkness just as i uttered that naughty word I heard a splash and realized the fish was still in the hole. I instantly thrust my hand down to the water up to my shoulder. At the last second I felt a very large fish head. I grasped it with all of my might. As I jerked it out of the water i yelled " not this time!" to the dog and the darkness (the dog who was hiding underneath the bench at this point). Still in the dark I thought aloud "oh this is a pretty nice eye, probably 22 , 23 inches. I closed the hole covers to make sure she couldn't flop back, laid her down on the floor and turned my back to her to light a lantern. As I lit the lantern and the fish house illuminated I heard a very, very, very large flop come from behind. I turned around to see what would be the largest walleye I have ever caught in my life. I held her up to the measuring tape on the wall pinched the tail pulled her straight only to my amazement to realize that she was 29 and maybe 1/8 of an inch. At this point I lost my mind screaming hollering jumping up and down terrifying the dog even more. When I regained my composure I realized I needed to get a few quick pictures and get this greatest of god's creations back down the hole. I had the digital camera with me and using the automatic timer snapped a couple of pics. As I checked the camera to make sure that the pictures had worked I realized that there was blood all over the floor and my pants. She had gut hooked the rig and was bleeding quite a bit out of her gills. I put her back down the hole holding on to her tail hoping she could take off, but she never made a move. I tried for about four minutes until both the dog and I decided that this one was not meant to go back. At that point I put her in the truck and we fished for one more hour before heading home at four am. I couldn't sleep for hours, how could you when you catch a fish of a lifetime. In the morning, my wife called as she was out of town in Fargo, I told her you know how I always say how fishing is like playing the lottery because you never know what you are going to get she said "yes". I told her "this morning I won the lottery". Through all of the excitement and everything else the taxidermist has been contacted, the fish will be dropped off on Monday and she will spend the rest of MY life being admired on the wall and I will tell this exact story roughly ten thousand times before it is my time to go. Take a moment everybody to remember this is why you fish. Great things.

-Mr. H