Wife and I went to a local farm pond to see if we could catch something for our first time out. LOTS of little gils swimming around so we had fun with those for awhile. Wife managed to get a 15″ bass, but the big ones swimming around were not interested in what we were offering. I knew the pond had some nice cats so I cut up one of the small gils and hooked it on my big pole and tossed it out. Tried a few spots with nothing. Finally hooked on the last piece and heaved it out and let it sink. I saw the line moving very slowly and figured I had a cat on. It stopped moving so I slowly reeled up the slack and suddenly could feel weight on. I set the hook hard and had a battle. I could see the fish swimming around and yelled to my wife to come help. I said – gosh, it looks to be 3 feet long. When I finally got it close enough to the dock I could see it was a HUGE northern. Every time it saw the dock, it peeled off more line. Wife called the owner of the pond asking if he had a net. He came to my rescue with a small net, but better than nothing. I think the fight was about 15 mins, and of course it had swallowed my hook. When I went to grab it it did manage to give me a nip and soon both thumbs are bleeding all over. Measured out at 38″ but has to be the FATTEST northern I have ever seen. Book says 38″ at 15 lbs, but as you can see, this is a fat one. I am guessing close to 20. When I released it, it swam away fine and the owner check the pond this morning, NO floating northern, so I think all is well. Picture is from cell phone, she cut my head off, but GOT THE FISH!!! 
March 26, 2012 at 4:10 pm
#1276493
