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Someone break Chris’s post into paragraphs! I have ADD overload!
– Hi Chris
I’m very excited to have been able to take part in bringing that fish topside. When Mike made his way to the flag it was like the theme song of the “Chariots of Fire” was streaming through my head. I watched him running full stride towards that little orange flag that looked out of place in the white backdrop. From a distance I watched Mike slowly lift the Frabill round from the hole and thought it was funny he didn’t dump the fish a little line; Rather he lifted the flag and drove the hook home.
Then again it was odd as the fish seemed to have him at a standstill. Come to find out that the big ole “Ski” had already spooled our flag, so the initial tug of war was truly on like “Donkey Kong”. I watched intently from a distance until it became obvious this was a large fish that deserved an audience.
Mike and crew smoothly delivered a precise tag team effort being cautious not to give too much tension while keeping the miles of spare line free from the ice during human drag peel outs. The fight lasted about 20 minutes as I laid face first on the ice peering down the hole just hoping to get a mere glimpse of what we were hooked up with. 10 minutes into the fight I got my first glimpse of an extremely large fish dart by the hole and things got very intense.
I honestly didn’t know if it was by chance a Muskie or a 30lb Pike!! Either way this was an epic battle that would test every ounce of our equipment and ability for certain. There would clearly be no room for error on this encounter. I looked at my buddy Mike and said “MIKE……THAT is the largest fish I’ve locked eyes on under the ice!!”. This of course brought the intensity level of our crew to a whole new level. I assure you with the amount of fishing we do that is a quite rare statement.
The Muskie had one of the quick set trebles from the Big Tooth Tackle Company under her front jaw and one towards her pectoral fin making a turn up the hole very intense. NOTHING inside her mouth. As I laid face first in the snow trying to figure out how this was going to work I questioned the value of my right hand; Afterall we’ve been quite close for several years, and I was not certain I wanted to put it close to the meatgrinder with fins. I’ve never questioned puting a body part in harms way when it came to a elite caliber fish, but I honestly thought hard about it at that particular moment. The simple mass of the head on that fish had me both laughing and shaking my head at the same time as I found myself talking my way through what we were going to try accomplish.
We ended up scrambling for the the Frabill scooper and sort of wedging it under her jaw and twisting her up the hole to infamous glory. The first time of course she saw the scoop and bolted like a rocket as ice shards pelted everyone within close proximity. When we finally centered her massive head up the hole her shoulders and belly needed to be literally squeezed up a 8 inch hole as I kept saying keep her coming keep her coming!!!!!. I slid my hand under her gill plate careful not to get into the red and from that moment on it was simply ICE MADNESS. We quickly took pics and had her facing south again.
I’m happy to report she not only gave Mike and the crew quite a thrill, but she’s alive and well for another angler someday. I’m sure her feelings were hurt a bit losing the competitive tug of war battle to Mike, but I’m confident she’ll quickly be back on the attack mode as king of the waters on Rainy Lake.
Again KUDOS Mike! Time of Big fish waters = Big fish. Another Rainy Lake PB and in all honesty considering this came by chance through the ice; This was probably the most exciting encounter I’ve had in my personal fishing career!!
More pics to come!! Thanks to all that have shared in this excitement.
That is a true horse, great story and get us some video !!!
Hey Chris if the Muskie itch hits you hard at any point give me a holler and I’ll be on your dock with enough gear to stock Thorne bros in 6.5 hrs.