Well, made the trip this weekend with a few buddies. 6 of us total. Friday-Sunday.
If we had a dollar for every Herring we caught we could all retire. lol
Walleye numbers weren't terrible considering the temps...figured they would be picky. Ended up with 11 eyes between the bunch.
4pm on Sat was a surprise. Until this point, I personally had been laying the boots to them stinky Herring ONLY. Nothing else... Then, one of the biggest marks i had seen in two days appeared. It pulled straight off bottom and slowly, but steadily climbed towards my bait as a I jigged. It moved about 8-10 feet and then MUNCHED the minnow. The battle was on! Buckets kicked out of the way, red solo's sent flying and we huddled around the hole waiting to see this beast. It pulled drag 3-4 times before getting it close enough to lay eyes on, but I couldn't see it from my angle. My buddy, Travis, was crouched down to get a peak and says, "BIG EYE. BIG."
I let the fish dictate when it was ready to come up the hole rather than trying to horse it and lose against the ice. Finally, she slowed enough and angled perfectly up the hole... Trev reached down and was able to get ahold of the gill plate and out she came! PHEW! stressful!
Anyway, quick picture, quick measure and live released, healthy and strong kicked on her way down.
28.5'', my new Nipissing PB. Absolutely destroying my old record on the lake. Awesome fish.
Dorsal fin was split, but check out the Pectoral fin...wonder what was going on there?
Sorry about photo quality..and pretty sure i was telling the guys to hurry up... They were quick pictures so could get back in the water.
Tight Lines!
New Nipissing PB Walleye
