A few years ago we went fishing on Lake Kabetogama in northern Minnesota. Lake Kabetogama is a giant body of water. Absolutely huge. It is located along the Canadian border. A lot of people might just envision ice fishing when they think about Canada and northern Minnesota, but this trip was in the fall, and the weather was awesome.
Although we used to go fishing frequently, this one experience comes to mind quite often. We were out in the boat one afternoon in the middle of some pretty deep water, and I experienced what felt like a hit, but possibly not. You know what I mean. It might be a snag and then you better work fast to get loose so you don’t lose your bait and tackle altogether. But it might also be a fish.
The lake was smooth that day. The boat was being powered by the trolling motor at the time, so not going very fast. In those days we owned a depth finder that indicated the depth of the water and gave an outline of the contour of the lake bottom but we had no indication whether or not we had just passed over a school of fish. That was before the newer fishfinders became available that actually show you where the fish are located.
So with no information besides a hunch, I decided to play it as a fish instead of a snag. Since I was using leeches - live bait - I let out some line to allow the fish to nibble a little longer. After slowly and deliberately reeling in the slack, I could still feel a presence at the other end. I set the hook and nothing happened. No movement. Nothing. It felt like a log was on the other end. Now what?
I’d made up my mind to play it as a fish and stuck with it. After what seemed like a long time, the fish finally moved from the bottom and started to put up a fight. I ultimately landed a good sized walleye. Pretty nice fish but probably not a very interesting fish story. Sorry about that, but I guess you had to be there. I made some good decisions and played the fish well and that’s what makes it an exciting experience for me.
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