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Fishing tales


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After this week I could start my own version of the monthly CO stories.

One guy reported hooking a 50" pike and getting it boatside before it threw the hooks. That certainly could happen on Rainy but the story lost all credibility when the same guy told me he had a follow from another one shortly after that exceeded the one he hooked. I hope this guy doesn't hunt deer. wink.gif

The second story came from the owner of a business on the lake whose guest from IL said he caught a 44" walleye. I asked her if the guy realized he had just become a millionaire. He must be just as proud of that as I am of my 29" smallmouth. laugh.gif

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Gee, maybe you caught the 29 inch smallie I released last year on the north arm... did it have a bright red eye on the left side?

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smile.gif

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That's the one. Suppose he's crossed with a rock bass???

This story reminds me of a retired friend at a company where I previously worked. Caught up in the middle of a tall tale he was trying to make believable, he said, "Pete, I'm so full of crap I'm starting to believe myself!!!"

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LOL.. 29 Inch Smallmouth..that's a good one.. Longest I've seen in 18 years is a 21.5" smallie LOL.. 44 inch walleye.. LOL..At rainy walleye's get 28 and people jerk them out.. You can catch 23, 24's, 27.5's all day, but as soon as they hit 28 they're gone..44..LOL, yeah right..BUt yeah, you're right, 50 inch pike maybe, My brother has a 48" on the wall, but 2, nah..Those fish are few and far inbetween all the 35 adn 37 inchers..LOL..

People are funny.

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You gotta wonder how people can say stuff like that and keep a straight face. Everybody does a little BSing at times, but flat out lying like that is a great way to get some laughs at you instead of with you. Kind of like the "pro-fishermen" who finish in the bottom 25% every time but brag they fish tourneys. Bless their hearts grin.gif

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My Dad had a saying "those that can brag without lying, let them brag. And those that can lie without braging,let them lie" Some how I don't think this applies either way.

by the way Uffdapete, I don't think it is a rock bass cross, I think it is an eelpout cross!

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Great stuff Wes!

I'm sure you hear it all!

Several years back I was fishing on the mississippi river off shore. I was about a 50 yards from another guys who was also fishing. I was slinging jigs and really knocking the saugers and walleyes. The gentleman down shore from me was slinging rapalas, and it was quite evident didn't get out to fish all that often. All at once I heard him yelling, and as I looked over he was reeling about 100mph and his drag of course was going out at the same rate. He was stumbling backwards seemingly trying everything possible to land this mystery fish which was obviously heading out into the lake like a torpedo. I quickly ran down through the rocks to try settle him down a bit, so he might stand a chance to land this fish. His line was raising out of the water, and it became apparent this fish was going to spool him. As we both laughed while he pumped this fish like a cod the fish surfaced and flew out of the water. At that time he got spooled and snapped his line. The rod cracked the guy right in the face and he fell back into the rocks. I witnessed a side view of this Hercules of a fish with a big bill. As he lay in the rocks he looked at me with this stunned look and asked what the **** was that! Equally stunned I said I don't know what that was. In the back of my mind I was thinking Marlin? What the **** was that! I was questioning my sanity. Then it came to me that this guy must have snagged a giant paddle fish in the tail. I'm telling you this fish looked like a keg of beer jumping out of the water. Good Times I tell you. We both laughed, and I watched the guy head back to his truck kind of shaking his head since he was officially spooled on the mighty Miss! Surely this will be a fishtale he'll tell his family and friends. Maybe they'll laugh like he is crazy, but ole Rainydaze witnessed the whole deal. FYI bring more line!

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Many years back I was stationed in Tennessee. When we moved there, I got a book about big smallmouth bass. The author predicted that the next record would come from one of five lakes. Lucky me, one of the lakes (Woods Reservoir) was in the middle of the Air Force base where I was stationed.

It was November and I headed for the water with my hopes high. Fished all day without a bite - arrgh. On way back to landing I decided to troll a Bagley Balsa B on a light bait casting outfit. Just as I approached the ramp, I had a hit. I set the hook and started to reel in. Fish was coming in easy so I guessed a little bass. I got it right under the boat and it just kept swimming - apparently never knowing it was hooked in first place.

I had plenty of line since I had reeled most of it in already. Fish just kept swimming away at a leisurely pace taking drag all the while. By now I figured it must be a big flathead or drum. But just then the line started to angle toward the surface! No catfish! I remembered the book and thought here she comes - a new record! Please don't throw the hook.

Imagine my surprise blush.gif when a nice musky cleared the water. I did manage to land this fish. No record for a musky but not a bad way to start my fishing career in Tennessee. If only it had been a smallie.

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Maybe it was the 29 inch smallie Uffdapete missed! and just disguised as a muskie

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Well I broke one of my own cardinal rules tonight. I nearly always set the drag after spooling new line, which I did today on 4 reels. The rule is set and test the drag and then let the drag work like it's supposed to when the time comes.

While trolling Raps tonight, something hit my Rap that hit with a fury and took off due north while were going due south. For some weird reason I thumbed the spool (line counter trolling reel) a couple times to try and turn this fish instead of relying fully on the drag which likely stressed the line and then broke after about 30-40 seconds.

I suspect it was a decent pike or possibly a musky but will never know. I do know I haven't had a fish run like that since hooking and landing a 30+ lb. king salmon in Lake Michigan 13 years ago.

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The biggest fish I've seen at Rainy in 20 years had to be a musky.. It was my 2nd trip, I was like 12 years old..It was on some reef near Redgut Bay and a weather front was moving in. We stayed at a resort in Redgut owned by a guy named Stanley and it was in Bears Pass.. Some of you old timers may know the guy, I don't think he's still there..LOL.. My dad caught this fish on a deep diving wally diver, fought it for like 20 minutes, the wind started kicking up something fierce.. We were getting blown into the reef/rocky island... The fish would swim into the trolling motor to wrap the line.. Then when we got that free, it went back to the motor.. Everytime we would raise the motor the wind would blow us close to the rocks.. IT was stressful...LOL...This was in the days of mono, so after being wrapped around stuff so much we brought her up, that thing's eye's were almost the size of golf balls, it was a huge pike or muskie, but it was cloudy and we really didnt' get that great of a look at it but finally the line broke.. but that thing was a monster..Never forget that because Muskie's are so rare in Rainy and if you're ever gonna see one it would be in that area

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The resort you are talking about was probably The Fisheries. In those days it was owned and operated by Stan Wepruf, his son Frank now runs it.

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