This event took place in MAY 2008:
Finding success on your very first fishing trip out in the country can turn your love for the outdoors into something spectacular. I've always loved the outdoors, but this story here was by far one of my greatest memories, between both hunting and fishing.
It was May 2008, and my girlfriend's family and I had gone up north to Sturgeon Bay Provincial Park for a long weekend camp out. Sturgeon Bay is a great camp ground, but they also have cabins. For that time, we stayed in 2 cabins which were about 20 feet apart from each other. With a 10-minute walk, we had access to the waters of Georgian Bay, which offered us some good fishing, and some great memories. The waters contained Large-Mouth Bass, Northern Pike and Walleye, just to name a few of our very own catches.
On our first morning, we headed out to the bay and fished for some time. Ryan, the wisest among the group when it came to fishing, caught the very first walleye which we eventually kept and cooked for the night’s campfire and BBQ. The rest of the day was quite slow-paced, with a few catches here and there which were tossed back into the bay.
We woke up bright and early on the second morning, sluggishly walking from our beds to put on our sweaters and jackets, grabbed the rods and headed out to the waters for a second shot. As the morning grew older, we didn’t get much, until my buddy Tim (Ryan’s brother) caught a pike that was just big enough to keep for the night’s meal. We chained the pike and let it sit in the bay to keep it alive while we fished for some of his friends. My lovely Nikita and I caught large-mouthed bass that were very similar in size (mine was bigger!), but had to be thrown back into the waters due to out-of-season regulations. As the afternoon came, Ryan headed back to the campsite to help the others with some things.
Around 1:00pm, the most unusual time to catch anything at all, Nikita’s rod experienced a tug. She ran to her rod to set the hook, but it was too late, and she lost the fish. Moments later, my rod began to slide around, and I realized that I had something. I ran to my rod, set the hook, and there it was; fiercely fighting to rip my hook away from its mouth. I felt the power in this fish, and got excited as I began to realize that this guy was bringing a battle. With his adrenaline pumping along with mine, he pulled my line as if he were trying to pull me into the bay with him. When the others looked at my rod and saw it make a horrific bend as if it were going to snap in two, they pulled out their cameras and started filming the adventure. I had a huge smile on my face then, but I was also worried about losing this big boy. He continued to sway my line from right to left, left to right, until I could feel his strength beginning to wear off. He weakened 7 minutes into the fight until I finally started reeling him to the rocks we were standing on. At last, Tim brought the net to the water and scooped up the fish, then dropped him on the ground, where he flapped for a bit before tiring. People from other parts of the bay came with their boats to see what we had caught, including a couple of experienced fisherman. They told me that this pike was the biggest they had ever seen taken from Georgian Bay (or at least that part of the bay). I was also asked to provide a picture to the local tackle shop so they could put it up on their wall. I felt like a celebrity that day.
The pike weighed about 21 lbs. and was the biggest pike I had ever caught up to this date.
We put the pike back in the bay after taking a few snapshots and videos due to his remarkable size. We were told he would be good for breeding and so we left it at that. Although we didn’t turn him into a nice dinner, he’ll always be remembered in our minds, and the pictures will always remind us of how big he was.
Finding success on your very first fishing trip out in the country can turn your love for the outdoors into something spectacular. I've always loved the outdoors, but this story here was by far one of my greatest memories, between both hunting and fishing.
It was May 2008, and my girlfriend's family and I had gone up north to Sturgeon Bay Provincial Park for a long weekend camp out. Sturgeon Bay is a great camp ground, but they also have cabins. For that time, we stayed in 2 cabins which were about 20 feet apart from each other. With a 10-minute walk, we had access to the waters of Georgian Bay, which offered us some good fishing, and some great memories. The waters contained Large-Mouth Bass, Northern Pike and Walleye, just to name a few of our very own catches.
On our first morning, we headed out to the bay and fished for some time. Ryan, the wisest among the group when it came to fishing, caught the very first walleye which we eventually kept and cooked for the night’s campfire and BBQ. The rest of the day was quite slow-paced, with a few catches here and there which were tossed back into the bay.
We woke up bright and early on the second morning, sluggishly walking from our beds to put on our sweaters and jackets, grabbed the rods and headed out to the waters for a second shot. As the morning grew older, we didn’t get much, until my buddy Tim (Ryan’s brother) caught a pike that was just big enough to keep for the night’s meal. We chained the pike and let it sit in the bay to keep it alive while we fished for some of his friends. My lovely Nikita and I caught large-mouthed bass that were very similar in size (mine was bigger!), but had to be thrown back into the waters due to out-of-season regulations. As the afternoon came, Ryan headed back to the campsite to help the others with some things.
Around 1:00pm, the most unusual time to catch anything at all, Nikita’s rod experienced a tug. She ran to her rod to set the hook, but it was too late, and she lost the fish. Moments later, my rod began to slide around, and I realized that I had something. I ran to my rod, set the hook, and there it was; fiercely fighting to rip my hook away from its mouth. I felt the power in this fish, and got excited as I began to realize that this guy was bringing a battle. With his adrenaline pumping along with mine, he pulled my line as if he were trying to pull me into the bay with him. When the others looked at my rod and saw it make a horrific bend as if it were going to snap in two, they pulled out their cameras and started filming the adventure. I had a huge smile on my face then, but I was also worried about losing this big boy. He continued to sway my line from right to left, left to right, until I could feel his strength beginning to wear off. He weakened 7 minutes into the fight until I finally started reeling him to the rocks we were standing on. At last, Tim brought the net to the water and scooped up the fish, then dropped him on the ground, where he flapped for a bit before tiring. People from other parts of the bay came with their boats to see what we had caught, including a couple of experienced fisherman. They told me that this pike was the biggest they had ever seen taken from Georgian Bay (or at least that part of the bay). I was also asked to provide a picture to the local tackle shop so they could put it up on their wall. I felt like a celebrity that day.
The pike weighed about 21 lbs. and was the biggest pike I had ever caught up to this date.
We put the pike back in the bay after taking a few snapshots and videos due to his remarkable size. We were told he would be good for breeding and so we left it at that. Although we didn’t turn him into a nice dinner, he’ll always be remembered in our minds, and the pictures will always remind us of how big he was.
