johnnyb Posted May 30, 2011 Report Posted May 30, 2011 Hey all....I just wanted to share a cool story from one of my buddies who posts on the Ontario Out of Doors Forum...I see a few OFC'rs over there as well, so this is old news to you. Basically, this guy caught the fish of his life, and just received official word from the National Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame that his fish is being recognized as an icefishing live release record! Pretty darn cool....and I'm pretty happy for him. The fish came out of Temagami, and I know a lof of OFC'ers love to fish up there, so I wanted to share the story. With my buddy's and our mod's permission, I've cut and pasted the original post, as well as his recent post telling us about the official record status. Hope you enjoy the read and pics Day 4...Saturday This is the last day of our trip as we are leaving early Sunday morning to get back home to a few prior commitments. Today is different though as we decide to relax, enjoy and drink the rest of what we had brought for the weekend. We are so good at this now we don't even have to go out until half and hour before "THE BITING HOUR". We get out there a bit earlier and blast all the holes we need., set up and wait. Once again...the screen lights up and before you can say "Fish on" we are all into them. Most of them going back down the hole because of the slot but I personally would love to take a few home to prove to my wife I was actually fishing for the weekend and not just at some "Drink-up". Dan is in my hut and ICEROCKER and John are together. As I'm getting ready for the next fish I think to myself something that John had said earlier in the day. "Well boys it looks like I get the Trophy again". After all he had a 28 inch Laker I'm guessing around 8-12pds. I put the trophy together maybe 6 yrs ago and my name has never been on it, man would that be nice to change. Man...I am getting the goosebumps right now just thinking about the next part of my story!!!!!! I'm thinking there has to be a big one down there. Things go through my head as I tie on ROB BEAUDRY'S Northland Lure and drop it down. I tighten up the drag and get ready to set the hook deep just like MATTDBZ taught me. There are fish down there and my partner Dan yells "fish on"....I put down my rod to help him out and he lands a nice keeper. I pick my rod back up and tell Dan to get his back down there because there is something big down there...a mark on the Vex like I hadn't seen all weekend or years for that matter. I can't even take it anymore....if this thing hits it may take the Trophy. I'm actually playing this fish out in my head and haven't even hooked it yet when all of a sudden tap tap. I set the hook like no tomorrow, deep into the mouth and find that there is some serious weight on the end of my line. Up until now the fish we have caught have given good fights but basically come straight up....not this one......this thing is taking drag like crazy even with my tightly set drag. Dan radios over to ICEROCKER and John to get there azzes over there as "Jay's got a big one on". I am gaining no ground whatsoever as this monster is going East and West and staying south the best he can. The guys arrive and I say "I've got a big Laker on...I'm sure of it... it is fighting different then all the Walleye I've caught". All I could think of was that Trophy I had made years ago may finally come to me. Thoughts shooting through my head consisted of relax, take your time, patience, be carefuL when it gets to the hole. My partner Dan and I had a post hook-up plan we had been using.... get the heater out of the way... get the transducer out of the hole...open the hut door and he had everything taken care of in minutes. "Oh my god" every time it takes off for another run I'm afaid it will be the last. We were screaming so loud one of R_M's (from this forum) group came over on his sled to see what the commotion was about. "Here it comes boys"...I'm finally gaining ground as the battle begins to be too much for fish. She shoots one last time to the west so fast that I have to put my rod way down in the water to avoid my line snapping on the ice. Easy...Easy... I tell myself as I feel the fish is maybe 20 ft away but right under the ice. I slowly reel in as I watch the other holes in the hut for the Laker to pass by. The guys are all waiting outside and I'm the first one to see the Laker pass one of the other holes. I've never yelled so loud as it appears passing what was Dan's hole. "Oh my god...this thing is huge and IT'S NOT A LAKER IT'S A WALLEYE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Please don't let me lose this. As I direct it into a hole with atleast 10 inches of ice I am scared sh11tless it is going to get off. I can't get my hand in it's gill plate to lift it out so I just grab it....thumb straight in the mouth....at this point I didn't care if I lost my friggen hand I was not losing this Trophy. This was a new PB and one I wont soon beat!!!! As the title says.... 34 Length....22 Girth...and 46 friggen years to catch my first real trophy of any spieces. Her she is...... During the picture taking and measurements I put the big girl back down in the hole for a minute to catch her breath....I couldn't get it back out!!!!!! It was now caught in an 8 inch hole and the only way to get her back was to reach far down the fridged water to flatten her dorsal fin. Here are some shots of that mess. After a few more pics I started to notice a little ice build up like a glazed donut forming on the fish. At this point a weird feeling came over me that it was my duty to make sure this beauty was released as healthy as she was before our battle. I thought this fish has given me a sense of accomplishment, a story to tell, my first Trophy of any spiecies, a reason to fish another day, and finally a Trophy plaque for my wall!!!!! She had to kick out of my grasp for me to pay her back. It took the better part of 15mins before she did, but she did and there was no better feeling for me. It is one thing to let fish go as I don't keep many anyway but to let my Trophy go was something else!!! I felt pretty good about that. Nothing else mattered. There was no more need for me to fish that night....we alll headed in, had some pops, shot the ****, enjoyed talking about the day and watched the Leafs lose to Ovie and the Caps....what else is new!!! Boy did I party that night!!! Pretty long post so for those of you who stayed with me, Thx. Thanks for all the info gained on here from various forum members. Good luck to all of you in catching your TROPHY this winter!!!! FSHN 247 Jay STATS.... Date...Jan 22 2011 Time....Sundown Lake...Temagami Depth...55ft Gear...Phleuger(SP?) reel, 32in St Croix MH rod, 10pd Fireline with 10pd Floro 24in leader. Northland combo Pink and white Whistling Jig tipped with a medium minnow. Measurement witnesses....ICEROCKER, John, Dan good enough for me. PS...I went to a website called "Walleye Central" which has a calculator that uses Length and Girth to calculate the weight.....16.2pds is what it came in at. When I get more pics from the guys I will post them. Hope you enjoyed.....see you on the ice!!!!! Can't wait to wet a line and maybe hook into a trophy Whitie or Laker. ********* Good day guys and gals.... Some of you may remember my post last January about my trip to Temagami for an Ice Fishing weekend with the guys. After that you may remember me meeting and showing the pictures to my idol Gord Pyzer at the Spring Fishing show. He was kind enough to run a small story on his WFN blog. What I didn't tell you was from this I recieved an e-mail from one of his friends in out west letting me know it was a Icefishing Live-Release Walleye WORLD RECORD!!!! Three months after the catch I'm told it's a World Record!!!! I am sent in the right direction by Gord and his friend with regards to submitting my record for verification to the "Freshwater Fishing Hall Of Fame". After recieving an affidavit from my lawyer, and witnesses, and putting together all the other required information it takes to validate my submission......the wait is on. It was killing me not to tell too many, but the day has finally come were I can say without a doubt "I'm a World Record Holder". Does it ever feel great to accomplish something like this doing something you love. Thanks to Rob Beaudry for his lure tips....Mattdbz for his setting the hook techniques....Fishfnatic for getting me hooked on Walleye....Icerocker for finding the Walleye that day....and of course Gord Pyzer and his friend for everything they have done for me over the last few months. Greatly appreciated!!! FSHN 247 Jay Maybe I'll make it into a magazine...which would be another dream come true!!!
fishindevil Posted May 30, 2011 Report Posted May 30, 2011 holy crap !!! congrats brother...thats a huge walleye for sure,no you got the braggin rights.....just amazing cheers "clink"....you da man!!!!
Leecher Posted May 30, 2011 Report Posted May 30, 2011 What a story and what a fish Congrats to your buddy Thanks for sharing johnny!!! Leechman
Grimace Posted May 30, 2011 Report Posted May 30, 2011 Awesome. When I beat the record does that guy have to mail me that certificate or do they make me a new one?
Rod Caster Posted May 30, 2011 Report Posted May 30, 2011 Wow! awsome story and an absolute monster fish
Terry Posted May 30, 2011 Report Posted May 30, 2011 that is a great fish for up there but does come close to lake simcoe walleye <a href="http://s27.photobucket.com/albums/c177/Mrtbeee/?action=view¤t=bigwall.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c177/Mrtbeee/bigwall.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
aplumma Posted May 30, 2011 Report Posted May 30, 2011 Great story thanks for taking the time to post it John. Art
Jds63 Posted May 31, 2011 Report Posted May 31, 2011 holy moley !!!!! :worthy: i lost one at the hole a couple of years ago that had me shaking and yours made it look like a minnow :worthy:
corvette1 Posted May 31, 2011 Report Posted May 31, 2011 thats a big eye congrats my 16 pounder from quinte was 32x22
ehg Posted May 31, 2011 Report Posted May 31, 2011 Very nice pickerel/walleye. You would think Temagami would have big ones this confirms it. That fish is super clean and healthy looking. Congrats to your buddy! that is a great fish for up there but does come close to lake simcoe walleye My PB 16 lber came from Simcoe by the Talbot River through the ice last week of March. Good thing they closed the season two weeks earlier now getting a walleye on Simcoe is like needle in haystack.
Mike01 Posted June 1, 2011 Report Posted June 1, 2011 Nice to see a big fish coming from Northern waters. Congrats!
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now