Delano Herald Journal

Serving the communities of Delano, Loretto, Montrose, MN, and the surrounding area

A great fish story



Got big news from the north country.

Steve and I went up to his parents trailer at Lake of the
Woods a weekend in August. Of course fishing was the number one priority
of the weekend.

On Saturday, Aug. 21, we were out on the lake fishing with
his dad and his Uncle Kenny. We were fishing by the reefs, so we kept getting
snags and what seemed to be lots of bites, but we just weren’t bringing
’em in.

Kenny finally got a 3-1/2 pound walleye and Phil got a
little perch.

And then ­ I felt a jerk and then a tug, and thought
I was just snagged again.

Phil said, “Roxy, your line is moving”

I said, ” Oh yah – it is!”

I felt the wiggle of the fish and from that point on it
was Roxy versus walleye.

As I started reeling, I immediately realized it was a monster
from the depths of Lake of the Woods. It felt like it weighed a ton and
it fought hard ­ taking out the drag and making me work real hard.

I could hardly crank the reel and I had the end of the
rod lodged into my stomach for support. I was frantic and telling Steve
I was running out of strength. He told me I had to bring in my own fish
or I couldn’t call it mine.

The rod was bending in half, I struggled to keep the tip
up. I was using a Browning rod and reel with a pink jig and night crawler.

I had three male coaches and without all three of them
I’m sure I would have lost it. When it finally surfaced, Steve brought a
tired 10 pound walleye into the boat with a net.

I wanted to scream with joy, but the guys told me to keep
as quiet as possible or we would have every boat around us crowding in.
So I asked Steve if I could hug him. He let me.

I was quivering from excitement and feeling weak. My heart
didn’t stop pounding for a half an hour. Of course, we measured and weighed
it right away. It was 30-1/2 inches long and just under 10 pounds. A trophy
fish indeed.

Off to the taxidermy it went. Lots of beer to celebrate
and three fishermen that vowed to never take me fishing again. Phil and
Kenny said they have been fishing for 40 years and have yet to catch a trophy.

Steve had to be a good husband and swallow his pride ­
telling me it would be difficult to tell all his buddies that his wife has
out-fished him.

I called my brother from up there and he welcomed me to
the great walleye club of Minnesota. He’s got an even bigger one on his
wall.

Great fish story, huh? And the best thing about it is ­
it’s true.

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