Hit the Rainy River Thurs and Fri, the fish are starting to go. A few pics. Fish at the Little Boy River to the west in the Rainy River fish are going good.
When I set the hook it didnt move I had my Med Heavy St. Croix I use to Bass an Northern fishing, a little softer tip with Power Pro 80lb test.
When I set it I knew it was bigger than the others we had caught in the 50″ range. The rod tip on this is a little faster action tip and it was bent at the tip in a circle so I knew it was Big. On big fish I like a faster action tip to absorb and play the fish if my drag or line fails me. It took over 30 minutes to see it roll and 45 minutes ito hand land it I didnt get the girth as we wanted to get it back in the water but guessing it was close to 100 lbs girth around 36 inches it was an awesome fight. My arm is still hurting.
I used a 4/0 circle hook with 4ozs of weight with a short leader 12 inches to 16 inches to keep it on the bottom. Never let it get up stream to tangle in our ropes I kept the pressure on it. With three or four crawlers on the hook. You can see the setup we used in the photo with the fish before it jumped.
