So this weekend of fishing in Minong, WI was awesome! Caught many fish and had lots of action. Conditions could have been a little better. My heater failed to work Sunday morning, which caused my morning to be very short, because it was too dang cold for my liking. Caught quite a bit of nice sized crappie, many 10-11 inchers, a few 9 inchers, and a 12 inch crappie. Caught a Bowfin, which I have never caught before, was 26.5 inches and put up a nice little fight on the tip-up(threw it back). Which brings me to the story of the weekend… On Saturday, I had been harassed by a fish, which stole two of my Demon Jigs. One of the times, the fish, which I had nearly at the hole, just broke before I could make a definitive identification of what it was. Anyway, I went out Sunday morning and threw 2 tip-ups on the ice and was hoping for a little action. A couple hours pass, and up goes the flag. I ran over to the tip up, not seeing it spin to confirm there was a fish on, so thought it was just a wind-trip. So I gently pull on the line and feel a little tension, I kept bringing in line…. then set the hook! With a little fight, I iced a 27.5″ pike. I grabbed my pliers and mouth spreaders, and to my surprise, there were my two stolen demon jigs stuck right in its mouth! My mouth dropped in hilarity and surprise. I’ve heard of people catching fish with lures stuck in their mouth, but not their own. I decided to keep the pike, because it swallowed the hooks and was double hooked in the esophagus/stomach. I was doubtful of its recovery being out of the water in the frigid cold(almost instant frostbite to the fins and eyes) and its survival in general. Didn’t feel right if the fish would have been wasted in a prolonged death. So there’s my story and pictures of the weekend, it was awesome! Planning on hitting the “Big Puddle”(Mille Lacs) up north for some walleye and jumbo perch in a couple weeks. So I hope to provide some more pictures and/or updates.
Corey Rhymer
