After having such a good day with Wiskerkev on Memorial day, I was able to convince my good friend Jacob into blowing out of work early and hitting Lake Wisconsin. He just got back from 3 weeks in Hawaii, so I had to twist his arm a bit to get him out fishing. I told him how good the bite had been and convinced him now was THE time to get out. We hit the water about 3:00 and it was hot right from the start. We were pulling boards with a mix of shad raps and flicker shads.
We started setting boards, and while setting the third board, we picked up a fish on the first board. First fish turned out to be a nice healthy 19″ eater, which was exactly what Jacob was looking for as he was hoping for a meal.
We continued on our way and kept setting boards. We never got more than 4 boards in the water. It was almost constant action. It was a mix of fish, but it was constant action. We had a couple nice crappie, some sheeps, some white bass, quite a few small walleye, and then it all changed.
The outside board on one side picked up a fish that took the board straight back like a snag, but didn’t pull drag, so I knew it was a fish, and a big one at that. I had Jacob grab the rod and start slowly reeling it in while I cleared the other rods on that side. I knew it would be an issue if I didn’t clear the rods as the fish looked to be too big to get it around the other boards. Jacob kept good pressure on the fish and slowly worked it toward the boat. The fish made a huge run, quartering across the back of the boat. My first thought was pike or muskie. He finally got the board to the boat and I unclipped it. I still hadn’t seen the fish, and it was staying down, so I started to think it may be a nice eye. The boat is now in neutral, and Jacob is still having a hard time gaining on the fish. Finally, the fish shows itself, and I was amazed at the size of the walleye that was hanging off one hook on the back of the black and gold shad rap. Its still 30 feet from the boat, and thrashing hard on the surface. For the next few minutes, I figured it would come unbuttoned at any time, but it held fast and made it to the net. It was by far the best fish I’ve ever had hit my boat on lake Wisconsin. The fish taped out a hair over 30 inches, and was just an amazing fish. I put it on my scale, and it only weighed out at 9 pounds 14 ounces. I’ve been having problems with the scale, so the weight may not be accurate. It was one HE&* of a fish though. A new personal best for Jacob, and a new boat mark for my current boat.
The bite continued to be hot for a while, but shut down like somebody flipped a switch. Ended the night keeping one 19 inch eye, 2 crappie (13 and 14 inches), and a nice eater channel cat.
First picture is a 25″ walleye that doesn’t look nearly as nice as it was. The next 4 pictures are the 30″ walleye. There are four pictures because a fish that nice deserves that many. The next one is a 14 inch crappie, followed by a nice 19 inch keeper walleye. When compared to the 30 inch fish, the rest all look like minnows. 
Congratulations Jacob. Welcome to the 30 inch club. 
