Big Fish Story Hit the Paper. See link to St Paul Pioneer Press:
It’s one big, fat walleye
Posted on Sun, Apr. 11, 2004
It’s one big, fat walleye
BY CHRIS NISKANEN
Outdoors Editor
Chalk up this big-fish story to the power of persistence.
Glen Lundt of Eden Prairie and his buddies were fishing on the Mississippi River last Monday, determined to catch at least one trophy walleye. Guided by James Holst, the group had decided not to chase small “eater” walleyes that congregate each spring below the Red Wing dam but instead try to catch one of the 10-pound-plus walleyes that inhabit the shallows.
“We were willing to risk not catching anything in order to catch one big one,” said Lundt, the assistant fishing department manager at the Gander Mountain store in Lakeville. “We were out quite a few hours before we ever caught anything.”
The gamble paid off. Casting a small jig dressed with a plastic lure known as a Ringworm, Lundt landed the walleye of a lifetime.
At 14.16 pounds on a digital certified scale, the fish’s weight was witnessed by several anglers. It wasn’t a long fish, just 30½ inches, but it had an enormous 22½-inch girth.
Another experienced angler in the boat, Bob Johnston of Minneapolis, said it was the largest walleye he had seen caught in the Red Wing area.
“We first thought it was a carp, but when it got next to the boat, everyone just froze,” Johnston said, noting that the fish was a spawning female. “It was definitely a big gal.”
Experts say 14-pound walleyes are truly rare fish in Minnesota, though the Mississippi River seems to produce them on occasion in the spring.
Lundt’s fish is reminiscent of a 14-pound, 5-ounce Mississippi River walleye that Tommy Joe Shurson of Austin, Minn., caught in April 1999. Shurson was fishing from the Great Alma Fishing Float on the Wisconsin side of the river, jigging a Sonar lure in about six feet of water, when he caught the fish.
Like Shurson’s fish, Lundt’s walleye came from six feet of water. Lundt said the fish made a powerful run, prompting the group to unhook their anchor and use their engine to follow it.
“The fish went under the boat and got into the main channel. We let out some anchor rope to catch up with it, but it was still going. So we untied the anchor rope and tied a boat cushion to it so we could find it later. Then we started up the big motor and that allowed us to chase the fish. It was pretty exciting,” Lundt said.
Once they landed the fish, they revived it in the livewell. Other anglers in other boats anxiously watched the weigh-in.
“The scale went to 13.9, then to 14 and finally it settled on 14.1,” Lundt said. “When (the scale) finally broke 14, we had quite an audience cheering.”
Holst said Lundt “literally shook to the point of being uncontrollable after catching the fish. He was still excited about it the next day when he sent me an e-mail about it.”
Lundt said he recently moved to Minnesota from Wisconsin, where he was primarily a bass and muskie fisherman. His biggest walleye to date, caught through the ice this year, was 27 inches, or about 7 pounds.
“I’ve definitely got the itch for walleye fishing now,” he said.
Lundt released the fish and plans to have a replica made of it.
Statewide, 14-pound walleyes are rarely seen, even in some of the most popular walleye waters. Before the contest was discontinued, the Pioneer Press World’s Largest Fishing Contest registered just four walleyes of more than 14 pounds in the 1990s. They came from Loon Lake near Grand Marais (17-6), Star Lake near Dent (15-8), Bad Medicine near Ponsford (14-8) and Little Gunflint Lake near Grand Marais (14-4).
——————————————————————————–
Chris Niskanen can be reached at [email protected].
.
I want my new boat in so I can go chasing! 
……i think that would really improve the over all quality of the photo 
