“I was using my special pink jig and a live minnow. When I set the hook, I knew it was a big fish. At first, I was thinking it was a dogfish,” explains Eichman who is a Korean War veteran. “I fought it a long time. When I got it up to the hole, wait till you hear this story, Dan does a better job telling it. Dan tell him about it,” Ike says to his buddy with a big grin.
“Ike got it up to the hole and we saw it was a big walleye. He couldn’t get it’s head turned up the hole. As he was trying to get it’s head up the hole, the line broke,” explains Ethan. “Our hearts just sank. And then, Ike’s second rod started to bend. We soon realized the walleye had gotten the line that broke tangled up during the fight with the line from Ike’s second rod.”
“Now we really had a mess, but the big walleye was still hooked up just below the ice. As we looked down, the fish was so big, the tail of the walleye was stretched over just below the ice in the original hole,” explained Ethen with Ike grinning as the events were shared.
“I reached down and grabbed the tail. I was worried that when I touched the tail of that big walleye, it would kick like they often do when you touch their tail. This one didn’t. I grabbed the tail and started to pull it backwards up the hole. I told Ike it was starting to slip and just then I was able to get a better hold of the fish and pull it up through the hole backwards. ”
“At first when the line broke, I was more worried about my special pink jig than the fish!” explained Ike. I have had that special jig for years and caught so many fish on it. When Dan got that huge walleye up the hole backwards, I didn’t see my jig at first. And then there it was. I said ‘there’s my jig’.”
Ike’s big walleye was 30.5 inches to be exact. “It was at that point I really had the chance to focus on how big this walleye was. I didn’t get the shakes until it was all over. I didn’t shake at all while I was fighting the fish. My previous largest walleye was 26.5 inches long also caught on Lake of the Woods. This was a lot bigger. It was such a beautiful fish,” Ike explained with a twinkle in his eye.
Ike and Dan were ice fishing through a Lake of the Woods resort. Resorts have fish houses out in some of the best fishing areas of Lake of the Woods, following walleyes and saugers throughout the winter. Many enjoy the ease of stepping into a spacious, heated fish house with the holes all drilled and cleaned out. Ice guides check on guests throughout the day making sure things are going well. At the end of the day, guides will even clean the fish. In many cases, area resorts will actually cook up your fresh catch.
Traditions. Friendships. Memories. Ice fishing is about so much more than just the fishing. And to think it all started out with that small pink jig.
