Do you fish? I mean, do you really like to fish? I'd say my first foray into the world of fishing came when I was about five years old and my dad took me to a place called Wall Lake slightly north of Ames, Iowa. We didn't have much in the way of gear and certainly couldn't afford a boat. I have a photo of me smiling at the camera as I sat on the shoreline trying to snag an elusive bullhead. That gives you an idea of how much my dad knew about the sport. If you don't know a bullhead has the appeal of catching nightcrawlers and they taste like, well, nightcrawlers.. As for exotic fishing the bullhead is in next to last place behind a gar filled with cancer.
When we bought our Minnesota lake place in 1994 I thought I'd go full bore with the sport and over the years I've accumulated so much fishing gear I could rival any Bass Pro Shop for equipment. Don't get the idea I know what I'm doing, either. Just because I have the gear doesn't mean I'm an expert. I could buy the most expensive baseball glove in the world but that doesn't mean I'd automatically become another Sandy Koufax.
This brings to mind my one and only claim to fame when it comes to being an angler. In 2004 I was with a friend and we decided to put his boat in the water at Long Lake which is eight miles to the west of our Ten Mile Lake. We were trolling the shoreline when I snagged what I thought was a log and started reeling in while cursing a blue streak. When i finally got the object to the boat I saw it was a largemouth bass, a very large one at that. Well, as soon as it was landed the other guy said we should take it into town and have it measured since we didn't have that item in the boat; the tape measure I mean. And we didn't have a live well, either, which means the big fella was pretty much doomed.
So, we headed to Swanson's Bait Shop in Hackensack, had its dimensions taken then headed out to a taxidermist. And all the while I never gave it one thought that I might have a state record. For one thing, when I watched fishing shows on television and a guy snagged a monster the fish would be jumping in the air and the guy holding the rod would be screaming, "Holy crap, look at the size of that there critter." The only thing I said was, "I think I've caught a damn log."
Two nights ago I was sitting in our sun room in our cabin looking at that fish on the wall and began wondering about Minnesota state records. I do know when it was first weighed it came in at 8 lbs. and 4 oz. That's all I remembered. I then got a tape and measured its length and girth. The former was 21.4" and it's girth rounded out at 16". For Minnesota this is huge because the state record largemouth was caught in '05 and its weight was 8.15 oz, The length was 23.12" and had a girth of 18". So, the way i figure is my fish has to be in the top 5 of all largemouth bass caught in Minnesota. Do you know what this means? It means absolutely nothing except when people come to our cabin they can look at it and say, "That's nice."
Just so you know I'm not telling a fish story I thought I'd put its picture in this blog for posterity. And in case you wonder what I used for bait it was a Fat Rap made by Rapala.
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