ARGH

[Deitz Dittrich]

I am happy and sad all at the same time tonight..

I hooked the fish of a lifetime this evening.. and lost it at the base of the hole.

I took my time trying to find the perfect spot tonight. I drilled my usual 40-50 hole this evening. I was looking for a rock hump(and found it) it topped out in about 7' of water, but is quite slim in size so if you drill holes 20 feet apart.. you will miss it! Anyway, found it, dropped the Aqua Vu don to make sure I was on the right part of the bar and was.. I knew from fishing this spot in the summer it dropped quicky to one side.. I paced off 10 feet and drilled again... 12 feet deep... Perfect.. I caught a couple of walleye to start (2pm) and then the bluegills moved it.. nothing to brag about.. a lot in the 7-8" range... then set the hook on what I thought was another walleye... when it swam by my hole I almost puked... it was a gil...not any gill but THE gill...It took drag a few times, and just as I was trying to ease it through the hole(it had a hard time fitting top to bottom through the 8" hole. it made one last turn and the hook popped out.

I am almost embarresd to even type this..as I wouldnt even believe myself if I told myself how big this fish was. This fish was 6" from my grips and got away... Again it was a blast to even have seen it. I am sure I will never see a gill this big again in my life time...

[clamtrap]

at least you got to see it, just think if you haden't got to see what you would be saying. It's all apart of fishing and haveing fun It would of been great to see some pictures

[The Grebe]

Deitz...I could loose a trophy walleye, or pike at the hole and feel bad for awhile and probably talk about it, but I'd get over it pretty quickly. But being mainly a panfisherman and lovin it, if I lost a sunnie like you are talking about, I would probably have to check myself into the e.r.!

I lost a Huge perch up on Mille Lacs last winter, by far the biggest I have ever brought up to the hole and I still think of what I could have done different to land that fish! I had the worst feeling when that hog slipped away.

I feel your pain bro!

[Deitz Dittrich]

Greebers--I'm totally with you on that...I lost a big Eye at the hole a few years back. and it bugged me, but I got over it.. If I had to guess the eye, it was 10+ I have caught a few 10 ers but not through the ice... I have caught 10" gills, both open water and ice.. this dwarfed them... This will be the one that got away till by death bed..

Dont get me wrong.. I am still thrilled that I got to see it, quite a few times... I never though I would ever have trouble getting a gill through an 8" hole.

Big perch would be tough too, I got a monster open water once.. and a few in the 13" class ice fishing...I feel your pain as well!

[zepman]

Dietz,

How about a guess at the length and weight of the beast?

[Deitz Dittrich]

Hard to say...Like I said.. it was 8" from top to bottom... length?...Well over 10"... and I would have put it at or over a pound.

[ozzie]

that is why I use a 10 inch hole......lol Sorry to hear about that Dietz!!! Well at least you know where it is around and that it is out there........I am sure this will bring you back to that spot a few more times huh!!!!

[GatorBait]

Fish Elevator....For the Win!

[Deitz Dittrich]

Unfortunatly, I dont think this would have helped... I never got it fully into the hole... had I, I think this fish was far to large to turn around in the hole. I however, do like the concept of the FE.

[fisherking01]

Ah yes, That's what keeps us coming back time after time! The chance at the unknown.

I remember one time fishing with a friend, he almost caught a sunnie like you are talking, lost on top of hole, tried lifting it out with 2 lb test! We did catch 38 sunfish that day, weighed 43 pounds, but the one he lost was a lot bigger. Unfortunately the lake winterkilled the next winter. I beleive this was 93', it was right after he got back from "Desert Storm". Keep after em, It'll happen. Brent

[CALVINIST]

Fellow FM'er Juggs uses a 6" hole for his pannies, reasoning that once you get a big one up the hole, it can't just turn around and head south, giving you time to nab it.

Sorry about your loss...

[The Grebe]

I'm getting ill just thinking about it!

[buckhntr162]

Deitz long time no talk this is Jake the Okuma rep from along time ago at Minneapolis show. Tough loss, Just wanted to thank you for a few of your articles make alot of sense hopefully alot of people will actually learn spomething from them.

[Deitz Dittrich]

Hey Jake, good to at least see your name again.. I din't know you were a member here! Thanks for the kind words on the articles, I really appreciate it!

Have you had any luck on the water at all?

[buckhntr162]

Some limits of sunnies nothing huge. Heading to millacs wed. Heading out to some small wright county lakes tommorrow Ill let you know. You still with Exude? Ill be at CSI show next week you going to be there? Im not sure what booth Ill be at we have 2-3 booths going up.Catch ya later.

[Matt Johnson]

Deitz my man... I think you need to give me a ring

[Cyberfish]

I had kind of an "argh" like ten years ago I was icefishing on rush lake getting some nice gills when I hooked this big thing, my drag was going good, thought I hooked a bass or walleye at first, but as it got closer it started doing the bluegill circle thing and I looked down the hole and saw this huge round blueish colored fish between 2 and 3 pounds down in the murky waters! did I get excited, my knees were knockin and I was a shakin, it had to be the state record!

Fortunatly I kept my cool and was able to fight it taking my time and then got em in the hole and eased him up....

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.It was a SHEEPSHEAD! ARGH!

[The Grebe]

Cyber....your post reminded me of an incident that happen years ago...I've told the story before, but it's worth recycling.

A friend and I were fishing out of his boat up on Ann Lake near Mora. It was getting on toward dusk and we were into the crappies.

My friend sets the hook on what looked like another typical crappie bite and the fight was on! "What do you think it is Al?" He didn't have a clue, he just knew it was big.

Well, he works it closer to the boat and it flashes a couple of times and he got this funny look on his face, "What was that?"

Grabbing the opportunity I says, "I think it's a really huge #$@&(% crappie?" I grabbed the net and got ready, "Play em Al, play em, it is a %^$#@& crappie...it looks like a world record!"

By this time he looked rubbery legged and I could see the rod shaking..."Al, man, look at the size of that thing, oh my gawd!" I thought he was gonna feint, or throw up or something.

In the dusk, all you could see when the fish flashed was it's whitish sides....I had known it was a big Sheep head from the fist time it came up...but he didn't.

I got the fish into the net and with my back to him and his view of the net partially obscured, still using the power of suggestion, I says, "Thats the biggest dam crappie I ever saw, that thing must weigh 6 pounds?"

I swung the net around and onto the floor of the boat, the Sheephead is flopping and thrashing and Al's jigging around and giggling and dropped his rod. "It's huge!"

I couldn't contain myself, I started laughing, he dives onto the fish to pick it up..."I've never seen a crappie this....hey, wait a minute? This ain't no %$^&@* crappie?" I was laughing so hard I was just about dying!

Don't axe me why, but he got pretty mad at me he hardly talked to me all the way home, everytime I would bust out laughing, he would glare at me. At work, it took a few days before he came around. But it was all good after that and we still laugh about it now and then.

[decoy]

That's just plain cruel....

[nofishfisherman]

Why bring friends fishing if you can't screw with them on occasion. This brings up a memory of last year on Mille Lacs.

Me and a few buddies spent a weekend out in a sleeper rental. We woke up early in the morning with a rattle reel making a little noise. My buddy half asleep could reach it from his bed and started to play the fish. I noticed that the rattle reel that was right by my bed would have line pulled off of it as my buddy pulled in line from his reel. I knew instatly that some fish had taken his line and tangled itself in my line as well. So as my buddy tried to pull the fish in I was on my line acting like the fish by pulling back. I made a few hard runs and my buddy was nearly falling out of bed trying to fight the fish he thought was on the end of the line. He was pumped as he fought this huge fish. I gave him some line so he thought he was gaining on it but then I would pull it right back.

After carrying this on for a few minutes I finally couldn't take it any more as I was busting a gut trying not to laugh out loud. My other friends saw me doing this and they were all rolling around laughing. I finally let the line go and he though he lost the fish but he pulled up my line through his hole and saw me laughing my butt off and he knew what had happened. He just threw something at me and went back to sleep.

He got over it, it was really the only action he saw the entire weekend.

[The Grebe]

[Cyberfish]

Thanks for the LOLs guys, i really needed it tonite!

[eurolarva]

If the lake was South Center I think I caught that fish two years ago. It was not quite that big then but it could have grown . I got it to the boat and in my hand and when I tried to get the hook out it turned its head and went back in the lake. My wife could hear me scream all the way in Brooklyn Park. One of its fins drew blood so in the battle I guess it won.

[Northlander]

Get over it Dietz. Its not like it was a 33" walleye or better. Ooops , thats right you have been there too.

Your not alone. 2 years ago in a Tourney I lost the biggets walleye I have ever seen in person right behind the boat. I think I will remember that every time I hook a fish from now on.

Just another education.