An unbelievable catch?!

[FishOn!]

Not sure how to explain this, but here goes! Dave/Hovermn, and myself/FishOn!, somehow pulled this up last night. Dave reeled in a crappie, and when it came through the hole, it was hooked on my line and some very thick green superbraid. He unhooked the crappie and released it, and held onto the green braid. When he pulled up all the braid, there was a nice northern attatched to it! Well we snapped a couple pics and released it. Then we pulled the other end of the green braid, but there was incredible tension on it. I yanked it as hard as i could and it finally snapped. Our only explanation is that it was an unattended line attatched to a rattle wheel in the fishhouse closest to where we were! All underneath a gorgeous lunar eclipse!

[FishOn!]

Sorry they are sideways!

[polarsusd81]

If you know which house the line came from, print off copies of the pictures...and paste them on the door of the ice house the unattended line came from. Then put a note on there saying...

Fish house $ 3,000

Rattle Reel $ 18

Braided line $ 6

Chub $ 1

The northern I caught on your unattended line $ Priceless + the cost of a ticket.

Then note that you called the DNR even if you didn't.

I think someone here ran into a similar situation on a metro lake last year.

[tisosy11]

Very nice...it would have been solid if they were pulling on the line as well!

[FishOn!]

Wow Polar! That is genius! We talked about different scenarios the rest of the night, and I didnt think of that! It really has us both very curious as to what happened. If that IS what happened, its too bad people do that, but im glad we got it and were able to release it relatively unharmed. It didnt seem too healthy, didnt fight much. But good news is it did swim on its own down the hole. I hope it survives. It was 33 inches if I remember right. Very thick, probably full of eggs.

[muc33]

Great story, and by the way, beautiful fish!

Polarsusd81, you made laugh out loud with that suggestion.

[David Kasten]

thats a weird story. lol how big was the crappie?

[hovermn]

Crappie was nothing to write home about, maybe around 7". That was the weirdest event to happen to me on the ice. Pull up a crappie that felt like a crappie, only to find some super braid hooked to my lure. One side of the loop had crazy tension on it, so I wrapped it around my boot while I pulled up the other side. Occationally there was weight, but not much. I thought that maybe I was pulling in someone's rod combo! Then it hit me, I better make sure I didn't catch Fishon's line!

About 40 yrds of line later, Fishon's rod tipped down and nearly went in the drink. He grabbed it and opened the bail while I kept pulling up line. That's when I felt the line fight a bit! YES!! Maybe 50 yrds into it, I saw a flash under my hole and some real weight. First thought...WALLEYE! when it finally possitioned its self to come up, the first thing Fishon and I saw was this HUGE freakin' head, with a wide open mouth and gills flaired out. It completely filled the hole. The idea of a combo quickly went out the window, and I yelled out not really knowing what I was looking at first off. Grabbing under its gill, I pulled up the monster. 33" and a crazy fat girth. We talked about it and figured that it weighed between 10-12 lbs based on how thick she was.

After a few pictures, we let go. Fishon grabbed the other end of the line with a gloved hand and pulled on it, breaking the line in short order. We laughed in confusion about the whole thing while pondering which house it came from. Sitting on the floor was around 60 yrds of line, fishon's lure with a shiner, and a broken off mono leader attached to the braided.

Of course, the only thing we can attribute this whole thing to was... Survey says? Luner Eclipse!

[FishOn!]

After all that, I cant believe I didnt ask you if she fought much, Hovermn! Definately my craziest experience on ice too! Even tops the muskrat up the hole!

[polarsusd81]

By the way, looks like you guys are fishing out there in a pretty nice house.

[candamac]

The same thing happened to a friend of mine while we were in his house, only we did'nt break the line. We were done fishing so we just put the line back in the water. With a few interesting item's attached and his/hers now straightend and barbless hook!

[Shawnny B]

Are you sure you didnt catch it on the Daredevil in the background? I would never put the line back down the hole, you never know if someone has it unattented if they wont just toss it down there hole when they get back out there, plus now you have that to contend with when you get a nice walleye on later or a crappie, then your in the same situation again later, but this time you might not have enought to pull the line back in. Theres gotta be other stories out there that were caused by the eclipse....

[HUNTFISH69]

All i can say on that is WOW! That won't happen twice, plus you have a good story to tell now.

[hovermn]

There was a little fight, but I think she was pretty tired. It was nothing like you'd expect from a fresh fish. She sure had some fight to her going back down the hole, though. Both of my hands are cut up from the outter row of teeth near the gills when she flopped out of my hands down the hole.

Man that was fun!! This sort of thing happens every day, right?

[hovermn]

 Originally Posted By: polarsusd81

By the way, looks like you guys are fishing out there in a pretty nice house.

Thanks! I built it this past fall, using up most of the early to mid season to complete some finishing touches. It's not quite done yet. But hey, a guy's gotta fish! Some day when I buy another camera, I'll take pics and post them. Been meaning to for so long, especially seeing the other houses that have been built. However, people have posted some really nice houses, and I've felt a little anxious to post mine. There are some real tough acts to follow out there!

Anyway, beautiful fish caught and freed from its tether.

[TroyMcClure]

Polarsusd81 did not come up with the bit about the picture on the door of the house. We met a guy earlier this year that had exactly the same thing happen to him on late ice last year. He snagged a braided line with his 2lb test and it fought him like crazy. He finally got the braided line in the hole and landed a monster northern. Pulled up the unnatended line and snapped it off of the rattle wheel, put it in front of the house, and put up the print out with the priceless gag. He was presenting at a booth at an ice show and pulled out the printout.

Way to take someone else's credit Tom.

[FishOn!]

I knew Hovermn wouldnt toot his own horn too much about his wheelhouse! But I will! Hes got some great ideas in that thing! I dont know how many of them are one of a kinds, but they are awfully innovative! It was my first time in a wheel house, and for being hand built, what a masterpiece. I feel lucky to fish out of it. I wish I could go way more often. But, I am married! Lucky me!! All you who are single, if you love to fish addictively, STAY single!! sorry for the rant!

[Dan189]

you should have (solidly) secured a beer can to his hook, and put it back down the hole.