Cross1029

1st fish, Straight from France!

Otter Lake

Churchill Walleye

Early season ice fishing on Last Mountain Lake in Saskatchewan.

This walleye was caught on September 29th, 2017 at Tobin Lake, Saskatchewan. A good friend and I were up at sunrise and had had a decent morning trolling for Pike with a half dozen in the mid 30" range but no true monsters. We decided to go to the 'Big Lake' to fish Elk Island, which is a submerged island in Tobin. Once we got there it wasn't and hour before the winds pick up. If you have ever fished Tobin and the winds get up you had better make your way back to the river part of the lake. We battled high winds and 2-3 foot waves for close to an hour on our way back to Tobin Lake resort. We were ready to pack it in in for the day, we were both physically and mentally drained from the boat ride in, and there was only a couple hours left in the day. As we were deciding what to do just outside the resort out of the wind it started to calm down. We decided to stay and find a good drop off and jig for walleye. As we found a spot the wind almost completely died off. We had an hour and a half of pure fishing bliss. Our lines would barely hit the bottom and the nibbles would start. Well, if we caught 1 we caught 30 that hour and an half. Most being in the 8"-15" range with a couple over 20". When I set the hook in this lunker i knew it was a good fish but I still thought it was "a bit bigger" than my last 20 incher. So my good buddy was intrigued but not in a big panic to get the net ready. This fish really fooled me, it didn't fight like I thought a fish of this size would. When I got him to the surface we were both in shock, and a bit of panic as we were not ready with the net at all. As buddy had a rod in 1 hand and a net in the other. Well, buddy dropped his rod and made the fastest scoop with the net and it was all over. We spent the first 30 seconds with the fish in the water/net gasping and laughing with what had just transpired. All in all, even without this fish it was one of the best evenings i have had on the water with the shear numbers and excitement. This is an evening I will cherish for the rest of my life, a great friend, dozens of walleye and the biggest fish i will probably catch, what more can you ask for in a fishing trip. The measurements on this guy are a 32" length with an 18" girth.