I grew up here, in northern Saskatchewan (well, middle Sask, I guess), where the fish were not really pressured at all.
When I was 6 or 7 years old, I hired out as a guide (for $10 a day
), which most people thought was a joke, until they went out, got skunked and I had a stringer full of fish, fishing from the dock. My equipment of choice was some line wrapped around a tin can and a red and white striped Len Thompson spoon. When they saw my fish, they usually hired me. Worked out well - I got out in the boat fishing, they got fish, and I had comic book money.Anyway, the fish story is this - I took a fellow out one day, fishing for pike (we called them jack fish) over about... here. It was around 4 feet of water, but the minnows were jumping out of the water like they were on fire, so I knew there were pike around.
He hooked into something he thought was a log, until it saw the boat, and then... zing! He had some pretty light equipment, I think maybe 8 or 10 pound line, and just a regular old rod. We were after dark coming in, and he hooked the fish in the early afternoon, middle of summer. Now, we were on the other end of the lake, so it was about an hour run in the boat. It was a monumental fight though.
I can't remember what the fish weighed - it was a few years ago... like 25 - but 50lbs sounds familiar. I know that can't be right - it would be the Sask. record, or close to it, but it was a damn. big. fish.
I was 4'10" at the time (I remember that) and the fish was about as long as I was. I couldn't hold it up, I remember that.
Anyway - the fish was huge, but it was 25 years ago, so it may have grown in my memory.
That's my story, and I'm stickin' to it.
