NEVER CRY WOLF!
by David Mcqueen

We started fishing at 10:00 AM on April 2 on Wolf Lake in Wasilla. It's late in the season for ice fishing and we weren't planning on the fastest action, just some pleasant time in the sun. That's just what it was, time in the sun. We fished for three hours before we got our first bite and it was a big one. We had four rods down for the two of us when Plumber Dave got bored and decided to change the location of one of his rods to a spot about one hundred feet away so he turned his back to his nearest rod, walked off, and cranked up the power auger.

Apparently, turning your back on your fishing gear isn't a good idea. When the auger started making noise I kept checking his rod - it looked just fine. Then in one swift motion Plumber Dave's stiff ice fishing pole bent over the furthest that I've ever seen it. Then the rod holder lifted off the ice and jumped in the hole. I dropped my rod and leaped the five feet over to his, but it was too late the rod was gone. It happened in a split second. I screamed at Plumber Dave as loud as I could but it was no use over the power auger.

When he finished with his hole he came over for his fishing pole. I told him it was gone! He said no need for late April Fools jokes. I told him that it was no joke, it's gone and he stood there dumb struck for a few minutes. We gained our composure back and started fishing again. We fished for another hour with no luck with Plumber Dave borrowing my extra rod.

All of a sudden my Berkley Power Bait jig was nearly ripped off my ultralight ice fishing pole by a vicious strike. It peeled off fifty feet of line on the first run then slowly came back to the hole just to do it again. This went on for twenty minutes while I stood with rod and reel in hand hoping that the two pound test fishing line would hold until I was able to bring it's head around through the hole. Man was I excited to see this big fish on the ice. We fished for a few hours longer hoping to get into another big one with no luck. I guess the moral of the story is have patience. I still think that the one that got away was bigger than the one that we caught. We will definitely be going back looking for that big brother.

Troutster