Sometimes it pays to be lucky. And patient.
Joe Walkowiak and Bill Roach of Island Lake were walleye fishing on the lake early in the morning on Aug. 13 when Walkowiak tied into something big. It turned out to be a 46-inch muskie that towed his 17-foot boat around the lake for two hours and 40 minutes.
"When I was playing the fish, I called my cousin to tell him I'd hooked a muskie. He's a muskie fisherman," said Walkowiak, 62. "He called back an hour and a half later and asked me, 'How'd it go?' I told him, 'I'm still fighting it.' "
Walkowiak and Roach were jig-fishing in 22 to 25 feet of water about 8 a.m. that day, Walkowiak said. He had a leech on his 1/4-ounce jig. He was using 8-pound-test line and a light 6-foot rod, he said.
"We were right down on the bottom. I could feel something tugging," Walkowiak said. "I pulled it real hard and nothing came. I figured it was wrapped around a stump."
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Then, as they say, the stump started moving. Soon after, the fish surfaced and jumped clear of the water, Walkowiak said.
"Right then and there, Bill said, 'We're going to need a bigger boat,' " Walkowiak said.
The muskie towed Walkowiak's 17-foot Lund with a 150-horsepower Yamaha for nearly a mile around the lake, eventually ending up near Walkowiak's home.
"Every time he'd take off running, I'd put the trolling motor on high speed and follow him," Walkowiak said. "I have a 24-volt motor, so I could follow him without him outrunning my line."
They had a small net along, so they called a neighbor of Roach's, Bill Raymond, who shuttled out a larger net. Walkowiak continued playing the fish.
"I had to wait until he was fallin'-asleep tired," he said.
Finally, the muskie surfaced near the boat, and Roach hauled him aboard in one swoop. They measured the fish at 46 inches and estimated its weight, using a length-weight formula, at 28 to 29 pounds. They released it after taking two photos.
