Day 4 was a FABULOUS day - I finally caught a fish. We were leisurely paddling, the day was sunny and not too hot, there was a nice breeze. We passed some rocky areas where we thought the fishin' might be good and low and behold it was!

After we got the fish on the stringer, Misty had to inspect it. The water was crystal clear and so beautiful.

Here she is trying to pet the fish, "I'll just pet it, really I won't hurt it." I was so happy because we'd have fish for lunch. We continued paddling and by 12:30 we figured we weren't going to catch anymore so we landed the canoe at the next campsite for lunch.

I thought to myself, "I'll just try casting a couple times, see what happens." On my second cast, I thought I snagged a branch in the water and was bummed, then I thought it was a small fish, then the "small fish" started fighting back and I yelled to Todd, "get the net, I got a big fish." I reeled it in and as it came closer I actually got scared when I saw how big it was. The net we had was way too small so Todd grabbed the line and flung it onto shore before we lost it (we've lost others). The fish flopped around violently and unhooked itself. I was afraid the fish would flop himself back in the water so Todd managed to somehow grab it and kick it further onto land.
This is no fish tale, the proof is in the pictures (ignore the fat girl, check out the fish!). This Northern Pike could literally bite off a finger or two; thankfully Todd cut through it's spinal cord so it would stop flopping all over. I had a hard time holding it up for this picture; it measured 26 inches and weighed about 15 pounds. Four guys passing in canoes heard the commotion and stopped to have a look; Misty was happy because they gave her some attention (she ate it up, as if she's so neglected, yeah, right).

It was so big, Todd had to turn the canoe over so he'd have a flat surface large enough to fillet it. Check out it's head - fierce lookin' thing but makes for some good eatin'.

Oh yeah - can anyone say "LUNCH!" And it was a VERY lucky day for the bass I caught earlier; the Northern was so huge, we released the bass back to the lake. I wonder if the bass knows how lucky it was?

Now.................you have to get rid of the evidence; anyone for a fish carcass tossing contest?

Big splash...........some critters (probably crayfish?) had a tasty meal at the bottom of the lake.
