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Seven-year-old lands a fish tale to remember

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Young Evan Hansen was fishing Devils Lake with his grandparents, Glenn and Bridgie Hansen of Grand Forks, on Sunday night when he hooked into a fish tale none of them will soon forget.

As Bridgie tells the story, they had just started fishing East Bay in 30 feet of water, and Evan, who turns 8 Saturday, was fishing with a crawler and a spinner. His bait had barely hit the bottom when he hooked into a fish, Bridgie said.

“As he was pulling in, he said, ‘it’s tugging,’ and he got it closer to the boat and Glenn said, ‘Do you think you’ve got a big one?’” Bridgie said. “He said, ‘I don’t know, Poppa.’”

That’s when Bridgie saw the walleye Evan had hooked — in the jaws of a big northern.

“It took a figure-eight and spun away from the boat three different times, but it never released the walleye,” Bridgie said.

Evan Hansen, 7, holds the walleye he caught Sunday night on Devils Lake and “Poppa,” Glenn Hansen, holds the 30-inch northern that attacked the walleye as Evan was reeling it to the both. The two fish are being mounted with the walleye in the jaws of the northern.

Luck was on Evan’s side Sunday night, and it wasn’t long before “Poppa” had both fish — a 15-inch walleye and a 30-inch northern pike — in the landing net. Bridgie says they’re planning to have the two fish mounted just the way the story unfolded — with the walleye in the mouth of the northern.

“You read about things like that, but you don’t ever see it,” Bridgie said.

Earlier that day, Bridgie said, her husband had remarked that he hoped they could give their grandson a day to remember. The son of Jordan and Riana Hansen of Shakopee, Minn., Evan was spending a few days visiting his grandparents.

No doubt, the two fish he caught at once Sunday night gave all of them a day to remember.

And if that wasn’t enough, Bridgie said, Evan continued on and caught seven of the 10 walleyes they landed that night.

“I said if I never fished again, I’d be OK because I witnessed that,” she said of the northern latching on to the walleye. “It couldn’t have been more perfect because it was so unexpected.

“Truly a Sunday evening fish event to remember!”

More oddball fish

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ISLAMORADA, Fla. – Well, it’s our last day of fishing in the Florida Keys, and a fine adventure it’s been.

A thunderstorm yesterday morning was the only break from the clear skies we’d seen all week. The clouds lingered until early afternoon, and the break from the relentless sun was a welcome change of pace.

We couldn't find a photo of this odd-looking fish in our fish identification book, but a friend on Facebook says it's a trigger fish. We'll take his word for it. The fish had a nasty set of human like chompers.

Last night at dinner, we were trying to figure out how many different species of fish we’ve caught this week, and it’s been impressive. Still missing are the yellowtail snapper and tarpon for which the area is known. For a bunch of North Country walleye fishermen, though, there’s some comfort in knowing no one else has been tearing ‘em up on the tarpon and yellowtail, either.

My oddest fish, to date, was the ray I hooked two nights ago. It peeled line off the reel at will, and I couldn’t help but laugh when I saw the odd-looking fish at the side of the boat. It didn’t appear happy to see us so we unhooked the fish at boatside.

Yesterday, one of the guys in the crew caught a fish none of us could identify, even with the marine fishes book we keep onboard.  I posted it on Facebook, where a friend with more saltwater experience than I have said it was a trigger fish. It had the shape of an angelfish, with two creepily human-like front teeth. The teeth, I’m told, are for digging into the coral reefs for food.

We’ll be back on the water shortly, and it appears the seas will be choppy if we decide to venture out on the ocean side of the keys. Two days from now, we’ll be back home without the need for a book to identify our catch of the day. One thing’s for sure: I know a walleye when I see it.

 

Fishing in the Florida Keys, entry No. 1

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ISLAMORADA, Fla. – I caught a blowfish today, and it’s not every day you can say that.

Actually, I caught several blowfish. No pictures, though. They’re nasty critters that can afflict some damage, I’m told, if you touch them, so I unhooked them quickly and sent them on their way.

Still … it’s not every day you can say you caught a blowfish.

I’m in the Florida Keys about 80 miles south of Miami with some friends from the North Country – Gary Moeller and Steve Martin of Baudette, Minn., and Jeff Greteman of Carroll, Iowa. Moeller arrived more than a week ago, while Martin, Greteman and I flew into Miami late Saturday night after a marathon day that saw me pull out of my garage in Grand Forks at 3:45 a.m. Saturday.

It was hot here today – too hot for my tastes – and there was absolutely no wind. That was a drawback to fishing success. We tried for tarpon for a couple of hours to no avail but managed to catch a mixed bag of fish, many of which we can’t identify. These we call “sea bass.”

We’ve caught a lot of sea bass in the past couple of days.

For a Northlander used to fishing walleyes, pike and catfish, this is quite a change of pace, but it’s also a lot of fun.

Gary Moeller of Baudette, Minn., landed this grouper late this afternoon while fishing the Florida Keys near Islamorada, Fla.

Grouper were the best thing going today. These fish look a lot like the largemouth and smallmouth  bass we catch back home, and like freshwater bass, they put up a good showing on the end of the line.  Grouper run as large as 40 pounds, apparently. I can’t even imagine what hooking a grouper that size would be like.

Tomorrow, we have a guide booked to take us into the “back country” to fish red fish, sea trout and who knows what else. I’ll keep ya posted.