02/23/2026
Went fishing with my grandpa for his birthday today, and ended up catching the biggest northern of my life. I was using his old tip-up, with a tiny 2 inch bluegill that he had caught this morning as bait.
Grandpa’s auger only makes a 4.5 inch hole, so when her head got stuck trying to come up through the hole, after hand-reeling in the over 100 yards of line the fish had taken out, the real fun began. I grabbed onto the fish, (stupidly) in the gills, to make sure she didn’t get away while grandpa tried drilling extra holes to make room for her.
By the end, I was bleeding from my fingers getting caught in the gills, the fish had a hole in the stomach from the auger getting a bit close, but we had a monster 38 inch northern laying in the ice.
It may not be the biggest fish I’ve ever caught, though it is damn close, but it will be a tough memory to beat!
Happy Birthday Grandpa Bob!!
