A meaningful fish

[Bob Piazza]

I started out solo on Veterans Day 11/11/12 with a mission to catch a big Musky. Well I always have that mission but today was different since it was Veterans Day and my son Jeff is on tour and on active duty in the US Army. He is a 1st LT and a pilot of an Apache gunship helicopter.  I thought about our time together on the river and how much he likes to Musky fish and how much I liked to bring him with me when he was a teen (hes 24 now). Hes caught his share of fish and has outfished me many a time. Hes also an ex member of the NMA for several years till he left. Anyways I'm thinking about how I'm going fishing while he and the rest of the troops past and present have put their lives on the line so we can go do this sort of thing. The only thing that I could do on this day is to get a big one for my son and the rest of the troops. That is what I set out to do. I was able to accomplish my goal and got a very nice 47" x 23" fat/heavy fish. I was trolling upstream and the rod went off. It felt like a big fish and at one point I thought it got off as the line went limp. I reeled as fast as I could knowing it might be swimming at the boat and sure enough..., it's still on. Whew! What a wild fight, back and forth we went. When I was getting ready to net it, my net got stuck and back she went to the depths. I hoped for another chance. I untangled my net (I usually try to prevent that but it got stuck on something at the wrong time) while fighting the fish and got her back up only this time she decided to jump completely out of the water close to the boat. What a sight, very cool. She took off again and made a big run in the current. My hearts a pounding about now and back up she comes only this time I am able to net her with one hand while holding the rod in the other. She was hooked very well and I struggled getting the hook out while the net was still in the water and while motoring the boat slowly away from shore as the boat had drifted too close to shore. Its not easy being solo and doing 3 things at once but I was able to get the hooks out and got a quick pic (self timer). I got her back in the water and off she swam away. It may have not been the biggest fish ever caught but I sure felt good about it for obvious reasons. Mission accomplished.....That one was for you buddy and all the rest of the troops past and present.

[Scott McKee]

Awesome Bob!  Nets love to mess with you when your solo!  When you're alone, controlling the boat, fighting, landing and releasing always make for an interesting two minutes don't they?  Good stuff Bob.  We need a "Love" button to click.

[Josh Ketry]

Nice!!!

[Josh Ketry]

What body of water was this?