IceShanty.com's Ice Fishing Community
Illinois => Ice Fishing Illinois => Topic started by: Arquero3d on Feb 15, 2022, 11:44 PM
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Tonight, God chose to give me the biggest fish I have ever caught through the ice! I am still not quite sure how a 13 lb 2 oz fish fit through my 6" hole! My 9-yr-old son asked me more than once during the 5-minute tug-of-war if he could reel it in. Part of me wishes I had let him! I may have considered it if I had something stronger than 4# line. Also, I was hoping early on that I had hooked a monster walleye or smallie. I guess I'm still on the selfish side from time to time.
Anyway, all glory belongs to the Lord for a day my boy and I will never forget!
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(https://i.postimg.cc/JDkpd2tj/20220215-175821.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/JDkpd2tj)
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That had to be one heck of a pull squeezing that fatty up a 6 incher. :o
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My arm got a little wet! ;D
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I've lost a few catfish to 6" holes over the years, but none of them were anywhere near that big.
I bent out a hook straight trying to get one's head lined up with the hole early this season that was probably a 4-5 pounder.
I actually haven't iced anything very big this winter 🤔
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I have had cats under 6# get stuck in holes (horns flared out). On this one I was able to fit my hand under its chin (10" under the water) and get a finger under one of its pectoral fins. Then I dragged as best I could up through the hole. This fish had kind of a small head but huge girth. Thankfully, the girth was soft!
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What is amazing is that this fish was stocked along with 90 of its 8-10" friends just 6 years ago! If you had told me there was a 13 pound fish in a pond stocked only 6 years ago, I would have said you're crazy! I would also have called you a liar if you said you pulled a 13# catfish through a 6" hole! I've been ice fishing for 40 years, and I'm still learning!
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I don't know, I kind of doubt that it only takes 6 years to grow one that big. Maybe it was tossed in by a bucket biologist
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No, this is our private pond. The albinos were the last thing we stocked. We hired Herman Brothers to come up with the stocking program and followed it precisely. That fish is a testament to an adequate supply of fatheads, golden shiners, yellow perch, and crappie for a forage base. The smallies stocked in 2015 are now over 5# and look incredibly healthy, as well!
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nice fish!
i had a hard time getting a 3 pound channel up a 6 inch hole last week
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No, this is our private pond. The albinos were the last thing we stocked. We hired Herman Brothers to come up with the stocking program and followed it precisely. That fish is a testament to an adequate supply of fatheads, golden shiners, yellow perch, and crappie for a forage base. The smallies stocked in 2015 are now over 5# and look incredibly healthy, as well!
I'm on my way from IA. ;D
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Literally LOL! Bring some walleye with you! Seriously, though, if you wanna make the trip, it's a really fun 3-acre pond to fish! We love to have people fish it with us. We don't allow people there without one of us for the exact reason you mentioned. We don't want any "help" stocking fish.
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That's very nice of you to offer! I would seriously consider that but I am all the way on the west end of IA so that would be quite a haul. I'd bring some walleye if I could catch some, but I suck at that lol