Brady Wettlaufer and Justin Mujwid had been chowing on some barbecue and having fun with late-season ice fishing for a pair hours April 2 at Elkhead Reservoir when the flag on certainly one of their tip-ups got here snapping up.

Figuring out there could possibly be a trophy fish on the opposite finish, however not eager to get out of their chairs to cross the thinning ice to get to their line 20 yards away, the 2 checked out one another in hesitation. Then they tiptoed throughout the ice and started working what turned out to be a large feminine northern pike. 

“A tip-up is a good way to chill together with your buddy, have a pleasant dialog whilst you stare at your flag, and growth when that flag goes up, it’s like Christmas morning or sliding into house plate,” Wettlaufer stated. “You go operating over there, seize your tip-up and handline it.”

As Wettlaufer defined, it’s a must to pull the fish up by guiding it together with your arms. In case you squeeze the road too onerous, the fish might snap it. It’s all about working with what the fish offers you. 

“It’s a extremely delicate course of. You’d assume it’s a must to pull onerous, however it’s actually not lots of drive and extra of a delicate movement,” Wettlaufer stated. “You’re simply taking over line as she offers it to you, and because it runs a little bit bit, you’re the drag, per se. You need to finesse it; there’s an artwork to it. As she takes line, you give it to her, after which as she lets up a little bit bit, you pull again. It’s intimidating, to say the least, when you’ve got a 10-inch jaw developing a 10-inch gap.” 

Neither angler had a measuring machine useful, so Wettlaufer is uncertain of the size of the pike. Nonetheless, he estimates the fish got here out to about 22 kilos.

To get the fish out of the water, the anglers made certain to place their fingers slightly below the fish’s gill plate, not within the gills, earlier than gently pulling her out. Wettlaufer stated he bought the hook off the fish, took a fast image after which launched her again into the reservoir. 

However what did he have on the opposite finish of the road?

“It’s a long-protected secret,” Wettlaufer stated. “I might inform you, however Justin would kill me.” 

Wettlaufer is the proprietor of Steamboat Fishing Adventures, however he’s shifting to Granby to begin a brand new enterprise this summer season. He says Elkhead is a good place to catch fish and recommends it to all anglers within the space, particularly in the course of the winter.

“It was a complete of 4 hours I ice-fished this 12 months, and to do it in unfamiliar territory on unfamiliar water was actually cool,” Wettlaufer stated. “There are good fish to be caught in Elkhead; it’s a excellent spot to fish. It will get murky at occasions and folk keep away from it, however wintertime is a good time to fish it as a result of it has clear water and the sport fish which might be in there offers them higher visibility and anglers a greater probability to catch these stunning fish.”

This story is from SteamboatPilot.com