RangerClay Posted February 23, 2010 Report Share Posted February 23, 2010 About a week ago one of my hunting buddies who is the asst. chief of the fire department emails me. "Joe, the fire house is having an ice derby Sunday, wanna come?" I quickly said sure thing and I would be bringing the kids. Sunday arrives and as usual I have to drag my son Nathan out of bed (literally). Abi is dressed and ready to go. We loaded up the truck and headed to Pleasant Lake near Gouverneur. On the way we saw a bald eagle sitting in a tree and I told the kids that he was a sign of good luck. Little did I know. We drove down to the lake and paid our entry fee. I found out that a bunch of our friends had decided not to come. I was bummed because I did not know the lake and had no clue where to fish. I asked my friend if he knew where Randy's camp was and he said somewhere over there and away we went to the other side of the lake. We quickly set up and started to fish. My cousin Tom shows up a few minutes later with his truck It's hard to see but there are 8 tip-ups out there. It wasn't long and we had our first flag. We ran across the ice and the spool was screaming out line. Now I told Nathan and his sister before this that Nathan would be up first because he has never caught a northern pike. He has tried two or three times before today without any success. I reached down and grabbed the line. When I felt some pressure I gave it a yank, setting the hook. I handed the line to Nathan and told him to pull in the fish. So hand over hand he begins to pull in about 40 yards of line. It wasn't long and up though the 8" hole comes a pikes head. "Pull him on the ice buddy!" and he dragged him out. High fives were flying everywhere. :camera: Here is Nathans pike. Can you tell that from his expression he is a little afraid of it. Once he saw all the teeth he was scared of getting bit. This is also his biggest fish ever. We set the fish aside then another flag, then another, then another. The pike usually bite better when its snowing. So after 5 hours of fishing. 6 pike, 2 bass, 2 bags of chips and a 1 box of Little Debbie cookies, the kids decided that they have had enough. We packed up and and went to weigh in. We only brought back Nathans pike because there was a 21" min. length to enter. After the snow had settled Nates first pike was 25" and 3.4 pounds. It was then that my fire dept. buddy leans over and says, "You do realize that he is in first place". We all laughed, "No waaaay!" It was true but we would have to wait another 3 hours till the derby was over. The kids were exausted so I told Joe that we had to leave. He told me that he would call if Nate won and at 4pm sharp the phone rang. Nathan was the winner. He beat out all of the kids that entered AND all of the adults who entered. His prize is a nice crisp $100 dollar bill.:clap: Not to shabby for his first pike. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ruttinbuc Posted February 23, 2010 Report Share Posted February 23, 2010 Wow, Joe! Congrats to your boy! Wish I would have made the trip now. Those smiles say it all! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adjam5 Posted February 23, 2010 Report Share Posted February 23, 2010 Congrats to him Joe! Must take after Dad by winning these contests . You had a busy day for sure thanks to that Eagle;). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RangerClay Posted February 23, 2010 Author Report Share Posted February 23, 2010 Wow, Joe! Congrats to your boy! Wish I would have made the trip now. Those smiles say it all! LOL! I told you that you and Anthony should have come up! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaun_300 Posted February 23, 2010 Report Share Posted February 23, 2010 That is too cool Joe! Getting the rust knocked off those tip ups for when you come up here eh? Congrats to you guys! Your son is the spittin' image of you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joeaveragehunter Posted February 23, 2010 Report Share Posted February 23, 2010 That is a great story. Congrats Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redkneck Posted February 23, 2010 Report Share Posted February 23, 2010 Really cool Joe, looks like a great time. I would be lost out there! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woolybear Posted February 23, 2010 Report Share Posted February 23, 2010 Good times Joe. Great pics and congrats to your little guy on a biggun'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buckee Posted February 23, 2010 Report Share Posted February 23, 2010 Way to go Nathan !!! That is sooo cool Joe. First pike and he wins 1st place too ..awesome!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbHunterNY Posted February 23, 2010 Report Share Posted February 23, 2010 awesome! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toddyboman Posted February 23, 2010 Report Share Posted February 23, 2010 AWESOME!! Congrats to Nathan! WTG Dad and getting the kiddos out and about to enjoy the great outdoors!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Andrus Posted February 23, 2010 Report Share Posted February 23, 2010 thats awesome! congrats to Nathan!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Andrus Posted February 23, 2010 Report Share Posted February 23, 2010 great pics too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m gardner Posted February 23, 2010 Report Share Posted February 23, 2010 Nice fish. Lots of smiles there too! Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diamond Archer 01 Posted February 23, 2010 Report Share Posted February 23, 2010 That is awesome. Congrats to Nathan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hammerforged Posted February 23, 2010 Report Share Posted February 23, 2010 CONGRATULATIONS Nathan! Thanks for sharing Joe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yellowhammer Posted February 23, 2010 Report Share Posted February 23, 2010 Nice pics, looks cold. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muff Posted February 23, 2010 Report Share Posted February 23, 2010 Thats great....looks like a fun day....Congrats! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest outdoorgirl Posted February 23, 2010 Report Share Posted February 23, 2010 Congrats to your son Nathan !! Great pictures Joe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turkeygirl Posted February 23, 2010 Report Share Posted February 23, 2010 That is awesome!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dawg Posted February 23, 2010 Report Share Posted February 23, 2010 That's awesome Joe, congrats to your son! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeramie Posted February 23, 2010 Report Share Posted February 23, 2010 Very Cool Indeed! Congratulations! Btw, Im glad I live in Oklahoma. We mainly fish when its warm and the grass is green. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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