"Whoops....I did it again....I caught an unlikely trophy walleye...."
This thing spooled the tip-up, inhaled what was a 6" probably 7" sucker, and it felt good as I set the hook and handed it off to the 9yo son of my chick friend who was up for the weekend. The kid freaked out more and more as it neared the hole.....he sliced the 17lbs fluorocarbon leader on her when trying to yank her up....her face had barely breached the water line of the hole when she was free so I had to the hit deck and squeeze her face between both hands in the hole to pull her up and out slowly. This was the first fish the kid has ever seen pulled through the ice. I thought I might have finally topped the ever elusive 30" mark, but alas.....can add this one to the ever growing long list of 29"s for me. The kid was too afraid too hold her for a pic after seeing her teeth. I did get a couple selfies with me and him in it but none that were very good or where you could see the fish. I thought this one was maybe the same fish as the previous Walter, which I never put a tape to but guessed at 28." This one went 29" and a hair over and was definitely bigger than the last. She also had some unique markings....black streak down her right pelvic fin that I thought was a leech at first, and she had a small portion of her tail that was clear, which is kind of cool because I'll be able to tell if we ever catch her again.