"I was fishing with my regular partner, Kris Bjerkness of Blaine, on the Canadian side of Lake of the Woods on May 19th. The weather was terrible, with wind and rain and cold. We were trolling for lake trout, using cowbell rigs with dead ciscoes when this laker hit. I was using a heavy muskie trolling rod, and it still took me about 10 minutes to land it. The trout was almost 39 inches long with a 23-inch girth, and weighed close to 25 pounds. We ended up catching close to 20 trout in two days of fishing, and lost at least as many."
Beautiful, big crappie
Gregg Schultz of Andover caught this beautiful big crappie on Lake Lisa near Pelican Rapids. It hit on a tube jig with no minnow. "It was cold, windy and rainy, but this big crappie didn't care," he said.
Lucky leeches
Joe Otremba of Waconia caught this 29-inch dandy on Lake Mille Lacs. "We had no luck drifting Lindy Rigs in 18-20 feet of water, so we decided to try slip bobbers on the rock pile in 12 feet of water with leeches. That turned out to be quite productive as we caught eight fish over 5 pounds during a three-day stretch, the biggest being this 29-incher."
Trophy tales
To be considered for our fishing page, e-mail your photo and story to fishphoto@startribune.com. Identify anglers and where they live, and include details about the fish and where and how it was caught. You also can post photos to our website at startribune.com/outdoors.
