I finally got the big fish jinx off my back for the year. I have encountered them on most of my trips out this year but had not managed to get one in the net. I have had them roll up on a bait and miss. Hooked them and had them get loose at the boat, and seen them get scared off from weed beds when my lure approached.
It appeared I would once again suffer the same fate, as I watched a chain lakes monster charge up and engulf my soft plastic frog within 5 feet of the boat. The frog disappeared in its mouth, I dropped the rod tip for a split second, then BAM!!! I gave a hook set that nearly swamped the boat. Needless to say the rod didn't even load up with resistance as the frog wizzed past my head, and landed in the water on the other side of the boat.

My wife was with me on this trip. I did a pretty fair job of making sure that all of Kootenai County heard my tirade. I also did an excellent job of not throwing my wife into the lake as she struggled with controlling her laughter, which was directly in relation to the level of my frustration. I raised my rod high in the air as though I was going to snap it over my knee. She said,"You're not going to break that rod are you"? You see, I had found several fish in a short period of time but I couldn't manage to get a hook in them. This was the 6th or 7th fish I had missed in about 30 minutes, and it was a beauty. She finally stopped laughing and gave me her 2 cents worth. "Why don't you just get a different hook". My wife is certainly not a fisherman, but you know what? It's kind of like the old saying, "Out of the mouth of babes". I GENTLY slammed my overpriced St. Croix rod on the deck of the boat, plopped my butt down on the same deck, reminiscent of my 3 year old grand son when he doesn't get his own way, and retied with a fresh hook. The old one had been sharpened a few times, so I figured what the heck. You can probably figure how satisfied she was when I stuck the very next fish that bit, about 5 minutes later. No out right laughter. Just a smile and that HAHAHA look over the top of the book she was reading.
I released 4 or 5 fish from that spot then moved to an area that had been heavily fished by two other boats over the last couple of hours. When I told her where we were heading she said, "Weren't those other guys just fishing over there"? I said "Yes but some guys are just better at catching fish than others". I was still in a bit of a smart assed mood from her laughing at me earlier.
I moved to the new spot and started dissecting cabbage beds, I noticed a particular bed that in my mind, just had to have fish in it, whether those other boats were recently there or not. I fished every crack in that beautiful wide leafed vegetation, then circled it, hitting the edges, when finally she showed herself. The frog hit the water, gently started it's angular decent toward the bottom of the lake, and my new friend rose from the depths (about 6 feet of depths), to partake in a mid day snack. There are few things in this world that I enjoy seeing more than a big pike opening it's mouth and inhaling a bait. My heart and mind raced as I dropped the rod prior to the hook set. Here we go again. Another missed hook set. Another big one that gets off at the boat. Nope, this time the hook stuck in the roof of her mouth. Anise flavored frog was on the menu and she was not going to let this tasty morsel get away.
The fish put up a good fight, as my wife seemed to take her sweet time opening up my stowable net. I guess it had been a while since I showed her how to use it. The net finally came opened and after 2 or 3 attempts at it, she scooped the fish and this one was all mine. This fish had been caught before. Stuck in her top lip was a 1/32 oz crappie jig with a chartruese and red skirt. I removed my bait and the little jig, snapped a couple of quick photos, and watched her swim away. The jinx is off!!
We were on the water around 7am. Main lake temps were about 65 and moved up to 70 by the end of the day. We saw chain lakes temps up to 75. I ended the day with 14 pike. Several in the 5-6 pound range and this 13 1/2 pound beauty. I caught 1 fish on a spoon early in the day, 2 on spinner baits, and the rest on frogs. All fish were in 6 to 8 feet of water, around the usual cabbage beds.

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