I
received an e-mail from Dan Lippis (aka “Crazy D”) about a month ago stating
that he’d be up at Crescent Lake Resort over the Thanksgiving holiday.
Dan said that if anyone could make it up, even for a day, they had an open seat
on his boat. This year, my family and I would be spending our
Thanksgiving with my parents in Eugene. I asked my dad, Gary,
if he’d be game to go for a day (pending travel conditions). He was
game. I traded text messages back and forth with Dan and we had the
Friday after Thanksgiving booked.
My
dad and I arrived at the resort around 6 AM. It was still pitch black out
with a brisk wind and sleety rain slapping our faces. We grabbed all of
our gear and headed down to where Crazy D had his boat moored. We
exchanged hugs and hi-fives, quickly got our gear loaded on the boat, and off
to the races we went.
The
conditions were choppy and windy. We decided to hit the South end
of the lake to get where it may be a little more protected. We sent out
all our lines with a variety of lures and color patterns, trying to hone in on
what the “flavor of the day” would be for the fishies. In a matter of
minutes, my dad had a “rat mack” on a top water lyman. Skunk is off the
boat.
As it
proceeded to get lighter, we threw out some extra rods and started using planar
boards to give us a better chance to see what was working. I set one out
the starboard side and placed it in the rod holder. I then sent out
another line straight out the back, set the bail, and began ripping away on my
lure to entice a strike.
As I
was ripping, I glanced over at the reel on the planar board rod. It was
very slowly and methodically losing line, as if the drag wasn’t set correctly.
I set down the rod I was ripping and felt the drag on the reel. It was a
little loose, but not horribly. I tightened it down a bit and still, line
kept coming off. I began to wonder if there was something fouled up with
the planar that it was creating too much drag. It didn’t appear to be a
fish as it didn’t go straight back, it was staying out. I told Dan I
thought something was screwed up with the planar and was going to check it.
Dan
kept the boat in gear as I began to reel. I thought to myself “Dang, I
must be out of shape because this is taking me FOREVER to get this board
in.” Dan noticed I was struggling with it and he said “Man, you might
have a fish on.” I handed it to him and he went “Yeah, I think you got
one on”. Once we got the board off and he kicked the boat in neutral, it
was evident. There was a fish on!
I
stated non-chelantly “Yep, there’s a fish on.” All the gear was cleared
and I gradually brought in the fish that was staying deep. I could tell
it was probably a laker based on the lack of fight, and just heavy
weight. Both Dan and I finally got a glimpse and he said “Looks like a
teeny-bopper” (meaning lower-teen weight). I said “Sweet, a little more
what we’re looking for.” Dan reached over the gunwale to net the
fish. As he netted the fish, I noticed a large portion of the tail of the
fish couldn’t fit in the net. That’s when I realized this was going to be
bigger than a “teeny bopper”.
“Jeez
dude, this is more than a small-teener!” exclaimed Dan. I glanced and
excitedly said, “Man, that’s more like an upper-teener!” We measured the
large male mackinaw and he taped out at 35.5” long. Dan then said “What
do you think for weight?” I said “I’m guessing around 18?!” He
agreed and said the same thing. He grabbed his boga-grip scale, grabbed
the rubber net with the fish in it and we weighed it. Total weight with
the net was around 23.5#’s. I asked Dan “How much does your net
weigh?” He said “Just over 4#’s.” We both looked at each other as
our brains were doing quick arithmetic. I then said “HOLY $#IT!!! Over 19
LBS!!” Dan was like “Yeah. About 19.5#’s!”
