Every angler dreams of catching that fish of a lifetime. Sometimes it’s a Captain Ahab kind of quest, mano-a-mano (or fin), fueled by close encounters with one particular fish in your given fishery. ore often than not, though, it’s simply by accident.
In this article from the Detroit Free Press, fisherman Dale Blakely was out for his second time hard-water fishing (ice fishing) and converted one of those surprise opportunities to land his fish of a lifetime.
Dale Blakley’s second ice-fishing trip was one for the record books.
On Sunday, the Niles man caught a 52-pound flathead catfish on Barron Lake in Cass County. It beat the previous state record for the largest fish of that species by more than 2 pounds and gave Blakley a lifetime of bragging rights.
“It’s incredible. I’m overwhelmed right now,” the 45-year-old construction worker said today. “It was a great experience.”
Blakley and three friends were searching for bluegill and crappie when he dropped a glow-in-the-dark crappie jig hook with a wax worm through a hole in the ice.
“It wasn’t down there 45 seconds after I had done that when the fish hit,” he said.
Photos: Detroit Free Press
