A Fishy Story
Some things you just cant make up!! I have to tell you a story about a fellow that has been staying with us for the summer. Lets call him “Dan”. A bit of background about Dan first. Dan is an equipment operator working in the bush of northern Ontario. Dan has been staying in a camper on one of our RV sites for the summer and has become a bit of a fixture at the camp. He seems to have a black cloud following him around…his words. Not getting into too many details about his personal life, Dan is a widower and his only companion is a 4 year old female German Shepard named Misty.
About 3 weeks ago my parents my wife Heidi and I were enjoying a visit with each other in our newly renovated lounge (aka Liars Lounge). It was just after dark and I headed to our camper for some evening refreshments. As I walked out the lounge door I heard a noise…a scream although muffled. My curiosity got the better of me so I headed towards the Lake. I knew Dan was messing around with his boat and was trying to get his outboard motor to run properly. I called his name and all I heard in response was several huffing noises from the dock. Loud breathing is what came to mind. Then I heard a “HELP” come from the dock area. I yelled “DAN” and ran to the shoreline. Misty met me on land and as I approached the lake there was Dan standing waist deep in the lake! I asked him if he was ok to which he replied ” Yeah I fell out of the %$#&*^%$ boat” I asked if he was ok and before I could digest what was going on, Dan started telling me his fish story. Now remember Dan is standing in waist deep water, soaking wet, he cant swim very well and just fell out of his boat which was tied to the dock.
Dan continued to tell me about a huge Pike he caught a day or so earlier. He was slow trolling at a nearby point with his motor that wouldn’t run for more than 30 seconds when all of a sudden he hooked into a BIG fish. He continued to explain that he finally landed the Pike that later measured 43″. He pulled the big fish into his 16′ boat and said it took him over 10 minutes to get the hook out of its lip. When he was finally able to get the hook out and collect his thoughts the dog who always rides with him decided to check out this new beast laying on the bottom of the boat. Dan says he doesn’t know exactly what happened next but all of a sudden Misty started yelping and smashing around the boat in hysterics. When Dan focused on the situation he came to realize that somehow the Pike was able to get Misty’s front leg up to the elbow straight down the fishes throat! In Dan’s own words…I don’t know how the hell it happened but the dog was squealing, blood was flying around and the fish was doing its best to swallow my dog. So Dan did what he had to save his dog and ended up biffing (Dan’s words) the fish in order to resolve the situation. Holly mackerel said Dan, Now I have a dead Pike and a dog that is ripped up in my boat and a motor that might not get me back to camp.
Well unfortunately the trophy Pike did not fare so well and the neighbor ended up smoking it, Misty was cut up a bit but has made a full recovery…and Dan’s motor still doesn’t run very good.
I helped Dan out of the chilly water and told him that he just might be a part of our website with his Fishy story!!
