(Saturday March 30, 2007)

The Fishin’ Bet

By: Randy Williams

Just the other day I went fishing on a cold April evening with a couple of my old “friends” Dan and Mike. Dan stated he just had a feeling that, “we are going to get ‘em tonight”. We loaded the gear, the minnows, double checked for any family pets that may have been left (inside joke), and launched the boat south of New London by Rawhide. As we motored through the darkness down stream to the honey hole we soon realized that it was *&^% COLD.

We took great care getting the boat anchored close to shore in just the right channel slot and after getting set up Mark had this great idea about The Fishin’ Bet. We all put money in the pot and Mark said and I quote, “who ever catches the first one takes the money.” Now the amount of money was not substantial but the bragging rights; well we are fisherman its really all we have…..

It didn’t take long before I thought I was about to receive the money in the pot and all the glory when I pulled up a 4 wheeler or in what is commonly known around these parts as a mud puppy. Mud puppy’s are not particularly liked because of there habit of wrapping there slimy bodies around your wrist when you attempt to take them off the hook. However, I endured and overcame this slimy creature in order to claim my prize for getting “the first one”. Unfortunately my friends would not pay, claiming that the first one had to be a fish. My mud puppy was not considered a fish; therefore I went back to fishing and the drama and excitement continued.

Not long after I caught a white bass, I was relieved because ‘I caught the first one’. My two “friends” in unison stated that yes this was a fish but “it was not a walleye and that is what the bet was really about”. Apparently these little friendly bets come with the fine print rules and regulations similar to a ‘powerball ticket’. Being more that slightly dismayed I continue fishing in earnest trying to capture the elusive fishin’ bet. The bet which I thought I had already earned twice. After an hour of wallowing in my sorrow and self pity ‘I caught a walleye’. I was ecstatic and requested no at this point I demanded that they surrender the coveted prize to me. To my great dismay both fisherman stated that a walleye would have to be 15 inches to qualify for this bet. The moral to this story is that I kept the walleye (it was legal) and threw the friends back! I am now looking for new fishin’ “friends” if interested contact Wolf River Outfitters and the Wolf River Guide Service so we can hook up.