Written By: Hannah Corneliusen
In the big state in Minnesota lies the greatest lake of walleye fishing. Lake of the Woods is 85 miles long and 56 miles wide. It includes 14,632 islands throughout the lake and 65,000 miles of shoreline. Lake of the Woods is connected to two Canadian provinces; Ontario and Manitoba. I grew up on this lake as my father had his own fishing business called “Reel Adventures Fishing Service” which he took over from my grandfather. My dad has been fishing this lake for 20 years. On a bright summer day, my dad, his girlfriend, my boyfriend Austin, and myself headed out on the big lake to one of my dads favorite spots in hopes to bring some supper back. Once we got out to our spot, we put our rods in the water and started jigging. Looking across the lake, all you could see was blue sparkling water and a clear sky for miles unless you were feeding the pelicans your snacks. Lake of the Woods is home to some of the biggest walleyes and my dad has never really had luck on catching huge fish on this lake. He catches enough to eat but no record breakers. On this very day, my dad caught the biggest fish he had ever reeled up into his boat. At that moment I knew it was a huge fish as my dad told me I needed to reel up my rod to help him with this big fish. I grabbed the net and he struggled to reel it in, but eventually we were able to get the fish into the boat. After measuring the walleye with the yardstick, it showed 30 ½ inches which is the biggest walleye my dad has ever caught. I was so happy that I got to experience him catching the biggest walleye he had ever caught. It made me so proud to see my dad not give up after all these years. This fish now hangs on the wall at home as a trophy even though it took 20 years to find. My dad will continue to go back out everyday to hopefully catch one even bigger.
