The Craftsman pliers walleye!

Our son-in-law, J. P. Jones was a semi-professional walleye fisherman, was on the TRACKER fishing team, former President of the Nebraska Walleye Association and a really good fisherman. He frequently appears at sports, boats and vacation shows in the midwest giving demonstrations, showing off the TRACKER boats, etc.

ESPN had already taken shots of John fishing and catching walleyes, but after viewing the tapes, the producers of the show wanted more footage of John casting and "setting the hook" etc. So, he and our daughter, Lisa, went to a nearby lake to tape. John, figuring this would be a quickie, put a weight and lure on the line, cast out and promptly gave the rod a good pull - setting the hook.

Unfortunately, what he set the hook into was a sunken tree limb - snap went the line and the only "lure" that John had taken onto the boat. He hadn't planned to actually fish so didn't have his tackle box on this "trip" - result--no other lures.

But our John is a resourceful young man - he took a pair of Craftsman pliers from his back pocket and attached it to the line. Ok, so far, so good. He cast the pliers out and they made a nice ker-plunk as they hit the water. Then, John had his hands full!

The pliers opened up and gave him more of a fight than most walleye's do - they dove, swerved, bent the rod, went under the boat as the opened pliers were reeled in. All this time, John is laughing like crazy, not expecting this kind of action at all. Lisa is filming this from shore and is laughing so hard she was having trouble keeping the camera level.

John managed to land his Craftsman (pliers) and they presented the tape to ESPN (but didn't tell them about the big strike...they just let ESPN assume that they released the "fish")

The end of the story is that John has some of the best fishing action he has ever had on tape. The ESPN people will cut and splice shots of him casting and "setting" the hook, "fighting" the fish (pliers), and then show him bringing in and netting a nice walleye that he had caught when the ESPN guys were with him.

If you ever see John P. Jones from Nebraska on the sports network (ESPN) and he is casting out and battling the best fighting fish you ever saw, you'll know "the rest of the story".

John made me promise not to tell this story - but you guys won't say a word will you!!!!!

Salmon and Musky fishing

Ah, to be young and have a father who both loves fishing and has a nice, big boat to fish from. Our grandson Austin and his Dad, John Paul love to fish.

These photos were taken while on a vacation several years ago with friends who live in Port Washington, Wisconsin, about 25 miles north of Milwaukee and fish Lake Michigan nearly every week.....I should mention that when fishing on Lake Michigan, it really gives you peace of mind to be in a BIG boat.

Port Washington pierhead light as seen from Lake Michigan


It may not be possible to get seasick in a land-locked lake, but from experience, it can! ....bouncing around plus swinging sideways as the big waves hit will scramble all but the hardiest of stomachs! Of course, John, Austin's father smugly says "I've never been seasick in my life".......we cross our fingers that his time doesn't come when he's captaining a boatload of fishermen. (on the other hand, we secretly hope that he will get really seasick and find himself barfing over the side for 10 minutes or so....would serve him right for bragging!)
Austin is 12 years old (2007) and has been a fisherman since he was old enough to hold a rod. I can remember fishing in Minnesota years ago with 3 year old Austin bundled up in a life jacket bigger than he was. He wasn't able to handle a rod and reel too well, but he was a pro when he fished with a bamboo pole. He put quite a dent in the perch and rock bass population of Ten Mile Lake!
This 12 pound salmon was caught by Austin on Lake Michigan. He hooked it himself and fought it to the boat, but needed help with landing it. John and Austin usually fish for fun, they believe in "catch and release" and photos are all that they keep. However, this salmon made it to the dinner table....yummmmm, grilled salmon!!


On another fishing trip earlier this year, this small musky (muskellunge) weighing about 15 lbs was also caught by Austin....no help from Dad this time. After a long and really fun battle, they boated it, took photos and then released it back into the lake. Musky's have a mouth full of lethal teeth and getting the lure out before releasing it can be a real challenge. Sometimes, the fisherman/fisherwoman has a shredded finger to remember the experience. John has the scars to prove it.