6 Year Old Catches 44.5 inch Pike

Hunter Anderson, at 6 years old, went with his dad, on his first Canadian Fishing trip to Lac Seul. We stayed at the Silver Water Wheel resort. Hunter and his father, Allen, were alone in a 209 TFX YarCraft for this trip. We were with a group of 3 other boats with a total of 10 people in our group. Hunter and I decided to fish for Northerns mid-day on our 3rd day of our trip (July 6, 2013) after catching 70 plus walleyes. We decided to troll a shoreline to take a break from casting. At the end of the troll, Hunter asked me if he could reel up my muskie rod. As I was reeling his rod in, I heard him get pulled against the side of the boat, as he was yelling, 'I got one, it's going to pull me in.' I told him to hang on tight - you will be fine...as the fish was stripping line. After I got his rod reeled up, I grabbed the net and the fish took another run - which Hunter started to laugh and said, 'it's heavy, dad.' I said, 'hold on buddy, this is a big one.' Hunter kept reeling and got the fish to the side of the boat, and as it appeared, I told Hunter, 'oh my goodness, it's a hog.' I only had a walley net, so I did not know how it was going to fit. Because of the length of my muskie rod, Hunter took two steps back into the boat, the fish eased itself into the net. While the fish was still in the water, I freed it from the hooks and told Hunter to fill the livewell. I picked the fish out of the net and placed it immediately into the livewell. Hunter held onto the fish while in the livewell - by it's tail, as I took some photos. Because he could not hold this giant, two of our fishing partners, Mark and Amy Lloyd, took photos of Hunter, myself, and the fish - from their boat. Hunter and I placed the fish in the water with a successful release. I am very proud of Hunter and the fact that he never gave up the fight with this fish - and that he never needed any assistance from me. When we returned to the Silver Water Wheel Lodge, Mike, Missy and their young daughter presented a Master Angler Pin to Hunter during supper. As a father, I could not be more proud of my 6 year old son!