By Alex Campbell

-- My name is Alex, and I am 12 years old and this is my story. It was a very cold winter day for ice fishing. But we ice anglers would consider it to be hot. I had just bought an ice shack the previous year, so I asked my mom if we could go ice fishing. Her response was, "Yes."

She said, "Please get your stuff and I'll warm up the car." Once I had all of my things, we were off. When we got to the place, there must have been at least 50 or more people that I could see. We parked, unloaded our equipment, and set off for our journey.

I set up the tip-ups as my mom set up the shack. I put one to the left, one to the front, and one further back. As I got closer to my mom, she had already set up the shack and started fishing for huge bluegill. We were jigging for an hour when I looked out the window and my left tip-up was up. I told my mom to get gaff. When we got to the hole, the spinner was not spinning so I gave it 30 seconds to spin and pulled. Nothing.

I was upset, but my mom said we'll get one next time. So, I set it up again and put it back down the hole. After that, we headed to the shack and resumed fishing. As the day went on, more and more people started to leave, and it got colder. I told my mom I only wanted to stay 30 more minutes and she agreed. About 15 minutes passed and I noticed my tip-up was further back. I was excited and worried if I really had a fish.

So we got the gaff and walked over to the hole. It was spinning! I gave it 10 seconds and pulled. It fought back. I said to my mom, "I got one!" It took me 5 minutes to get the fish out of the water. I quickly weighed and measured it. It was 11 1/2 pounds and 38 inches long. My mom said it was a monster!

We quickly snapped a picture. After we put the Northern back, we decided to leave because we had caught 27 bluegills and one BIG Northern. I will never forget the day. It was a very special day for both of us. I could spend all day fishing with my mom.

Alex Campbell
Madison, WI