Marilyn Quayle lands trophy pike

Some of you may remember the charity trip which brought Dan Quayle to Aikens Lake last summer. The trip raised over $25,000 for the Christmas Classic Charity down in Phoenix. It was such a great success that we couldn't say no when we were asked to participate once again in 2007! This trip ended up consisting of four couples, Dan Quayle was joined by his wife Marilyn. Bill and Julie Lavidge along with good friends Terry and Sarah Lee were the couples who purchased this exclusive trip back in December. For the trip, they were joined by our partners Dale and Vicki. The trip was a short one, but one that will provide a lifetime of memories! In the two days that the group was here, there were a ton of fish caught! At first, Julie was worried that she may not catch a single fish, but after the first evening when she helped her boat net 30 walleyes those fears were put to bed! Dan continued his tradition of fly-fishing for pike, and although the larger ones had gone deep during this heatwave, he was still able to catch a few in the bays. The group was especially happy to find an eagles nest downriver. A baby bald eagle was standing on the edge of the nest, perhaps only days away from taking his first flight! However, the highlight of the trip was Marilyn's trophy. Fishing all trip with a brace on her left wrist, Marilyn wasn't sure how her arm would hold up against a large fish. Fishing for walleyes in the Saddle, Pat marked a submarine on his depth finder. They decided to throw a Williams Whitefish Spoon down to the bottom and started to aggressively jig it. They held their breath everytime the large blob on the screen would rise towards the lure, and after 5 minutes of goading the trophy finally took the bait! The drag was screaming as Pat held onto Marilyn's fishing rod, helping her to tame and subdue " ol'snaggletooth" . The wrist didn't seem to matter once the fish was in the net! What wrist! What teamwork! All in all a great experience for everybody, and we hope to be able to support the Christmas Classic again next year.