Monster in Minaki

[RC]

Was wondering if anybody out there has ever run into a large fish underneath the railroad bridge. Something took my line and just took off. I've never seen line leave my reel faster. We followed the fish the best we could, got right over it, I could barely hang on to my rod. He pulled the rod into the water with me still hanging on to it. The line snapped and that was the end of that. Has anytbody else experienced this and what kind of fish is it. Maybe the famous "SNAG" fish?

[IaCraig]

I'm going to Minaki in a few days and I'll see if I can catch him for you and let you know. But he will need to still have your lure in his mouth for me to make a positive identification. What does this monster like to eat and how deep does he hang out????

A lot of big fish are caught under that bridge and with the river being so narrow there the current gives a fish extra pulling power. I seldom fish under the bridge so I do not have any personal experiences of interest, but I have heard other guy's tell stories so I hopefully you'll get some interesting responses.

Big fish + fast current = stories of big'uns that got away.


IaCraig

[Aaron]

I had the same experiance just south of Minaki toward the Dalles
in late June of this year. I was in a cove away from the current and I could hardly budge the fish. After about five minutes of being pulled around it was getting close to the boat then it just started ripping my line off and that's all she wrote. In my twenty years of fishing on that river system I have never had a fish on that felt as big as that one did. I have to assume it was a 30+ Muskie, but I never got a good look.

[jrtfish]

It was probably a big sturgeon.

[bigfish1965]

Aye matey..I have heard of the devil of which ye speak. It is said to be 11 ft long, over a hundred pounds, and nearly 400 yrs old. The natives call her 'BIGGANPISST'. It is an evil monster. Only the foolhardy tangle with this widowmaker.In '38 we were making that dammed bridge for the CN. We had an anchor holdin the barge. We musta dropped it on her nest. She picked up the anchor in her evil mouth and dragged the barge down to the bottom of the narrows. All 50 men on board , sadly, got soaking wet. To this day, on a moonlit night you can hear the screams of those men, and the laughter of BIGGANPISST.

[wallymarss]

Hey BIGFISH what the Heck are you talking about? Is it Ogopogo or a big fricking sturgeon.
Big and Pissed sounds like a good drinking story!

[Pat IA]

Probably a sturgeon, that part of the river is notorious for big sturgeon. Just before I was in the area earlier this month one about 6' long was found dead near The Dalles by the MNR.

[Urban Legend]

Heard stories in Lake St Clair in the old days of one hour fights with huge fish and being towed out into the open lake with the motor in full reverse. I think these stories surfaced around the same time the movie jaws came out.

[riverrunner]

How did it fight, big 17# eye,should be a straight pull ,maybe a couple slow head shake's.Big pike, ussually run straight at you.Big musky, ussually make fast runs side to side, then come up laughin and rolling.Big sturgeon, usually strong steady pull upstream then back down, Ah pretty much what ever they want to do. good luck next time