Murphy's Law of Fishing #4: When ice fishing with a six inch auger you can be guaranteed to catch gigantic fish that will be too big to bring up through the hole.

Even though Adam and I are dedicated open water anglers, the hard water helps to kill the time between seasons before we can get back into the boat. Usually we hop around from lake to lake, but this year we decided to focus our attention on the Bay of Quinte to try our luck at winter walleye.

When we ice fish we like to keep things pretty simplistic and lightweight due to the fact that we travel to our fishing spots with two feet and a heartbeat. No ATV's or sleds for us. So in keeping with this methodology, we opted to buy a manual six inch ice auger rather than a heavy gas-powered one. After this past ice fishing season I think that we may now be regretting our decision.

A few trips to the Bay of Quinte proved to be very successful for us. Each and every trip we were consistently landing fish. Some on the bigger end of the scale, but we also were able to save a few for the table. It was the perfect mixture.

Our last trip took place just before the season closed. We felt pretty confident that it would be plentiful and we were right. We stayed on the ice for a full day and managed to ice a lot of fish. Nearing the end of the day the bite had really turned on and each time we dropped our lures down we had a hit.

Once things heated up I hooked into what would be my last fish of the season and right away I knew it was a giant. The weight of the fish bent my rod right over and my line was leaving the spool faster than I could replace it. My adrenaline was pumping in anticipation of seeing what I had caught. Up… up… up it came…

Slowly the head of the fish started to appear in the hole and I could not believe my eyes. This was by far the biggest walleye I had ever seen in my life. Now I have seen quite a few 12 pound walleye in my day, but this particular fish put them all to shame. The term "football" perfectly describes this fish.

After our initial shock we realized that our chances of getting it through the hole were slim to none. Being the true gentleman that he is, Adam stuck his arm down into the freezing water to try to maneuver the fish up the hole. His gracious efforts did not pan out in our favour; it was simply too big. Eventually, the fish pried itself free of the hook and swam away.

I don't know what sours me more, the fact that I didn't get to get a good look at this monster out of the water, or the fact that I ended up losing my last fish of the season. All I do know is that I think I'll be looking to buy a bigger auger for next season!