Dangerous Dan does it again

My angling buddy Dangerous Dan Bloomquist phoned last Sunday night. He always phones after he has spent some time on the Brule River over in Douglas County.

I suppose it’s simply part of the genetic makeup of being an angler, this need to talk about what was and what wasn’t caught after time spent on the water. Sure, a lot of fishermen are pretty closed-mouth about their fishing successes — they don’t want the word to get out and have their “honey holes” taken over by invading anglers. But let me tell you this, when a fishermen hook into a good-sized catch they’re going to tell somebody about it, even if it isn’t you.

“I caught the biggest steelhead I’ve ever caught in my life today,” Dan said into the phone Sunday. I could tell by his tone he was excited.

Having caught the “biggest” of fish is saying something for Dangerous Dan, because in recent history Dan has caught a lot of steelhead, and many big ones. I smiled, even though Dan couldn’t see me. How big was it?

“I’m sure it weighed 10 pounds, it probably went 30 inches,” Dan said. “It took a solid 20 minutes to land. Another guy who was there helped me.”

Did you keep it? Are you going to have it mounted? Dan isn’t one to keep any trout of any size. He isn’t a snob or anything, that’s just how it is.

“No. I let it go. I had the guy who was helping me take some pictures, though. I’ll send you some,” Dan said.

Tell me the story.

“I was drifting a streamer through a big hole and he hit just at the end of the drift. He raced up and down the hole just a couple of times, then he went to the middle to sulk and held firm. I couldn’t move him for a long time, but eventually he gave in and I got him. He was a nice fish, a big dark male with a hooked jaw,” Dan said.

Nice. Good job. That’s a mighty big fish. What did you catch it on?

“I caught in on an egg-sucking-leech I found in the parking lot at the landing on Tuesday,” Dan said.

What do you mean? You found a fly at the parking lot on Tuesday? You went fishing on Tuesday?

“I had the day off and I figured I’d go down to the river and see if anything was going on. I found this fly in the parking lot and hung onto it. I wasn’t there today for more than 20 minutes when I caught this big steelhead.”

Wait, let’s talk about Tuesday first. Tuesday? This Tuesday (Oct. 26)? Dan, there was a wind-storm on Tuesday that weather forecasters said was a category 8 hurricane in parts of Minnesota. Storm clouds dropped rains up to two inches in some parts of Wisconsin. Some homes were without power for two days. The barometer dropped to record lows. The storm made the national news.

You went fishing on Tuesday?

“It was certainly windy. I had a tough time crossing the river, that’s for sure,” Dan said. “I fished for an hour and then an entire tree floated past, so I figured I should get out of there. Only the river had risen a foot since I’d gotten there, so I couldn’t cross back. I walked two-and-a-half miles downstream, found a bridge, crossed back over and then walked out.”

Dan, you’re nuts. You went fishing on Tuesday. Tuesday, Dan!

“I know,” Dan said. “But, what about this fish? Nice, eh?”

Darrell Pendergrass, of Grand View, is a Wisconsin Newspaper Association outdoor writing award winner. Read more of his work at outtherewithdarrell.blogspot.com.

Tags: sports, outdoors, animals, weather, fishing