Cambrie Fischer had never caught a walleye through the ice before.  In fact, on a recent fishing excursion east of Bismarck with her boyfriend Owen Haase they weren't planning on even catching any walleye.

According to Owen Haase, it all started the weekend before when he was fishing with his friend and fellow Bismarck High hockey teammate Carsyn Sebastian at a small lake east of town.  They were catching a lot of yellow perch and Owen thought it would be fun to get his girlfriend out on the ice the following weekend.

The couple were on the lake by 8 am in hopes of catching a lot of yellow perch.  It didn't take long and Cambrie caught a 36 inch Northern Pike.  Thinking it was going to be a hot bite, they continued to mark fish on their graph but as it turned out the perch were very finicky, unlike the previous weekend.  They were using small spoons tipped with a minnow.  It was about 9:45 in the morning when Owen marked a very big fish.  It came in and went from Owen's bait to Cambrie's bait.  It went back and forth for about 7 minutes before it finally took a nip at Cambrie's bait.  She set the hook and the fight began.  She fought the fish for about 4 minutes until the couple finally saw the fish.  Owen admits when he did see the fish he began "freaking" out because he had never seen a walleye this big before.

This is when things got a little interesting.  The hook actually got caught on the bottom of the hole and Cambrie couldn't get the fish turned up.  Owen made a split-second decision to stick his arm all the way down the hole and grab the fish by the gill.  As it turned out that was the right thing to do.  Haase was able to maneuver the fish up the hole and it was barely hooked.  The couple began jumping and hollering.

Owen measured the fish and it was 28 inches.  A normal 28-inch walleye should only weigh about 8 pounds give or take.  This fish weighed 10 pounds 7 ounces.  This was Cambrie's first-ever walleye through the ice.  What a first fish for the sophomore from Bismarck High School.  The couple took a few photos and released the fish back healthy into the water.  Owen said, "This was the best and happiest moment I've ever had fishing."  Now, Cambrie is hooked on fishing and wants to go all the time.  Here's a look at that monster walleye.  Congrats on a fish of a lifetime.

Owen Haase
Owen Haase
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