About a third of the way around the shore, the wind started to hit the canoe broadside and I spent all of my time keeping the canoe in position. My husband cast near the tip of a pier in about 6 feet of water, and then a fish hit! My husband knew at once that he had a big one on. At first, I thought it was a northern, but then it jumped. No, this was a gigantic largemouth. Wow! The fish took a dive and I thought the rod was going to break. I shouted to my husband to back-reel as I tried to gain control of the canoe. We were now heading dangerously close to the pier and the last thing I wanted was for that bass to get the line wrapped around the dock. I quickly headed for a clear patch of shore and beached the canoe. Now I could watch the battle.

That fish went back and forth, dove down, jumped a few times, and did everything it could to throw the hook. I jumped out of the canoe with the net and helped my husband land the largest bass of his life. It looked long and fat and healthy.

So, do you want to know what lake that happened on? Well, when you look at it on a map, it looks like the cap of a mushroom laid on its side. Hey, at least it's not shaped like a parrot!

(Editor's Note: You can listen to Judy Nugent on the radio every week on "Outdoors with Dan Small and Judy Nugent" on stations across the state and at Lake-Link.com, keyword: radio).