Yesterday my son caught his first Northern. It is a proud family moment and I'm so proud of him for bringing it in himself, with some help from his dad.
This Northern tried to make an escape a couple times while still in the boat. I finally put the fishing net over the tote we had him in and he finally simmered down.
As we were driving home it was decided that this fish would be brined and smoked for lunch today. Both the boys were drooling at the idea of fresh smoked fish.
We arrived home, the fish was carried to the back yard and photos were taken. The Northern was 26 inches long. Look at the smile on his face! When the photoshoot was done, my husband cleaned the fish and got it into a brine solution.
This morning we ran off to Rice Lake for turkey feed. When we came back my husband started the smoker and got ready. Then he went to get the fish.
Guess what? (This is sad)
The fish was gone.
Gone!
He yelled "The fish is gone!" I was cleaning out the coop so I walked outside and said "What?!"
Yes, the fish was gone.
At some point, a coyote came into the yard and snatched the fish. The fish was grabbed and nothing around the bucket was disturbed.
Talk about heartbreak. I think I was in disbelief for at least five minutes. Oh, the devastation. After all the hard work yesterday no one gets to enjoy the fruits of the labor.
Some brats ended up being smoked, since the smoker was going. Those turned out tasty, but I know nothing would compare to what would have been.
