I believe it was the summer of 1993.  My best friend was and still is Daniel Lee and his dad is also named Marcus.  Throughout my childhood, Marcus and family (Trish, Erin, Megan, Daniel) would let me join them on many excursions, especially if they involved fishing.  On this day, we all went to a spot that Dan and I used to refer to as “Daniels Grandpa’s Land”.  Well, technically we still refer to it as that.  Dan’s grandparents Raymond and Darlene owned several acres that connected to the shores of the Little Muddy River.  This particular area of the “Muddy” as we generally call it, was only a mile or two outside of Williston, where we all grew up.

Considering there were 5 of us in total and in ND it’s 2 rods allowed per person, I believe Marcus had 10 rods or close to it lined up down the river bank.  They were all spaced out about 10-20’ apart and were put in pole holders that you just stick in the ground and the rod will sit upright.  I should mention, although technically it’s a river and this section is about 100 yards wide, unless it’s early spring, there’s virtually no current and it’s only 4-6’ deep in the middle depending on the year.  He had some rods with bobbers and some with basically a lindy rig or a slip sinker, swivel, couple feed of line and then a plain hook and a piece of worm on it.  I remember it was very hot out that day, but so was the fishing. 

The rods started going off like crazy.  I’m not even sure Marcus fished, he was really just acting as a guide, taking fish off, baiting hooks, and getting the rods reset.  We caught one bullhead after another, with a smattering of mooneyes and maybe a carp or two mixed in.  A bullhead is basically a mini catfish.  They look similar, with a couple whiskers, but especially in the “Muddy” they are significantly smaller, maybe averaging only 1/4 pounds a piece.  They also have a few sharp spots that can definitely poke and slice you.  This river and this area as we found out that day, was absolutely loaded with bullheads and after it was all said and done, I think we caught around a 100 or more that day.  They basically hang out near the bottom, are scavengers, and absolutely love worms for bait!  They aren’t the prettiest fish, biggest fish, or the best fighters, but Dan and I were on cloud 9, this was serious action.  I think the girls only reeled in a few and were mostly swimming, but not Dan and I, we were just reeling them in as fast as we could and couldn’t wait to do it again.  They say “the tug is the drug” and we were nothing short of addicted that day.  

This particular area of the “Muddy” we would make a lot of memories over the years, both from shore in the summer and ice fishing in the winter.  We just didn’t know it yet.  I’m sure I’ll touch on this later in other stories yet to come.  You can tell how proud we were in the picture, aqua socks and all!             

Thanks Marcus!

Marcus Lynch

Lucky Lynch’s Guide Service