Bob Gillispie was very excited when he booked his first trip to Aikens back in January. Aikens had been on his radar for awhile, and this fly-in fishing veteran of 15 years jumped on an opportunity when he saw the special package offered on the Manitoba Lodges and Outfitters Association (www.mloa.com). Bob always fishes with his father-in-law Karl Hunter. Bob is also the owner of Custom Jigs and Spins (www.customjigs.com) and he brought quite a tool box filled with his own creations to see if they would work on Aikens.

…And work they did! Bob and Karl fished with Turbo as their guide and brought in over 20 slot walleyes on their first day to spark off a great trip! They also hired Tyler to guide them in the evenings, and on the 2nd night the monster hit! Karl was using a yellow and white Flu Flu jig with a crawler. Tyler marked a huge arc on the depth finder, and everybody’s fingers gripped their rods just a little bit tighter in anticipation of the bite… and Karl was the lucky one on this night! After a crazy fight full of sideways runs and under-the-boat mayhem, Tyler netted the thick walleye. It taped out at 30.75″ in length… but the most impressive measurement was the girth, a whopping 19″! Converted using In-Fisherman’s length x girth x girth / 800 formula the fish would weigh 13.8 lbs! Bob and Karl figured it was probably closer to 12 lbs, but either way it’s a fish to remember! If you are planning a trip to Aikens (or anywhere), don’t forget to check out Bob’s website to restock your tackle box!