New Saskatchewan Walleye Record - Was there Divine intervention? - Printable Version +- Fishing Forum (https://bigfishtackle.com/forum) +-- Forum: Ice Fishing Forum (https://bigfishtackle.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?fid=402) +--- Forum: Ice Fishing General (https://bigfishtackle.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?fid=4) +--- Thread: New Saskatchewan Walleye Record - Was there Divine intervention? (/showthread.php?tid=182152)

New Saskatchewan Walleye Record - Was there Divine intervention? - DrownedDesertRat - 01-27-2005 [#cc0033]Provincial walleye record shattered by local priest[/#cc0033] Parishioners at St Eugene in Nipawin, Canadian Martyrs at Carrot River, and St. Mary in Choiceland are well aware of Father Mariusz Zajak's "fishing stories". They're about to hear more. And the news comes with legitimate bragging rights. BY BRIAN MCLANE Journal Staff Wednesday January 12, 2005 Still smiling Father Mariusz Zajak proudly displays his 18.30 pound walleye he landed while ice fishing on Tobin Lake, near the Resort Village of Tobin Lake, on Tuesday afternoon Jan. 4, 2005. The Roman Catholic priest now has legitimate bragging rights to the provincial record for walleye. — Photo by Brian McLane Nipawin Journal — Provincial walleye record shattered by local priest BY BRIAN MCLANE Journal Staff Parishioners at St Eugene in Nipawin, Canadian Martyrs at Carrot River, and St. Mary in Choiceland are well aware of Father Mariusz Zajak's "fishing stories". They're about to hear more. And the news comes with legitimate bragging rights. The Roman Catholic priest broke the provincial record for walleye by .24 pounds with a 18.30-pound catch January 4, 2005. The previous Saskatchewan record walleye, at 18.06 pounds, was caught and released on Tobin Lake in 1997. Father Mariusz landed his trophy while ice fishing alone in his ice shack on Tobin Lake at around 5 p.m., Tuesday afternoon, Jan. 4. But there's still more. Father says he got "the nibble" precisely as he was praying "The Magnificat" (Luke 1:46-55) as part of The Divine Office or Liturgy of the Hours -- the official prayer of The Roman Catholic Church. "Praying and jigging" -- what a combination! The fish was caught on a "diamond spinner" about one mile from the Resort Village of Tobin Lake where Fr. Mariusz also has a cabin. The trophy was landed over a submerged island called Birch Island where some of the oldtimers used to log trees, says Silver Tip Outfitters' owner Garry Debienne. "Father Mariusz deserves the record," said Debienne. "He has paid is dues. He's out there fishing in all kinds of weather." Debienne says the new trophy walleye will only add to the notoriety that Tobin Lake -- according to "Walleye Insider" and "In-Fishermen" magazines -- continues to be the top walleye fishery in North America. Debienne also believes there is a Canadian record walleye out there in Tobin Lake. "You land one full of eggs and you've got a new record," he adds. The Canadian record walleye, caught in Niagra River in Ontario, currently stands at 22 pounds, 4 ounces. The new Saskatchewan record walleye has a girth of 22.5 inches and measures 36.5 inches long. It is believed Father Mariusz's walleye is the only one caught while ice fishing. All other Tobin Lake provincial records for walleye were realized in open water. There were other avid fishermen in the victinity when Father Mariusz landed the big walleye. They include Robert Little, Steve Carson, Kurt Stein and Garry Debienne. Robert Little of Carrot River and his daughter Ashley, aged nine, were fishing nearby in their ice shack when "Father Mariusz came over to show us the huge walleye he just landed," Little says. "A short time later, Brennan Carson came by on a snowmobile to ask how the fishing was going," said Little in a telephone interview the following day. "I told him we got a few little perch, but to go see the big walleye Father Mariusz just caught." After seeing the big walleye, Brennan drove Father Mariusz and his big walleye the hundred or so yards, over to where Brennan's father, Steve Carson was ice fishing with Tobin Lake Resort resident, Kurt Stein in Kurt's ice shack. Here a decision was made to go to Kurt's garage back at the resort village and weigh the fish again. Father Mariusz says he initially weighed the walleye -- at 18 pounds -- on a spring scale he had with him in his ice shack. He also measured the fish to be 92.71cm long, and made the decision he would keep it and have it mounted, as it was over the regulation slot size and therefore legal to keep. While still in Kurt's garage, Garry Debienne came over and weighed the fish on his spring scale too. Garry measured the girth of the fish to be 22.5 inches. Everyone was getting around the 18-pound weight, so a decision was made that the fish was close to breaking the provincial record, and that it should be weighed on a proper scale. The phoning began to find a proper scale. The Pineland Co-op's downtown Nipawin store, which is open until 8 p.m., has a digital scale, so Father Mariusz took the fish to Nipawin to have it weighed and witnessed. The fish was weighed at 7:45 p.m. at Pineland Co-op by Steven Molsberry and witnessed by Kim Demmans. Father Mariusz says he is appreciative of the nearby fishermen who encouraged him to get the fish weighed properly, and to keep it in cold water, etc., otherwise the fish might have ended up just as a trophy on the wall of his Tobin Lake cabin. Father Mariusz says his earliest recollection of fishing is as a young boy of four, fishing in a pond off a tractor tire tube with his grandfather in his native Poland. "My family says I was born with a fishing rod in my hands," says the 43-year-old priest. "I always pray when I fish," he said. "Including the times when my brother priest and I are fishing in Poland. We'll sing and praise the Lord and sing 'The Magnificat' when we catch a fish." But sometimes prayer isn't so immediate. Father Mariusz recalled a recent fishing trip with Bishop Blaise Morand of Prince Albert who was in Nipawin for confirmation. Following confirmation, the pair headed for Tobin Lake to do some fishing. It was a rainy day and the fishing was not good, says Father Mariusz. "We caught a little pickerel," added Father Mariusz. "Our final weapon was to pray the rosary . . . still no fish!" [black][size 1] (as reported in the [url http://www.nipawinjournal.com/story.php?id=136932]Nipawin Journal[/url].)[/size][/black] [signature]