"Last year Ruth and I went way back there, maybe Kyukutuk. There wasn't anybody there yet, but there were some holes already made, so we just opened them up. I don't remember who was all back there 'cause we went fishing so many times. But I remember that it was starting to melt. The snow was soft and we kept getting stuck if we went the wrong way on our snowgos.

Anyway, after fishing for awhile I was getting bored. Ruth was catching all the fish, not me. I was fishing at a little hole, maybe a foot or less wide. Just when I was going to give up and move to another hole, I felt a little bite. I got up and started to pull up the line. But I couldn't, the pike was pulling so hard. I was hollering away, and Ruth and Jon had to come and help me pull up the pike. As it was coming up, it's mouth was wide open, and it was as big as the hole. When it was finally out of the hole, we took out the fish hook. It was easy 'cause the hook was just about to come off. We got the fish out just in time. It's stomach was so wide that I couldn't put both of my hands around it. I was so happy. Good thing I didn't catch another one that big 'cause we didn't have a sled with us."

Olga Soolook