Tim Worel
Hasty, MN
Every year, Jon Hedin and I (Tim) go fishing near Grand Rapids,
Minnesota for the 'bulls'. A 'bull' is a sunfish that is over three-quarters
of a pound. A 'double-hump bull' is a sunfish that is close to a pound or over.
Jon and I were fly-fishing and the bulls were biting. Every time we laid the
fly in the water we got another bull. For every three bulls we caught, we would
get a double hump bull. We couldn't believe that this was happening to us! Every
10-15 bulls we would get a muskie or a northern that would hit at the bulls
as we were pulling them in. Many of the bulls we caught had big scars on them.
We did manage to see a couple of the monsters. They just wouldn't let go of
the bulls.
Jon caught a monster crappie that weighed about two pounds. Then we went from
sunny bulls to crappie bulls and from fly rods to ultralite rods and minnows.
We caught 16 crappies ranging from 1-1/2 pounds to 2-1/2 pounds. We ran out
of minnows so we went back to fly-fishing for the sunfish. I spotted what looked
like a monster crappie that was about 1-1/2 to 2 feet long and about seven inches
up and down. Both Jon and I threw our flies right in front of her but she wasn't
biting. Jon and I just looked at each other and I said, "Oh well, maybe
next year!" Jon and I probably caught about 100 bulls apiece that day.
We kept 60 double hump bulls and 16 crappie bulls. It was a real "sunny-bull"
fishing day!
