Yesterday I went fishing with my son-in-law Luke. We started at a spot along the Zumbro River in Rochester, but after a while neither of us had gotten a bite. I told him I knew a place farther upstream where I had always caught plenty of fish: the tailwaters below the Silver Lake Dam.

The move paid off. We immediately began catching fish, mostly Bluegills and Black Bullheads, although Luke also landed a couple of Smallmouth Bass and a Yellow Perch.

I spent most of the morning fishing my usual bottom rig: a size 6, 8, or 10 hook baited with a red worm, with a small bank sinker (about 1/8 ounce) positioned roughly 12 inches above the hook. The fishing was good, but after a while I decided it would be fun to try something different.

I removed the small hook and tied on a large 1/0 circle hook. Instead of using a piece of worm, I threaded on an entire worm. I told Luke that the change probably didn’t make much sense, but I was going to give it a try anyway.

It wasn’t long after I cast it out that I felt a solid bite. This fish fought much harder than the others. As I reeled it in, I told Luke, “I think it’s a Redhorse.”

“No,” he replied. “That’s not a Redhorse. That’s a Walleye!”

I was completely surprised. A Walleye was the last fish I expected to catch at that location. I had assumed I would need to fish a northern Minnesota lake or perhaps the Mississippi River before eventually adding one to my 100-species list. So, instead of traveling to a northern Minnesota lake or the Mississippi River, I caught Species #33 right here in Rochester.

I then asked Luke to take a picture of me with the fish but every time Luke got ready to snap a photo, the fish wriggled out of my hands and onto the bank. Luke was laughing hard and after each escape attempt he would say, “Kevin! Hold on to the fish!” Eventually we managed to get a photo.

With this Walleye, I am now one-third of a fish away from being one-third of the way to my goal of 100 fish species. Only a serious fish nerd would think that milestone is worth celebrating, but I do!