Trophy northern caught at Lake Audubon
Trophy northern caught at Lake Audubon
By Brenda L. Shelkey
BHG News Service
Saturday afternoons are a great time to troll around the lake and fish in a leisurely fashion, soak up some sun, and appreciate the 80-degree weather. Last Saturday when Underwood native Milton Sayler offered to take Australian native Murray Warwarek on a fishing excursion on Lake Audubon, neither expected they would end the day with a trophy size northern on the hook.
The two men were trolling along the southwest corner of the lake near the Audubon Wildlife Refuge when Warwarek’s line buzzed suddenly. He said, “The fish took the night crawler on a double hook, 20-pound line on a 14 pound trace. It took the line and ran about 25 yards.”
The fish stayed deep so the two men weren’t sure what kind of fish was on Warwarek’s hook. Bringing in the 45 inch northern took about half an hour after two-and-a-half runs and lots of skill.
“It stayed down until the last two minutes. Our eyes opened wide when we saw the length of it,” said Warwarek. “It was an extraordinary sort of feeling. It was the biggest catch I’ve ever had, either here or in Australia.”
Warwarek and his wife, Trish, hail from Brisbane and are both retired military from the Royal Australian Air Force. He was in administration and she was, and still is, a nurse. During a two-year military nursing stint for Trish in Washington, D. C. in 2002 and 2003, the couple traveled and saw 45 of the 50
