Monday

Profile of Jim Golla aka "Pikeman"

Name: Jim Golla
Age: 56
Occupation: Gastroenterologist (you know, the one with the flexible 5 foot lighted tube that has an a-hole on each end of it).
Background: I live in OK, but grew up in the only county in Minn. without a natural lake. As a boy, I fished Green Lake in central Minn., a clear lake with extraordinary structure. ( Roland Martin just did a smallmouth show from there on today's episode.) My depth finder was a heavy sinker on clothesline cord, wrapped on a rolling pin. Northern pike were the biggest fish available to me, and we just sort of hit it off, I guess. I love the sneer, the attitude, the teeth, the slime, the gorgeous spots, etc., etc. I can't believe my parents let me take out our old steel pontoon and 9 1/2 Johnson by myself when I was only 9-10 years old. Often I'd dunk perch for them, since every pike I ever cleaned had perch in its belly. While catching the perch for bait (with worms), I'd get excited when the perch all of a sudden would turn off. That meant Mr. Big was back in town - a pretty cool system for a kid. Then, my Dad took me to Canada when I was 16. The biggest fish was 14 lbs., and I couldn't believe how unbelievably great it was! Second trip - same thing. Funny how those "fabulous" trips that gut hooked me for life would now be considered a total disaster.
My wife and I took our 3 kids to a flyout numerous times, until increased fishing pressure caused the fishing to crash (with a stunningly rapid thud). Since then, we've sampled Manitoba, Saskatchewan, NWT, and Alaska, with some hits and some misses along the way. I'm not a guy who likes to "play the field". I like to find a place that I can "get married to". Laugh if you must, but my license plate and e-mail address are both "Pikeman". I'm done trying to explain it. I just love Northern Pike!

What brought me to Taltson? I'm afraid that's another long-winded story. It was on my "short list" from magazine articles, I guess, Then, 2 years ago, I'm packed for a trip to Lac La Martre, and the scumbag owner calls me 5 DAYS BEFORE I LEAVE that "he is financially unable to open the lodge this year" (after he has all my money, of course). REALLY? ARE YOU SERIOUS? Well, thanks to John and Don, we hurriedly made some lemonade out of that lemon, and I was made welcome at Taltson. Here's hoping that that unhappy story winds up being a blessing in disguise, long term. [By the way, LLM is under new ownership, so don't hold the other jerk's sins against the new guy.]

Biggest at Taltson: 46" (hey' I've only been there once).

Favorite Lures: Really? you guys don't mind spilling all your "secrets"? Oh, all right. Bucktails, Vibraxes, Spinnerbaits, Johnson spoon, Kamlooper spoon (another long story, should you ever have the misfortune of sharing the lodge with me), bunny flies, and assorted "big rubber fish".

Stories: Only been there once, but it did show me the biggest walleye I've ever seen (32+, by my wife). Got chased into a hut by a T-storm one day, then caught a 43" on the first cast afterward. On an umpteenth pass at Thubin, it seemed time to try something different, so I went with a spinnerbait, and asked my son (2000 miles away, at home), who is the spinnerbaitmeister, to send me some psychic energy. First cast=43 1/2". My wife made Don a blueberry pie during another T-storm break.

2011: I'm taking my daughter up the 2nd week of Aug. She won't like me saying, but she (despite being an excellent fisherwoman) has the family's "smallest lifetime biggest" at 47". We'll see what we can do about that!

Comment: Like I said, Im not a guy who likes to try a different place every year, so I'm hoping to commence a long relationship with Taltson (seeing that many of you are thusly "married" to her already). When asked, I will say that if you have a place where you can consistently get 2 trophies per person per day, you are usually going to be wasting time (and money) looking for a better place. From what I know so far, that bar seems too low, when it comes to Taltson, however. To be continued.............



Jim Golla with a monster caught from The Thubin Trench

Angler Profiles

( to get on the Taltson Bay E-mail list for updates, please drop me a line at jamie@customfish.com and Ill add you to the list. Thanks)


We're going to be starting a new feature here on the blog: ANGLER PROFILES! As an elite group of 60ish of the best anglers on the planet, it's nice to be able to know who is who when the stories are told.

Please copy the questions, put them in an email and send them to me jamie@customfish.com and I'll put them up on the site. Feel free to send me a great picture too!
Thanks all!!!

Name:
Age:
Occupation:
Fishing background:
What brought you to Taltson Bay? :
What's your biggest pike at Taltson? :
What's your favorite lure(s)? :
What are your best Taltson Stories? :
When are you going back this year? :
Comments?:


_____________________________________________________________________

Name: Jamie Riani ( webmaster for Taltsonbaypike.com and the facebook page)

Age: 41

Occupation: Large Format Digital printing / owner of Customfish.com


Fishing background: I started fishing during family trips to Tomahawk WI when I was a little kid. As a teenager I honed my skills on some of the toughest waters to succesfully fish; Salt Creek in Addison, Il and it's chain of retention ponds catching carp, green sunfish, and largemouth.
I graduated to Lake Geneva where I fished for a decade and then Delevan where I have fished for the last 10 years. We chase pike, bass, walleyes and musky.
I'm an avid smallmouth angler, lucky to have a home within blocks of the DuPage River where I often wade or kayak. I also fish The Fox River as well as several area lakes for smallmouth and largemouth. My biggest smallie is a 23". Biggest largemouth a 22.5"
I also have a nicely stocked 2 acre bass pond outside my back door which keeps me and my son busy with bass and crappies.
I fish Pipestone in NW Ontario every year as well since 2005 targeting huge Smallmouth and bonus muskies & pike.

What brought you to Taltson Bay? : It was a dream trip for me. Much like most of us, I had heard about it from a couple friends who have been there multiple times. I have a love for pike fishing due to my years fishing Tomahawk.

How long have you been going to Taltson? : 4 years so far. 2007 partnered with John Mich. 2008-present partnered with Bill Kallenberg.

What's your biggest pike at Taltson? : 47"

What's your favorite lure(s)? : I go with the Savage Gear 4-Play ( 8"), The Storm Kickin' Minnow, Bulldawg, Mepp's Muskie Killer, Dick Pearson's Grinder.


What are your best Taltson Stories? : Oh man..there's alot of them! From dressing up in luau surfer hawiian clothes with Kallenberg, blasting Beach Boys tunes and decorating our boat with tiki gear, a skull, and a dancing hula girl to wearing a cowboy hat for most of the 2009 trip. I've done a couple "lodge surgeries" on crewmembers with Krazy Glue and hockey tape..those were all fun. I took a leak down by the burn pile in 2007 and didn't realize there was a bear 20' away ( that was a mess!).
But I think the best was a 2 hour span in 2008 when Billy and I sat in one spot in Beck's Channel and caught one huge trophy after another! It was no more than 30something degrees with a 20mph wind from the north ( June 3rd I think). We've NEVER been so cold in our lives but we couldnt leave the bite. It was the most unreal and painfully awesome fishing I've ever seen at Taltson!! INSANE!

When are you going back this year? : August 20th. That's our week now. I thought June was cool, but with 3 Augusts under my belt, I dig August more.

Comments?: I'd just like to say that I am very very proud to do what I do for the camp as the web guy and I'm proud to be an alumni member with a group of roughly 60 of the most hardcore anglers on the planet. I think it's pretty cool that we are a rather elite and exclusive group And even though we may not know each other personally we know the photos, faces and names of our fellow great pike anglers. Basically I think that we fish the best pike waters on Earth and we all kick ass doing it!


Jamie with a nice mid 40's pike from the trolling trough. August 2010.