Rodney Akey has fished the St. Joseph River for 40 of his 46 years. This last year has been drastically different, and not for any good reason.
Diagnosed in August with kidney failure, the former lathe operator has spent the following months bouncing from doctor's appointment to dialysis treatment to doctor's appointment. And for his fishing trips, he's never alone.
"I'm not supposed to do anything that's too strenuous," the Niles resident said. "That's why I always have a friend with me."
That extra pair of hands, in the form of buddy Will Skalla, came in handy late in the day on May 22. Akey hooked into a record-setting fish that could be considered well beyond strenuous. By the time the 30-minute struggle ended, he had landed 49.8 pounds and 45.7 inches of flathead catfish — the largest ever caught in Michigan.
"When the snows fall and the white winds blow, the lone wolf dies but the pack survives." Winter is Coming Now this is the Law of the Jungle—as old and as true as the sky; And the wolf that shall keep it may prosper, but the wolf that shall break it must die. As the creeper that girdles the tree-trunk, the Law runneth forward and back; For the strength of the Pack is the Wolf, and the strength of the Wolf is the Pack.
