Somerset twins catch fish almost their size

• PHOTO: Vanasse girls with their fish

Samantha Vanasse (left) and Pebbles Vanasse (right) are pictured with their dad, Kyle, after landing two lunkers during a fishing trip on the St. Croix River earlier this summer.

Talk about it

The weather wasn’t the only thing hot this summer.

Pebbles and Samantha Vanasse, 7, of Somerset went fishing with their dad, Kyle, on July 14 at a “secret spot” on the St. Croix River.

Ten minutes after casting from their boat, they caught a four-pound northern pike, then a two-pounder, then another four-pounder. Each time they photographed the fish and released them.

However, a catch 35 minutes later was destined for another fate. Samantha caught a 36-inch, 10-pound pike.

“We had pictures and a celebration of high fives,” recalled her father. “We put this one in the live well.”

Not to be outdone by her sister, Pebbles caught a fish on her next turn – and it was a whopper.

“I held her by her pants so she wouldn’t be dragged in,” said Kyle.

They used a musky net to lift the fish into the boat: a 45-inch, 20 pound, 8 ounce great northern pike. Pebbles is only 47 inches tall.

“We had only been fishing an hour and the girls did not want to leave,” Vanasse said.

The family, which includes his wife and two older daughters, ate the 36 inch fish and had the 45 inch pike mounted.

Tags: communities, wisconsin, somerset, fishing