Persistence and patience.

That's what former Parker resident Sarah Blauser used to pull a 24-inch, 10-pound freshwater drum out of Lake Michigan recently.

A student at the University of Chicago, Blauser spotted the fish deep in the water as she arrived at the lake to fish.

“I was determined to get it. I could tell it was sizable,” she said. “I used every bit of tackle and bait I could think of and eventually reeled it in.

“It took a good three hours, but it was worth it.”

Blauser said the fish was the biggest she's ever caught and that's saying something. Now 23 and having been in Chicago for five years now, she has fished Lake Michigan often.

She's been fishing since the age of 5, when her father, Bill Blauser, introduced her to the sport. She's been fishing with her father ever since.

“I caught my first trout while fly fishing on the Big Horn River when I was 8,” Sarah said.

“Hunting and fishing have been a part of my family for generations.”

One of her grandfathers owns a pond in central Wisconsin, where Blauser caught a huge large mouth bass last year. Her other grandparents — on her father's side — owned a 600-acre farm in Parker.

“My dad built his own big pond there 20 years ago,” Bill Blauser said. “We've had hundreds of relatives fish up there. My father had 13 brothers and sisters ... their children and grandchildren have fished there.

“The pond was always privately stocked. You could always catch something in there.”

A geologist by trade, Bill Blauser attended the Princeton Geological Field Camp in Montana in the summer of 1977. He's gone to that state to fish in each of the 38 years since.

“He stays there for awhile,” Sarah said, laughing. “Sometimes for two months or so.”

Every now and then, his daughter joins him out there. They joined each other at Yellowstone National Park this month to fish the Madison River, Yellow Stone River and possibly other bodies of water.

“I haven't bought a return (plane) ticket yet,” Sarah said. “I'm planning on staying at least two weeks, maybe longer.

“I cherish that time with my father. I really do. The fishing out there ... It's my dad's favorite place in the world and it's close to becoming mine. It's become a history sort of thing for us.”

Bill Blauser has made fishing trips before — to Canada, Alaska, catching rainbow trout, salmon “just about anything that's out there,” he said.

“We catch-and-release quite a bit,” he said. “We enjoy fly-fishing for trout.”

They mostly enjoy the time together.

“I've hunted and fished for years — we both have — but I prefer fishing,” Sarah said. “ It's on the water, less violent ... very peaceful.

“Once a year, we go on a fishing trip somewhere. I look forward to it.”

Just like she looks back on reeling in the big fish at Lake Michigan.

“That was work, but it was fun,” she said. “It's going to be hard to beat that one.”