Hardcore Mille Lacs Muskies....

As I sit down to tell this story, I am almost too sore to even type on the computer.  Yesterday Musky Mike and I hit up the big pond for the famous Fall Fatty's that I crave.  Looking at the picture, you would say that we accomplished our goal, and yes, we kinda did.  However, we were in search of the elusive 50 pounder on this particular day.  It was basically the most hardcore fishing that you can put your body through.  Rewarding???? Yes! But, Very abusive to the body.  We started chucking baits by daybreak and didn't stop until after dark.  When you head to fish for that next state record, you cannot expect to see fish everywhere and catch several,  so we put our time in and made cast after cast all day long with high hopes of that fat bellied beast with each toss of the baits.  The other factor was that the wind was blowing sooooo hard all day and we had rollers crashing over the front of the boat from start to finish.  When you couple that with 48 - 50 degree air temps, you have to call us crazy for even trying.  It was just plain horrible conditions, and we loved every second of it!!!!

This trip had the feel that we were going to catch not just a musky, but some ungodly huge beast that doesn't even exist.  I don't know quite how to say it, but it felt like I was going to be holding the next state record at any given cast.  And rightfully so, because there really may not be a better chance to catch such a fish than right now, and on that lake.  It kinda kept the jump in our step all day, and as we had fish come and go throughout the day, we finally had that encounter with "The Beast."  That's right, we saw the fish that we spent 10 hours casting for.  A monster that could possibly force a scale to show 50+.  Needless to say, we stuck around and spent another two hours trying to make him eat.  The fish was just HUGE!  We didn't know exactly what we were dealing with when we saw him, all we knew was that it was a tank, and if it gets caught, it will probably be flying around websites across the country.  So, hoping we would catch this fish, we tried into the darkness and that is where the picture comes from.  A very healthy and fat 47.5 inch fish.  Judging from the belly on him, he has been eating very well.  It was not the 50 pounder we were looking for, but still an awesome fish that is sure to top out around 30 pounds.  It came on the last pass of the night, and it couldn't have been any sweeter.  I will remember the cold, the waves, the rain, the wind, the waves again, the sore back and arms, the 47.5 incher that we landed, and the state record that still swims on that sweet sweet honey hole of ours.  Thanks Mike, It was the best butt whooping I've had in a long time!