One cast Wonder, And A Kicker...
Travis Frank
To tell the story correctly, I must be honest. It was not my first cast of the day, but it might as well have been. This past Sunday morning I climbed out of the deer stand staring at some very muskie looking skies. I headed home, grabbed the boat, and off to the lake. I once again made this decision with short notice, but ran into Pauly down at the Marina. As I was putting the boat in, he said he was going to run home and I shoudl pick him up on the dock...that is if the wife ok'd his outing of course. So i headed his way, and stopped at a spot real quick for a couple of casts. After about 4 casts the phone rang and I was off to his dock. So to proceed with the story of the first cast, it goes like this. Pauly fishes walleyes mainly, but has been curious about this whole muskie deal that I am so consumed with. I said it isn't very easy, but sometimes it seems like it, and that we are going to go catching today, and not fishing today. As we pulled up to the spot, he grabs his rod, and I start explaining the drill as I have thousands of times over the years. Without even thinking, I chucked my bait over my shoulder and started retreiving it like I usually do. In mid conversation, I happened to glance at my bait, just in time to see the large wake appearing behind my topwater. Get ready....Here he comes....Take it...GOT HIM! That's pretty much how it went down, and Pauly just shook his head and smiled saying "No Way!" As it approached the boat he screams..."It's HUGE!" Not the normal start to the day, but heck I'm not going to complain about a 51 incher on the first cast. Everything was textbook about the topwater bite, and now Pauly gets to see why I love this sport so much. I'm sure he'll be getting a muskie stick soon. Sorry Shelly! The rest of our hour went quickly, and we had one other fish that should have come in the boat. Oh well, A one cast wonder that won't soon be forgotten!
Now I jump further ahead to Wednesday evening. I just got my boat back from the shop, and like any honest man, I wanted to see how it was running. Of course I would never do this without a fishing pole and a couple of good buddies. So Bails and Whorl jumped on in and we were off. Yep, everything was running right...turn it off....do it again...Yep, still good...ok, now we can fish! It didn't take too long, and we were dancing the muskie dance. This is kindof a shot to Todd at my office, but he was suppose to be out that evening with me, but he had to pick out counter tops with his lovely lady. So I am sorry to hold your fish Todd, but somebody had to. The 43 incher nearly gave us a heart attack, but that's what I love so much about it.
Some serious hunting stories are coming up next, so stay tuned for that. By the way Darrin, did you find your gun yet? Man that's a bummer! Until next time, Keep on Livin the Dream!