Bring It On Mr. 50...
Travis Frank
Sunday night I was joined on the water by a couple of muskie junkies. Pete and his friend Bret were in my boat for one of the many trips they come each year. Their goal? A 50 inch muskie. Pete is still the preverbial 50 inch virgin, which drives his passion even more. He's boated some nice fish before, and a few with me, but still wants that big five zero for his resume. To make a long story short, and to lead into my next story, the big 50 eluded Pete yet again. However, Pete did battle a nice fish to the boat that we never got visual of. It got off, and while we didn't think it was "the one," it left a wonder in our minds.
The above story brings us to my outing last night. Mike and Matt jumped in my boat for an evening of muskie tussling. The action has been pretty darn good lately, with fish coming nearly every time out, and many active chances, which subsequently put my mojo on high. Upon reaching our first spot for the evening, I explained to them the details of the night before, and once we pulled up to the spot, I pointed to exactly where I believed the fish to be. As if it was written out in some holy script, the bottom dropped out on Mike's lure. Sure enough, about 3 cranks of the lure on the very first cast over the fish, momma beast devoured his offering. A battle ensued that all three of us will admit to being a butt-whooping. When it was all said and done, Mike had a broken reel and a beautiful 51 inch muskie to show for his efforts. 
The way everything played itself out was almost surreal. Who's to say if that was Pete's fish from the night before, but it came from within 10 feet from the previous evening. Oh how muskie fishing consumes us....
After a few beautiful pictures of the beast, and a successful release, we were on to spot number 2. Again, it only took a few quick casts to have the next monster come boatside. This time it was my enormous bait that got the action. A mere twin to the giant we just boated came screaming for a dancing bait under my feet. The only problem was that it grabbed the lure just short of the hooks. We played with that fish and a few more with very similar results. An evening that the light faded just too soon. Our action was awesome and lasted until we were done, but only gave us the one beast. But looking back at it now, I don't think I could ask for any more. From the mouth of the metro giants, keep on Livin' the dream!