Life is good...

I am spoiled.  I've said it before, I'll say it again.  The past few trips on the water have been very rewarding.  Yesterday I started my quest for the record.  The "Quest" is my yearly state record muskie chase on Mille Lacs.  It happens every year in November and my goal is a 54 pounder (aka: the state record). 

My brother joined me last season for his first rush of a 50 pounder boatside.  Yesterday, he was the first to hook up.  Although it wasn't a 50 pounder, it was the widest, heaviest 47 incher I have ever seen.  We accidentally broke the scale before we could get a weight on his fish, but given the extreme girth dimensions I would put this muskie near the 40 pound mark.  A true giant with ridiculous width. 

Shortly after Adam's catch, my buddy, Matt Hennen, hooked up with his personal best.  A monster that fell just shy of 53 inches.  Again, another fish that broke the 40 pound mark.  This one was around 42 to 43 pounds.  Simply ridiculous.  Looking at the 2 pictures you can see these fish are each a different strain.  The 47 incher was actually a wider, thicker fish head to tail.  While Matt's muskie was nearly 6 inches longer, it didn't retain the same build top to bottom.  It had a fat belly, but not the same width.  If it had the same build of Adam's fish, then we would have been talking about a 50 pounder.  Regardless, they were both incredible fish. 

A few days prior to this outing, I filmed a tv show with Ron Schara and his daughter Laura.  I won't spill the beans on the whole trip, but it was an exciting adventure that I believe you will enjoy watching.  You'll be able to catch the action on an upcoming episode of Minnesota Bound.  The teaser is a picture of Laura's first muskie.  The day prior to our filming, I was out with a muskie man named Jeff, and he also landed a dandy.  You might say we've had a good run of luck.

While all of these muskies stories are great, nothing even comes close to what took place on Saturday.  I wasn't fishing, but I landed the best catch of my life.  I asked my dream woman, Sarah, to marry me, and SHE SAID YES!  Woohoo!  Life is good.  God is good!  I am such a blessed man.  Until the next incredible moment happens, keep chasing your dream!

Muskie Burnt Memories...

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The best part about muskie fishing is that every encounter leaves a memory.  They are an exciting fish and they never dissapoint.  Every catch is burned into our memory banks and the drama that plays out can be retold over and over again.  It's magical how our mind can retain each experience. 

The thrill of the encounter is life changing, and here's why I know this is true - I can meet a stranger and talk with him for 20 minutes.  We can talk about the weather and the latest Minnesota Vikings game.  In less than one hour my mind will have forgetten the stranger's name, and probably have no idea what we talked about. 

But, I can tell you every detail of the first muskie that I caught in 1999. 

It was early August.  I was burning a small black and silver mepps muskie killer over shallow sand in 3 feet of water.  The conditions were cloudy with strong wind (perfect).  My good friend, Dusty Gesinger, was standing in the back of the boat and I was running the trolling motor up front.  We were fishing out of his dad's 14 foot Sea Nymph and I was casting from the wooden platform that we built in the front.  I was burning the small black bucktail as fast as I could through the waves and a mouth appeared from behind.  Crashing through 10 waves, the huge mouth finally caught up and engulfed my bucktail.  It couldn't have been 15 feet from the boat.  After 2 jumps and several hard pulls I hand landed the beast.  The tape measure read 50 inches and I was without a camera.  Still, I remember every detail like it just happened 20 seconds ago.  And, I'm not alone.  Dusty just retold this same story a few days ago.  Proof that this muskie made an impact. 

Since then I've burnt countless stories into my mind.  Every muskie encounter is unique in their own way.  A few days ago I had my good friend, Mike Ernst, along to try to photograph a muskie memory for my clients, Jim and Allen.  It took us a few hours, but we accomplished our goal.  Allen caught his muskie, and Mike captured the memory.  Thanks to Mike's camera skills, part of the memory can be shared.  I hope you enjoy this rare sequence of Allen's muskie memory.

Muskie Smiles...

Muskie season officially kicked off this year on August 9th, 2012.  Well, not technically, but it was for me.  It was the first day that I threw a muskie lure on lake Minnetonka.  Many factors attributed to the late start but I've got no complaints with it.  Life is good and there is more to it than muskies (I give you permission to laugh at me here if you'd like).  I made a goal to cut back before the season started and I've stuck to my guns.  Since the first cast, I've totalled exactly 9 muskie days.  A far cry from what I used to fish during a typical 30 day stretch in August.   Fortunately, each trip has been fruitful and I've been able to split the time between clients and friends.  In our 9 outings we've boated 10 muskies.  Only two of the trips left us fishless and both of those were action packed.  Overall, I'd consider the past month to be above average in the action category.  Every day seems to give us many opportunities.  As usual, we've had many heartbreaking muskie moments, and many high fives.  Pictured above are 8 of the specimens that visited the boat.  The other two were hooked by yours truly, and they never left the water for a picture.  Some big, some small.  The smallest being very small, and the biggest was a 50 plus personal best for a stud named Eric.  I believe he is still smiling.  Thanks to all that made the memories so sweet.  Muskie fishing still rocks and the season is young.  Until the next one strikes, keep on chasing your dream!