Way to Land The Big One Mark!

Way to Go Mark!  A dandy 48.5 incher that went airborn 3 times before he even knew if he had it hooked or not.  It was truly an exciting explosion, and left us full of excitement.  The funny part about this morning is that a few days back, I received an email from his brother Mike (standing next to him) stating that he was bringing his brother along to have him witness the 50 incher that he was going to haul in.  Instead it was the rookie who landed the big one and gave us the mornings excitement.  For Mark, this was his first true muskie, since the other one he landed was less than a foot long while walleye fishing.  Well, he now has bragging rights over his brother, and although Mike has landed a few in the past, he can't say that he has the largest fish in the family any longer.  This was a great catch this morning, but our only picture taker for the day.  It is very evident that the fishing pressure that this lake has been seeing is causing these fish to hide from us Muskie Dude's.  While we may not be seeing 30 fish a morning any longer, we are still putting giants in the boat, and this morning Mark completed a textbook muskie battle and was on the winning end of the deal.  Congrats on the fish of a lifetime!  Truly something to be proud of (and brag to the family about!).

Bails, Nate and myself skipped town early Friday to head up to my old stomping grounds up north and to get in on the last couple of days of the early goose season.  I typically have several birds in the bag by this time of the season, but have not had the chances to get out hunting that I normally have.  We left in time to set up deer stands and find the birds before Saturday morning, and the results were typical to my previous years successess....AWESOME!  this honey hole has given some of the most "in your face" action in the past and it didn't dissappoint this time either.  I know this isn't a picture of a muskie, but we filled out in no time and watched several more risk their lives coming into our spread.  Saturday gave us our limit of 15 birds and my first trigger pulling of the season.  Saturday night we chose to bow hunt for the deer opener, and although we usually see between 20-30 deer a piece, they moved throughout the morning hours and didn't hardly move a muscle during the evening.  I video taped a small buck at about 5 yards, and got busted by a doe at full draw on my bow, but other than that, Bails passed on 3 smaller bucks within 10 yards, and Nate had nothing in sight.  Still nice to get in the deer stand again even though we didn't get spoiled with deer frolicking all around our stands like normal. 

Sunday morning we switched back to the geese, and had the typical 2nd day of hunting the same spot.  Some of the birds were a little less willing to come full steam into our spread, but we highlighted the morning by taking 8 birds out of a flock of 11.  Not too shabby for only having 3 guns and Bails missing everything but the air with his shots (heehee).  But in all honesty, it was a hunt I won't soon forget.  It was Nate's first trek to my honey holes, and I don't think it will soon be forgotten.  I want to thank Jerry for another memorable hunt on his property, and Steve for putting us up in one of their fabulous cabins.  I truly have to recommend this family owned resort to anybody looking for a place to stay in the northern country.  The cabins were cozy as heck, fully stocked with all living necessities, and the hospitality was second to none.  It was quite the relaxation for us between our hunts, and I will definitely be paying them a visit the next time I cruise up there.  Cedar Rapids Lodge is where it's at!  Until next time, keep on living the dream!

Brrrrrrr....And a Waconia 50!

Tonight I tried something different.  Judging by the release picture, it worked.  I was out on Waconia for a brief time before dark trying to catch a few panfish to take up north with me this weekend.  Well, as it turns out, I can't catch panfish very well right now.  Who would have thought that I would have a better chance to land a muskie than a sunfish????  So just before dark I slipped over to a spot that I was hoping would hold a fish.  About 5 casts into it, this beastly 50 incher came full steam ahead and smashed my chewed up lure.  Pretty exciting even though I was the only one in the boat.  I will be looking into this pattern in the very near future, because I like what I just saw!

The last two days I have been on the water laughing and joking with Jack and his buddy from Colorado named Walt.  It has been a great couple of mornings with these gentlemen, but it has been downright cold.   Brrrrrrrr....This morning it was 38 degrees when we put the boat in the water.  We did manage to land a smaller muskie this morning and saw a few others, but the fish were as expected, very lethargic.  Yesterday morning was similar, but I had one nice one hooked up by the boat, and Walt battled a mid 40 incher for a brief period before it slipped away.  We have seen a few the last couple of days, but we have definitely been working hard for our action.  The escapade continues with Jack and Walt tomorrow, and I am going to continue to try my darndest to send him home with the fish of a lifetime.  This story is to be continued.

You guessed it....The keys are in the vehicle....The truck is running....and legal shooting hours start in less than a half hour.  I had to put this picture on here to rip on Alabama (aka; John Denver or D-Train or Daniel) just a little bit.  It was quite the episode at 5 in the morning, but as you can see, I captured it all with a picture so he never forgets this one.  All in good fun boys!

Recent Happenings.....

Muskie Mike and myself had an early morning escapade yesterday to check out a few different things that we both have been tinkering with.  Some of the results were good, some were not so good.  Well mainly for me, they were not so good, because I only caught one northern, and Mike had all the muskie action.  He had I think 8 different strikes or follows, and battled this little fella to the boat before we unhooked it for a quick release.  I wasn't dissapointed that he had the action, because it always seems like somebody in the boat gets the fish to cooperate, and the others get to watch.  However, I like watching, and enjoyed the time.  Plus we both learned a thing or two from each other as we always do.  We make a good team, and the muskies usually don't stand a chance when we come rolling through their territory.  Hahaha, just kidding, we do have a good time together though, and this was our first outing together this year.  Definitely not the last!   BRING ON THE CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNEY!

Today seemed as though they un-stocked the muskies from Minnetonka.  We fished hard and had a few close calls, but they were tough to come by.  I was able to take two great guys on the water who purchased my donation to the United Way, and were the highest bidders on the auction.  For the 3 of us it was a great way to spend the day on the water even though the fish didn't exactly cooperate like we had planned.  We did manage a couple of dandy bass on our baits which gave us a little excitement when we thought it could have been ol' Snaggle Tooth himself.  They smiled for the pictures any way and sent the bucketmouths back in the water.  Posing for their picture is Ray and his co-worker buddy Paul.  Two gentlemen that are bound to land the big one some time soon!

Tonight I will be giving a guest speaking appearance for the Fishers of Men group.  I know it is short notice, but if you are looking to join in you will most certainly be able to hear me "spill the beans" on how I go about my daily routines on the water.  I take great pleasure in sharing my knowledge to interested fisherman and enjoy each opportunity to do so.  If you want information regarding the time and place for the "Bean Spilling" feel free to contact me at your convenience.  It should be a great time, and I think anybody is welcome, plus they are serving refreshments to those who attend, so if you don't care about the info I have to share, at least you can get a free drink or two.  Come One! Come All!  It's Muskie Time!

Muskies 101

I just wanted to give a quick overview of the fish that I spend so much time trying to catch.  I have been asked this question many many times over the years, and until now, I have never had a correct answer to respond with.  I thought I would share this interesting information with all of you before I hit the water in a few minutes.  I dug this up on-line of course, from a site known as "Ask Jeeves"  When I typed what I was looking for, I got the Wikipedia response that I will sum up for you instead of placing all the pages of info that they gave me.  I suppose I will quote this stuff, because I'm not too familiar with the copyright laws and such......

The question that I get asked more than any other that I now can respond to is : How long do these darn things live? and how long does it take them to get that big?

Well each lake is obviously different based on their forage, but "Wikipedia" says this:

Reaching sexual maturity at 3–5 years, muskie may live to approximately 30 years. Females grow faster and live longer than males, and thus reach greater lengths and weights. While muskies along the northern portion of the range may take 7-11 years to reach 40 inches (101 centimeters) of length, the fish in the southern portion of their range may grow to this size in as little as 5 years. Based on where the genetic strain is originally found their genetic potential can vary greatly. The ShoePac strain reaches smaller lengths and weights than the Leech Lake Strain (both stocked through out the mid-west). The Northern musky reach larger sizes due to a "burn out" in the southern fish.  They spawn in mid to late spring, somewhat later than northern pike. Muskies seek shallow vegetated spawning grounds, the males arriving first. Spawning takes place at night and may last from five to ten days. The eggs sink and adhere to plants where they are abandoned by the adults. Eggs which are not eaten by fish, insects or crayfish hatch within two weeks. The fry live on yolk until their mouths develop, at which time they begin to feed on copeds and other planktonic animals. They soon begin to predate other fish, reaching a length of 30.5 cm (12 inches) by November.

Well I guess that should help answer a few questions, and kinda interesting if you ask me.  I'm assuming there are some differences for each lake we fish, but I just can't wait to see how big the darn things are going to get.  With 40 pound fish showing up fairly regularly in several Minnesota Lakes, I just wonder what we will be catching in a couple of years........

Just some food for thought!

HuntingLandGuys.com

Welcome to the World of the Hunting Land Guys!  The time has finally come where I can share with the world exactly what I have been up to these past few months.  For many of you, you already know what I have been creating, but for those of you who don't know, I will fill you in.  I started a few months back building a new business venture called "Hunting Land Guys," and a webiste called "HuntingLandGuys.com."  My entire goal is to provide the hunting community with the best possible resource for all of their hunting land needs.  As we all know, hunting land can be very hard to come across at times, and for those looking to purchase their own, it can be a very frustrating experience.  Well, with the network of resources that I am continuously building, it should not be that difficult any longer.  Our goal is to offer our many years of hunting knowledge to each seperate hunting group in hopes of matching them with the best piece of property available.  Along with that, our growing team of land specialists will be able to assist everybody with issues ranging from land management down to land financing.  I am always working on making my site better, and will be updating it daily as new land becomes available to show.  Along with it I will be finalizing my "Hunters Blog," where I will be able to share stories and pictures which is similar to what I do on this site.  As you can imagine from my fishing successes over the years, I absolutely love hunting as well.  I hope to make my other passion as successful as I have made my fishing passion, and I am looking forward to everything I have yet to come.  I would be more than grateful to all of you who help spread the word about the Hunting Land Guys, and encourage you to get in touch with me if you or someone you know is looking at buying or selling their hunting land.  I am very fortunate to be able to offer everybody my services in the world of Hunting and Fishing in the entire Upper Midwest!  As always, Keep on Livin That Dream!!!