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!

Adventures of Jack and Walt

Today was the conclusion of another great series of days on the water with Jack and his fellow fisherman named Walt.  We have shared many laughs and stories throughout our time on the water.  Well, mainly Jack shared stories and Walt and I enjoyed hearing them. 

I feel like I am a whole lot smarter, and I could possibly explain our health care system as well as certain functions of hospitals in our country.  Jack can possibly explain every detail about how to catch a muskie by my stories, and Walt has taught me why those little birds chase those big birds around in the sky.  That right there sums up 3 days on the water.  But in all honesty, we did spend 3 relaxing days chasing these toothy critters.  We were unfortunately blessed with one of the most intense cold fronts that I have dealt with in quite some time, and even did some fishing with temps in the 30's one morning.  Quite a difference from the 90's from the previous week. 

We had many chances, and we landed 4 muskies in total on our quest.  We saw little ones, big ones, and some in between.  We fished mainly Minnetonka, but we also did a tour of Waconia this morning and gave Walt some new views on his first trip to Minnesota.  Although Walt had his doubts about catching a muskie, and quite often he reminded us that he didn't want to land one that big, or definitely not touch it, he did finally catch one of our famous fish.  This morning wrapped up Jacks final outing with me this season, and I enjoyed every one of them.  We have totaled 5 muskies in those trips with Jack landing his largest ever at 46 inches.  Truly a great fish and I am fortunate to say that I was able to guide him to the catch.  While we fished very hard this past 3 days, 3 fish came in the last hour or so of our time together.  With the conditions being as brutal as they were, it was obvious that we were going to have to work for our bites which we did.  Today we had decent weather and we capitalized on our chances.  With a 42, a 45 and a sub 40 incher, we had excitement to end our trip that won't soon be forgotten.  It's weird how it happens, but after fishing for countless hours and days, we boated 2 within 5 minutes of each other and lost one more on our last spot for the day. 

We experienced Wind, Bitter Cold, more Wind, and a Storm front that would chase most off the water.  The life long lessons that the three of us shared will be stored in my memory bank forever, and I think Jack and I made a believer out of Walt when it comes to the sport of Muskie fishing.  Thanks for it all gentlemen!  Enjoy your winter down in Florida, and I'll be calling you Walt when I come out to the Rockie Mountains.  One more reminder, I wouldn't hold a cocktail party during a Hurricane just to say you did it.  Apparently it's not all its cracked up to be!

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!

Husband-Wife Combo!

Today John brought his wife Tracey along for good luck and it paid off.  John has been pursuing one of these toothy buggers fo several days this summer, and as it turns out, all he had to do was bring his wife with him.  John has been in the boat with me two other times this season, and both times he has battled fish only to have them get away on him.  He had already witnessed the catch, but not on his own line.  This was not to happen on this trip.  Although we saw a few fish and had a couple of close calls earlier in the day, our confidence stayed high, and Tracey called it when she said that it will happen before we are finished.  He kept his cool as this great looking 46 incher came gliding up behind his bait and missed it at the first swipe.  As the fish turned on his bait for the second attempt, the 3 of us got to watch it snatch the bait right by the boat.  It was a sweet sight to see, and after the hours John has put in to land one of these beasts, it was even greater to take the picture.  WooHoo John!  You Got One!  Well Done!  I have to give Tracey an assist on this fish, because she brought the good luck for the morning.  Thanks Guys, have a great rest of the summer.

Last friday I hit the water with 2 great fishing gentlemen in Bob and Gary.  Although there was some talk about putting leeches and crawlers on the hooks for panfish, I convinced them to stick with the big baits for the big fish.  When we started throwing the baits and having fish jump at our lures, they were turned into muskie men, and Gary slowly was tempted away from the bluegills.  We had our chances on several fish that morning, but as muskie fishing always seems to go, they didn't all come in the net.  The top Trophy Encounter for the morning was this dandy 44 incher that just couldn't shake the hooks.  I have to give the credit to the muskies on this morning, because the cold front that hit was nasty and they just shouldn't have been willing to bite.  Oh well, I'll let them keep on eating if they want to:)  Another TE update that I love so much.  Thanks everyone that made it possible.

Saturday night we tried for the eyes, and I can sense that I am going to have to get the cooker ready for fish again....And we landed one muskie before we could leave the water that night.  It wasn't very large, but a muskie nonetheless and watching it jump 3 times before coming in the boat is always exciting.  No pics of this guy since I just unhooked it by the boat and never had to touch it.  That muskie rash on the hands is taking its toll...

Congrats to the newlyweds Loge and Tork!  You guys rock!  Best wishes, and a life full of happiness!

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!