Snap, Crack, Pop! The Streak is GONE...Sorry Ron

This morning I was joined by outdoor TV host Ron Schara, and his longtime friend John Larson.  Our mission was simple....Catch a 70 inch muskie.  Just kidding, but the way that the muskies had been cooperating, it seemed simple to land at least one of the toothy buggers.  This mornings air had quite a bite to it, and the fish decided that it was better to lay around like logs than to eat our tasty presentations.  It took a while before we had any interest from the fish at all, and when they did approach our baits, they made half-hearted attempts or just missed the lure entirely.  It's frustrating to have a hot streak of 8 days snapped, but that is how muskie fishing goes, and it was fun while it lasted.  Just when you think you have them dialed in 100%, they whip a u-turn and send us fisherman home with thoughts of what could have been.  Before our day was completely done, we raised 8 different muskies and Ron landed one dandy of a bass.  It was a memorable morning on the water, and one that I won't soon forget.  Thanks for the fun boys, I'm already looking forward to our next trip on the water!  It is now up to Derek and John to start a new streak tomorrow.  As always, I will keep you informed on how it turns out.  Until next time Y'all, Keep on Livin the Dream!

Mosher Monday....WOW!

Talk about keeping the streak in tact.  Holy Moly Rocky!  What a sweet sweet day it was on the water.  And for Todd Mosher it was extra special, which is why we went ahead and labeled it Mosher Monday.  He and Theo jumped in my boat this morning for the trip that we had been trying to make happen for several months now.  Well, I guess it was worth the wait, and Trophy Encounters bumped its streak to 8 straight days on the water with at least 1 muskie.  Today we managed 4 in da boat, and as many of the stories I get to share, his fishing career will never be the same.  Up to this morning, his largest muskie was 39 inches.  From the looks of this pic, it aint 39 any more.  This was the last fish we boated this morning, but it was definitely the largest.  She reached out at a whopping 51 inches, and it was a battle that took several minutes of recovery for Todd and his aching arms once the smoke cleared and the fish swam away. 

Earlier in the morning while it was still dark out, the sounds of waves slapping against the boat were broke by an intense strike about 2 feet from the boat, and Todd battled the 48 incher until the net could be placed in the water.  At first I thought it was Todd just shaking his rod in the water to give Theo and myself a scare, but unlike when I did it, he actually had a fish on.  It was one heck of a nice fish, but it hardly will be remembered because he landed such a beast a few hours later.  Although this seemed like Todd's day to shine, Theo and I both landed respectable fish as well. 

Theo snatched up his personal best this morning also when he landed his 42.5 incher.  Two casts later on a fresh spot, I had to follow suit with my own, and we took pictures with my 46 incher.  I don't quite know if there is any better way to spend a morning.  Theo told his jokes, I laughed, and Todd caught huge fish.  Man if it is only that easy every time.  Much to my happiness, it has been the norm lately, and as quickly as we remenisce about last weeks great fish, we now have new pictures to ponder over and another new 50+ for me to talk about.  What a great boat full of fish this morning.  If you total it all up, we landed 187.5 inches of meat this morning.  That would probably take the cake in any tourney.  Good thing they are all swimming for us to hopefully catch again some day.  As always, Keep on livin the dream!  Who wants to go Muskie Hunting?!?!

Doc The Muskie Pig!

We thought of quite a few different titles for this journal entry while on the boat, but most of them seemed a little to sexually explicit.  I decided to keep it PG and go with Doc the muskie Pig.  Fresh off of losing his muskie virginity yesterday Doc was at it again this morning.  About 6 or 7 casts into the day he hooked up with this hefty 49 incher and the pictures started flying.  Since he got quite a bit of grief for cuddling with his 50 incher in yesterdays picture, he made sure that he was holding it like the Muskie Man that his hat claims he is.  We saw, and had a few more fish attempt our bait before Ol' Doc set the hook on another one.  Unbelievable luck, but this one came in at 48 inches.  In a matter of two mornings on the water, Doc went from never catching a muskie, to boating a 48, a 49 and a 50 incher.  One word, WOW!  Needless to say, Dean was starting to feel the heat in the back of the boat, as Doc was starting to give him the expected chatter of catching all the big ones.  We fished a few more spots before we were done for the day, and totalled 12 muskie sightings and 2 in da boat.  Although the 48 incher was a slightly thinner fish, that 49 was one that anybody would be proud of.  The streak of fish in the boat was held in tact by these Cheeseheads (I had to slip that in guys) and we are now up to 7 days straight.  I can only shake my head and smile at the specimens I have been taking pictures of lately.  How sweet it is!   Well it was one heck of a week this week, and we totalled 6 more fish in the boat with these 5 incredible sizes: 47.5, 48, 48.5, 49, 50!  I do believe that there are to be some bragging rights for a certain doctor in that small town north of Madison.  Now you can tell everybody that it is a lucky "Muskie Man" hat and not just something your wife purchase to make fun of you!  Thanks for the fun boys, can't wait to do it again.  Oh yeah, Next time that Packers shirt stays in Wisconsin, we are lucky we didn't get rammed by another boat out there!  Until Next time Y'all, Keep on Livin that Dream!

The Old Doc' Loses His Virginity....

Holy Molly!!!  The Doc lost his virginity this morning, and both Dean and myself were there to watch it.  Hahahaha...Muskie virginity that is.  He decided that he didn't want to mess around with any of those 40 inchers, and jumped straight up to 50 inches.  That's right, after years of trying for these toothy buggers, he left his cheesehead state of Wisconsin and landed a Minnesota Monster!  Our chances came and went this morning, (most of them on Doc's line) and Dean and I were talking about how they tend to feed off and on throughout the day.  Just as we were talking about the little flurry's of activity, Dean was almost knuckle deep in the water figure 8'ing a fish.  2 casts later, this 50 incher woke Doc up from his daydream and the battle was on.  This gorgeous fish almost gave me a heart attack when his line went under the trolling motor, but he held on and I slipped the net under him.  The rest is history, and Doc can no longer say that he's a virgin at muskie fishing.  Tomorrow I join the Cheeseheads for one more party on the lake as we try to take pictures of a few of the ones that we couldn't hook this morning.  The streak is up to 6 days.  Way to keep it going boys.....Now the pressure is back on for day number 7.  ( Hey Doc...Not too many Cocktails....still one day to go)!  See ya in da mornin!

Keepin it going one fish at a time...

The streak of catching at least one fish each outing continues.  We are now up to 5 days in a row, and this mornings fish was a definite beauty.  I honestly thought I had hit the 50 inch mark with this fish, but maybe because it was such a healthy and fat fish, it was deceiving.  Instead it measured in at 47.5 which I am still tickled to death about.  Ray and myself hit the water with every attempt to get Ray his first muskie ever.  Unfortunately this beast ate my bait instead of his, but we were using different offerings, and apparently this fish was hungry for mine.  After releasing this hunny of mine, and on our very next stop, Ray had a true giant come after his bait.  I know for a fact that his fish would have beaten mine out in the size department, but it was not to be boated on this day.  Our flurry of activity was fairly short-lived, and we managed a few pike before it was said and done.  It was enough to keep the streak in tact, but the muskies failed to take Ray's muskie virginity from him.  While we haven't been seeing 20 fish every time out, we are making up for it in size.  Most of the fish that we have been having approach our baits have been in the upper 40 inch range and low 50's.  Not the continuous excitement that can sometimes be had, but each fish makes up for that in a hurry when they smack the lures with that much poundage behind them.  Yesterday I was greeted by Paul and his wife Maureen and you guessed it.  It rained, and rained, and then rained some more on us.  We saw a few nice fish, and landed one smaller one before we were soaked through our shorts.  We didn't capture the kodak moment of the fish since it was a steady downpour, but it was cool nonetheless. The streak stands at 5 days, but we are a long way from breaking 8 days straight that we had a few weeks ago.  I'll keep ya posted on how the streak continues.  Tomorrow the Wisconsin boys are jumping in the boat, and the pressure is on them to keep a good thing going :)

The conditions have been so funky in the past two weeks that I don't think the fish know what to do.  One day it is 95 degree July weather, then the next it is 40 degree November weather, only to be followed by 85 again.  Who knows????  All I do know is that the water temps have gone from 68 to 75 and now they are back down to 65.  It can make for very unpredictable fishing, but isn't tha how muskie fishing is suppose to be???  Until next time y'all, Keep on Livin the Dream!