Doin Double Time

This morning I hit the water with a couple of great muskie gentlemen.  Brian has been in my boat before, when he landed Ricky Bobby (one of the muskies I nicknamed), and Gary came in from Chicago in hopes of landing his first ever muskie.  It didn't take long to get on the board, when we boated this roughly 40 incher.  We had one other attack on that spot and we were on our way.  Spot number two for the day landed us fish number 2 and Gary's first ever muskie.  This man told me stories of the several days he has spent in Minnesota over the years trying to catch one of these snaggle tooths, and now he can proudly say he has landed the beast.  The fish was exactly where it was suppose to be, and when Brian missed the mark with his cast, Gary quickly snatched it up and was doing battle within seconds.  We had several more close encounters as the morning progressed, and maybe should have had some willing fish, but that's how it goes, and the excitement truly lies in the attacks and sightings of these screaming, thrashing and lightning fast beasts!  Both of the fish we landed this morning were in the low 40's, but great fighters nonetheless and a ton of fun.  Thanks for the great time on the water boys!  Who wants to go Muskie Huntin????

The Drought Is Over....

Talk about a picture drought on this website.  It has been a few days since I have been able to post a picture of one that came in da boat and didn't manage to shake the hooks.  This morning Derek and Craig joined me for a chance at the snaggle tooth critters, and we did get the chance for a Kodak moment.  This 47 incher could not have come any sooner.  The fish have been cooperating very well the last week, but I just cannot get over the amount of fish that we have lost during the process.  Every single outing the past week or so has given us several chances at the big guys, and we have simply found ways to quickly release them without any photos.  Heck, just yesterday Derek and I were out with one of his buddies John, and he battled one almost to the boat only to watch it scream away for his life and snap the 80 pound test.  How the heck does 80 pound test snap???? Well, I am still shaking my head, and last night we did battle with 3 different muskies that slipped away from our grasp.  The first one came at the boat soooooo darn fast that keeping up with it was impossible, then it spit the hooks.  The other two we battled to the boat, and since I don't like to instantly put them in the net, while we were wearing them out, they simply just let go and the bait came right back to the boat in what seemed like slow motion.  Yes we got our fun out of them, but they don't count as a legitimate catch unless you physically release them.  We saw roughly 20 fish yesterday alone, and another 40-50 last week.  During last weeks outings, I believe this same scenario was played out at least one or two times every day.  I was beginning to wonder if we would ever photo another one.  Great fun during every outing for sure, but it just feels good to get that musky slime on the hands again. 

I personally want to thank Seth and Destiny for the amazing fish feast that I had last Friday.  They returned from Alaska with fresher than fresh Salmon and Halibut, and they were kind enough to give me some samples.  Holy Connolly that stuff tastes amazing on the ol charcoal grill.  By far the best meal I have had all summer long.  Thanks again guys!  You Rock!

Keep On Livin The Dream Y'all!

Friday's Success Was Actually On Saturday!!!

Friday I jumped in the boat with some Wisconsin natives, better known to us Minnesotans as the "Cheeseheads" (sorry guys, I had to take a poke:) ) to tackle with the Ole Muskellunge.  As it turns out, our success from that day wasn't determined until Saturday was finished.  We spent the entire time on Friday chatting about different presentations, and I explained to them some approaches that I often use.  It was kindof an eye opener of sorts for them as they had another day on the water after we were through, and they took full advantage of every second of it.  As you can see from the photos, these musky gods landed themselves a 45, 45.5, and a 49 incher on Saturday, and Yes, it was their first time ever fishing Tonka by themselves.  I am absolutely extatic when I get to see the results turn out so good.  Unfortunately we didn't land anything on Friday, but  although we had our chances, the real success came in the lifelong and life changing fishing tactics that they learned.  It was very obvious to me that these guys were taking in every bit of information that I was spitting out to them, and I loved explaining everything I could to them to help their fishing future in any way.  Friday didn't produce fish, but Saturday was a day of fishing that this father son combo of Mark and Dean that they will never soon forget.  I enjoy the teaching process almost as much as the catching process, and when I get to see the results that I am posting, it really makes me feel great about what I do.  The sheer excitement in Mark's voice when hearing about the fish that they caught truly makes me feel good, and appreciate the amazing resource that we are so fortunate to have.  Up until this point these boys fish waters in Wisconsin that don't have this caliber of fish, and as Dean explained it, he has fished up to 5 days just to see a fish.  Mark obviously shattered his 42 inch mark with his healthy 45.5 incher, and Dean landed the monster of the day at 49 inches.  The best part of this whole story....they caught these fish all within 15 consecutive casts of each other.  NOW THAT"S HOW ITS DONE GENTLEMEN!  Congrats on a great day on the water Mark and Dean, I hope your success continues, and I hope to get you boys back on the water soon!  Lets hope for more pics in the next few days as the muskies aren't in the clear just yet! Fish On Y'all!

P.S. they took that fish to shore to make sure it had proper time to recoupe before releasing it....Mark said it swam away fine, so there is still one 49 incher left for us to catch!!

The Ones That Got Away....

Wondering why there are no pics from the last couple of days?????  Well, prolly cuz they managed to get off the line.  As quickly as we boated a ton a few days ago, they managed to quickly find their way off the line.  Myself and the large handful of individuals on the lake this week managed to land one smaller muskie and loose several, several, SEVERAL fish before they could get that Kodak moment that I love.  Not to mention the few that shook the hooks boatside topping the scales in the 51 - 54 inches.  Yes that's right, it is muskie fishing at its finest, and Although we were blessed with high suns, no wind and really hot temps, we were still able to coax several fish into eating the past few days.  Heck I even re- spooled new line on my gear because I have now broken my line 2 times in the past couple of weeks, and that is the first 2 times in the last 8 years.  I am not OK with that, so now there will be new line for all of you joining me:)  Arghh!!! I don't like loosing fish.  The fish have been cooperating for us, and not that we haven't been giving it our best try, but sometimes they simply find a way off.  I consider it a short lived funk that will be over with very soon.  No worries, there will be more fish to view in the very near future.

On another note, one of my readers has sent me a few pics from his recent trip to the great lakes where they landed several very nice fish.  Doug and his wife boated 40 some Salmon on Lake Michigan with some great size to boot.  Not only that, they were able to watch the whole process under water with a camera that was attached to the downriggers.  Now that would be a sweeeeeet shot!  Feel free to fill us all in on how that worked Doug.  Looks like they had an awesome time.  I think myself and all the viewers would like to know when we are coming over to your place for the fresh fish!!!  Congrats!

Fish on Y'all, it's the only way to be!

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!