It's Their Story.....A New Trophy Encounters Feature

With each and every story that I write I find great rewards in sharing my experiences with all of you who choose to read them.  The amount of interest that everybody takes in checking to see what is new with Trophy Encounters has been beyond my expectations.  While I have enjoyed many fun, interesting, and awesome experiences in the great outdoors, there are many other people that also are experiencing greatness that go unheard.  With this new Trophy Encounters page labeled "It's Their Story" (located on the left hand side bar), I hope to share with all of you what others are accomplishing on their journeys as well as a little bit of information about that person that many of us know nothing about.  At this time, I hope to start sharing many stories of other individual accomplishments, and hope that each and every one of you contact me to have your stories told.  This should be another fun page for all of you to get to know each other, and your cooperation will only make it more enjoyable to read.  Just like my fishing update, this will be a blog journal setup which allows me to just keep on writing stories and to allow us all to look back years down the road at all the great stories that have been told.  I hope you all enjoy reading these articles as well as my own stories and we can continue "Livin The Dream Together!"

Toby's First Hunt....Awww Aint He Cute!

This past weekend was the normal ritual for many hunters across the state.  Eat a whole pile of turkey on Thursday, sit on the couch and watch a football game or two with a cold one in hand and try to figure out if the body will allow you to get off the couch in time to hunt in the morning.  The ladies head to the local shopping center the next day(some of them earilier than even us hunters rise from the wrapper) and the men head out in search of a rooster or two.  This year, Dingy and I continued with our now 2 year old ritual of heading out west in hopes of bagging a rooster or two.  The new companion on our trip is this cute little fella named Toby.  He just might be the best looking pup that I have ever laid my eyes on.  I have had the pleasure of seeing this peeing machine from its first couple of weeks of life and watching it grow the last 4 months.  I think I am in love with this dog, and Tim, if you don't look out, I just might take it home with me.  Our hopes on this adventure was to see if Toby would be able to understand what it means to "Hunt Em Up."   The day before we headed for the 2 hour hike out west, we stopped at a local spot of mine and had this future Pheasant huntin machine run around in search of some roosters just to see what he would do.  The result was totally awesome.  While he didn't understand exactly what had happened, he was running around through some brush for the heck of it, and a rooster got up right in front of him and I.  Officially I get to say that this gem of a pup jumped his first rooster in front of me and I was able to knock it down.  Only so special because of the unknowing puppy that was now playing with the feathers on the bird that he officially flushed.  I think it hit a soft spot in me, and now I am left wondering how long I can wait before I have my own puppy dog.  The picture of us is kinda blurry, but one that is very clear in my memory.  Thanks Dingy and Toby for that bird, it was maybe the coolest hunt of my life even if it only lasted for 20 minutes.

The hunt out west didn't treat us the best for some goofy reason.  We had a proven dog in Nelly (Nates Dog) and Toby fresh of his first hunt.  Nate, Dingy and myself met up with my cousin Nate out in Benson, and we hunted some of the best looking property that I have ever touched in MN before.  The birds were there, but they were skittish and just found every way imaginable to stay out of range.  Oh well, it was still a great hunt, and Toby spent most of his time eating every weed, stick, or cattail in sight.  The weather was perfect and we had the laughs that are always expected on a trip like that.  On the route back, Toby reminded us of the small bladder he has, and dribbled on not only me, but Nate and our sweatshirts that we gave him to use for a pillow.  Hahaha, still laughing about that darn dog. 

I want to give a shout out to Lynn Schulz and his hunting crew out in the Dakota's.  Lynn traveled all the way up from Arizona to spend some time with his family and a long overdue trip out to the prairie lands for some pheasant hunting with friends.  Hope it went great for you boys! 

Brrrrrrr!  That Ice will be here before we know it.  Stay tuned for a conclusion on another great season of open water fishing.  I will try to recap the greatness that we accomplished in our many trips across the state.  I also will send out as many thank you's as I can along with what is on tap for our quest of more Trophy Encounters.  Until Next Time Y'all, Keep on Livin The Dream!

Either we are on to somethin...Or...We are on somethin!

The title of this journal entry was the theme for the day yesterday on our qwest for the next state record.  As we pulled out of the boat harbor bundled to the max, we looked at each other shaking our heads yet again.  The only thing that Theo could say was, "either we are on to somethin, or we are on somethin."  I chuckled and said that we have to be on something to be doing this crazy adventure.  With the recent results of my last 3 trips to the big pond, our hopes were very high in not only landing a large muskie, but trying to break that magical 54 pound mark set 50 years ago.  I have to give my hats off to these boys (Todd and Theo) because they really gave it their all yesterday and they kept a positive attitude the entire time.  The conditions were brutal, which probably made Theo's new personal best all the more bitter sweet.  We had waves crashing over the side of the boat all morning, and the cold water and air temperatures caused everything in the boat to turn into a giant ice cube.  It really doesn't get any more hard core than what we did yesterday.  Knowing that we were after Sweet Mamma(the next state record that I have already nicknamed) our mojo was at an all time high when 10 minutes into the morning Theo got rocked by a fish.  It was a crazy few seconds of waiting to see what he was battling, and hoping that Sweet Mamma would come out from under the boat.  While it wasn't the next state record fish, it was a very nice and fat 45 incher and gave us quite a bit of excitement.  It was Theo's new personal best that he has now increased 3 times with me this season and a fish that any body would be happy to have. 

Our day went on with 3 more muskies grabbing the bait, but only to leave us wondering about what we almost battled.  How they can grab a lure full of hooks and let it go is beyond me, but they seem to do it with frequency.  We shared laughs, stories and more laughs throughout the day, and never had a dull moment on the water.  We didn't land Sweet Mamma, but were pretty confident that she saw our lures more than one time.  I truly had a great experience on the water with those boys, and will always remember the last few trips as my being completely crazy for even attempting that water.  I know that one of these days that lake will reward somebody with their efforts, and who knows, it may just be in my boat!  I put a few other pictures up to describe the type of fun we had and depics the elements that we were dealing with.  I think my favorite is the one of the Tullibee that I snagged and having Theo (Darth Vader) in the background all bundled up posing with me for the picture.  Rock on Boys!

I want to give a special thanks to everybody who has given me such great recognition for the fish I have been fortunate enough to catch lately.  It means a lot to hear from you all, and I appreciate every congratulation you send my way.  If you would like to see another story of the near state record that I boated a few days back, you can find it in the Brainerd Sunday paper.  I feel honored to be given the entire page of the outdoor section and it is a pretty neat read for me to see, not to mention a pretty neat accomplishment for a fisherman like me.  You can also check it out online by going to Brainerd Dispatch.com and clicking on the sports section, followed by the outdoor section on the left hand side of the website.  Thanks again everybody, it has been a great run to this point.  Until Next time, Keep on Living The Dream!

Awesome...Here We Go Again!!!

I simply cannot explain how sweet it is to hold a fish of such sheer size and power, and to do it back to back times is simply awesome!  I don't know if the muskie gods feel like they owe me some kind of favor, but I am almost speechless when I get to look at the pictures of the last two fish that I have been so blessed to catch.  Yesterday I was summoned once again to try to catch the next state record up on the big pond, and we nearly had identical results as the time before.  It was exactly a week ago plus one hour between landing the two largest fish of my life.  Although yesterdays fish does not quite match up to the last beast that was in my boat, It was still absolutely monsterous.  The only thing missing from this girl was a few inches of fat on the belly, otherwise she too would have been flirting with that state record fish that we were in search of.  She measured in at another whopping 54 inches in length and had a girth that we determined to be either 24.5 or 25.5 inches.  The reason we don't have the exact, is because the tape that we used to do the girth measurements broke on us, and we were lining up different numbers and trying to do the measurements instead of just wrapping a tape around and seeing the exact girth.  It is such a fast paced and intense mess that it is hard to take your time and measure everything how you would like.  The whole time, my hurry was to get the fish on its way, and we didn't take any unnecessary time.  The only thing that I am going by, is that I just heald a 26.5 inch belly, and I don't think I was quite there with this one.  Although this hog was huge, it just puts into perspective how large the last fish truly was, and makes me think that I am going to have a better plan of attack just in case the next one is the next state record.  I certainly don't want to have any doubts in my mind once that fish is swimming away, if I truly did break that 50 year old record. 

Either way, it was an awesome fish, and yet another fish of a lifetime.  I am not quite sure why they keep grabbing my bait, because I don't want to be a game hog, but it is an exciting experience for everybody in da boat when it happens.  I sure hope the next one grabs my guests bait.  I guess it pays to knock the ice build-up off the rod and keep on chugging, because the rewards are unexplainable.  Yesterday was brutal on the water, and we were dealing with more 3-4 footers and a temp that couldn't find its way above the freezing mark for most of the day.  We looked at each other more than once and said "we are nuts," but then we just kept on going.  What a fish is all I have to say, and thank you god for allowing such a rush of adrenaline.  Until next time Y'all, Keep on Livin That Muskie Dream!

The Story...The Fish...Wow...The Story of Ol' Betsy!

Oh My God!  What a fish!  Sooooo close to breaking that precious 50 year old record that we as muskie fisherman are so avidly chasing.  I have several pictures that I will post on here that kindof show different angles of that pigs gut.  The official measurements of this beast top out at 54.5 inches (Todd says 55, but I'm sticking with 54.5) and a girth on this girl at 26.5 inches.  When you calculate that up, you get a beast that ends up in the 50 pound range.  The sheer mass of this girl makes the Mille Lacs fish a truly sought after beast, and different lakes may never reach the potential and girth of the fish swimming in this giant pond.  I truly must say that this was a struggle for every second that I was holding her.  I have held onto hundreds of muskies in my day, but this one takes the cake.  Now I know what my fishing partner was screaming about when he was holding his huge 54 incher a few years back.  The only difference with this fish is the insane belly that they possess this late in the season, which is truly remarkable when you get to hold it. 

What would a Trophy Encounters update be without the story, RIGHT???  Well, here we go!  Todd had this craving to see a state record caliber fish, and knowing what to expect this time of the year, he had to twist my arm for about zero seconds to get me to hook up the boat.  There was an unfortunate event in my morning that caused me to lose my train of thought at the access, and resulted in the two of us unknowingly hitting the water without my digital camera.  I don't want to get into the details, but that makes the first time in years that I forgot the darn camera.  Our hopes were high, and there was a vibe between the two of us that we were going to land a giant in the 26 degree cold.  I don't know why we had that mojo working for us, but we seriously went about our business and prepared for this big girl to come in the boat, like we knew it was going to happen.  With the temps being so cold, it took a while to thaw out our reels and equipment to work properly for us.  Well, about 2 1/2 hours into our morning, my ungodly large lure was stopped in it's tracks and out of the depths rose this beast that I will now name as "Ol' Betsy."  I didn't quite realize what I had until it was in the net and rolled onto its side.  Instantly the two of us were screaming like school girls, and I'm sure it could have been heard for miles.  The girth was impressive, and needless to say, I was instantly shoulder deep in the water trying to grab the tape measure from under the belly.  I went for the camera, only to find that it wasn't in it's normal spot.  "Oh No" was all that I said, and then a pause. 

Thank God, I reminded Todd to grab a back up camera that morning just in case of this exact situation.  He later told me that he had left his house only to drive back to get that camera.  What a relief, and I pulled Betsy from the water.  I was in shock at how hard it was to hold her, and I basically just leaned back on the butt seat and held her on my body.  Todd snapped about 8 pictures as fast as he could, and afterwards said that he was shaking so bad that he wasn't sure if any of them turned out.  We released the fish and she swam away instantly as if not even harmed by the process.  We were shaking with joy and instantly headed to shore to first grab my digital, and then we couldn't take the curiousity of knowing if the old school film camera actually worked.  Needless to say, there aint no place to develop one hour photos within a half hour of Onamia, so don't bother looking.  We hit the water to finish out the day, and I made a pit stop on my way to deer camp to verify our catch at the local Target store. 

It was such a great time sharing this with Todd, and although I am glad that I caught this fish, I really wish Todd would have landed ol' Betsy.  I actually think that by his reaction to nearly seeing a state record fish being caught, I think that if he would have landed it, that it may have killed him.  Haha, but seriously, sharing your excitement during this process is what truly made that day on the water for me.  I have caught many a musky in my day, but nothing can compare to what we experienced in that boat on that cold November day.  I want to give a big shout out to Todd on the assist, and oh, by the way Todd, I had total faith that you wouldn't knock that fish off the net:)  Thanks for the memory of a lifetime, and fellas, Ol' Betsy is healthier than ever, and still waiting for that next battle.  That fish will be a state record in a very short time!  Hope you enjoyed that story everybody.  Until Next Time, Keep on Livin That Muskie Dream!