Gearing Up...

It's been a while.  A while since I have tried my luck in the muskie tournament scene that is.  Several things have caused me to take a break for a bit, but this year I was easily persuaded by my good fishing friend Mike Tengwall.  We decided to enter the Mille Lacs Muskie Tournament.  This tournament will take place in two weeks on the big pond.  Mike and I have been muskie fishing together for quite some time, but in the past we have typically competed against each other in the tournies.  Both of us have had some good success in the Mille Lacs tournaments in the past, so it is exciting to combine our skills in hopes of taking home the gold.  Mike is one of the best muskie fisherman I have ever been in a boat with, so it is just exciting to partner together.  Our history of fishing together has brought nothing but great things, and we have a batting average of around .950 when we team up.  Exciting!

In preparation for any sporting event, it is always imperative to practice.  Mike and I will be doing much of this in the days leading up to the events, but we also jumped in the boat this past Friday for our first outing of the year.  I will say, it is great to be back on that big body of water.  The sheer size of the lake just gets me excited, and the anticipation of the giants that lurk below just does me in.  Our day was to be spent gaining confidence in each other.  We would fish some of my spots and some of Mike's.  We typically try not to hook too many fish off of our low key/hidden spots before a tourney, but first we have to boat some fish to feel good about our situation and get the "Mojo" rolling.  This is our typical tourney approach.  As we approach the tourney date, we hope to have everything already set in place and feel good about our spots and the fish we hope to boat.

Our morning started out with a bang, and our first muskie encounter was that of a hog.  She slipped through the cracks so to speak, but left our knees trembling, and some marks in Mike's brand new lure.  As it turns out, this was to be the story of our day.  A few spots and a few fish later we were starting to get a better feel for how things were playing out on the big body of water.  The morning wasn't incredible by muskie standards, but we had chances and learned a lot.  Not to mention that all we could talk about was the fish that got away.  As evening appoached we found much of the same.  Still on a quest for our first fish of the day, we returned to a few fish we found earlier.  Miss, miss, bam!  The third one connected and went airborn several times.  Finally we boated a fish, but that was just a prelude to what we would experience.  The next spot and the second cast gave me one of the most intense encounters of this young season.  A 50 inch caliber fish ate boatside and whooped my butt.  Yep, another one that got away.  A short while later Mike played around with a fish that made his knees shake.  A true Mille Lacs monster showed itself, but wouldn't eat.  I followed that up with another one that escaped near the boat.  If you are still following me, then you'll see that we got our butts kicked out there.  Yes we found some fish, but they reminded us that they are still the kings of the water.  Still, one in the boat is always a good day of muskie fishing, but we got schooled by the big girls.  Lets just hope that we got all of that missing out of our systems.  The tourney is fast approaching, and I will keep you up to speed on the happenings as they unfold. 

On another note, the 4th of July passed without a lure thrown from my boat.  A welcomed day off that meant no muskies to talk about - but that's okay.  Mike and I went to church last night, and the full moon had us howling about the fish.  We hit the water a little bit late, but got some good casts in.  Mike made sure that my streak of successful days on the water would continue.  It wasn't a monster, but a muskie slamming your bait boatside in the moonlight will get anybody jazzed.  A few more close calls means that there are some for the next lucky anglers that come out.  We shall see.... From the brightness of the full moon waters, keep on livin' the dream! 

Louisiana Muskies....

Keeping the streak alive and the muskies in the boat, I was joined on Thursday by a group of southern boys.  These fellas have never been on a muskie mission, but they sure know how to pick the right days to try it.  The weather was great when I picked up Shawn, Nick and Brett at the dock.  A nice breeze and clouds gave us a look that any muskie fisherman loves to see.  Our first spot of the day was loaded with ski's.  After a quick run down of the how to's, and what not's, they were quickly casting over the toothy beasts with confidence.  It didn't take long to have our first encounter.  A fish that moved a ton of water but came up just a bit short.  This happened again and again until Shawn put the hooks into a dandy.  The first muskie for these first timers came a short 45 minutes into their muskie careers.  Not quite the fish of 10,000 casts, but hey who's counting!  For the next few hours we spent chasing some very large fish.  We saw a few that were well over 50 inches, and a couple that made my knees tremble.  Unfortunately the fish were smarter than the southern boys and left us wondering what could have been.

It's days like these that always leave me excited for the next trip.  I have never met these men before, but learned a lot from them while we were on the water.  I learned that there are more intense ways to fish than muskie hunting.  I learned that hand-to-hand combat is welcome in Louisiana.  I learned that laws don't apply to almost any type of fishing down there, and most importantly, I learned that I really, really, really want to join them on one of their next adventures!  Could you image a 120 lb Alligator Gar on the end of your rope?  And then imagine battling it with your bare hands?  All I can say is that just might top catching a muskie!  Thanks for the great day on the water fellas, and congrats on the first muskie!  See you next year!  From the Alligator waters of the north, keep on livin' the dream!

Fishin' with Bro...

Seems once in a great moon the stars all line up correctly, and both my brother and I get to hit the water together.  For Adam and I, the quest is obvious.  Muskies.  The action has been pretty good as of late, which gave us a chance to look at some recent pictures of the beasts before we hit the water.  The pictures got my brother jazzed, but I needed no pictures to get me excited.  The weather was one of those perfect evenings.  Light breeze and fairly cool temps.  We caught up on the latest and greatest and told some jokes.  We jaw jacked with a few friends on the water and threw the ol' one liners back and forth.  All of this was just the prelude to what we anticipated to be a good sunset bite. 

It wasn't that we weren't having any action up to the sun setting, but the muskies were really lazy and kept nipping at the back of our lures.  The buggers just couldn't get the hooks in their mouth, which lead to 3, maybe 4 missed fish.  As the sun finally hit the horizon we headed to a favorite spot of mine.  3 beautiful icons on my graph that have given up several muskies in recent years.  Everything was coming together, and you could just sense that it was about to happen.  At that very moment the phone rang, and Adam was now talking to his girlfriend.  The cast that would have given him his first ski of the year ended up being mine due to my lack of patience.  Boy I wish I would have waited two more minutes, because I was instantly stopped dead in my tracks.  A couple of blurps from my mouth while in battle lifted his head from the phone, and an airborn muskie made him drop the phone.  That will teach him to talk on the phone during prime time!  Within moments we were laughing and netting the ski, but the thought of his fish in my hands just turned him sour.  A few casts later he was bound and determined to redeem himself, but that wasn't to be the case.  The muskie would win this time, and the one right after he as well.  Both fish grabbed his lure and instantly let it go.  A sunset bite that was pretty intense but fizzled quickly.  Oh well, another great muskie experience was had, and I truly believe that my brother's revenge will soon come.  From the muskie shores of sunset paradise, keep on livin' your dream!

Muskie Mojo...

"Sometimes I got it, sometimes I don't."  I know that's not proper english, but quite frankly, I don't care.  In my world of muskie fishing, I don't think anything needs to be proper, and when I refer to "The Mojo," nothing else matters.  Let me explain. 

What is "the mojo?"  It's simple.  It's an attitude towards the fish that just forces them to bite.  Many of my friends call it a horseshoe stuck in my you know what, but i disagree.  For me, I hit the water with an attitude that I AM going to catch a muskie.  None of that, I'm gonna try crap, or, we'll see how it goes crap either.  If you don't have the confidence, you might as well stay home.

I figure muskie fishing is 90% mental and 10% fishing.  If you don't have confidence in your bait, presentation, and particular spot, the muskies can almost sense it, and will not bite.  Call me crazy, but I've heard other muskie nuts say similar things.  It's like there is a vibration that runs through the line that tells the fish not even to follow or grab the bait.  But when you do have this confidence on your side, hang on!  I like to force this confidence into my clients and guests.  I tell them you WILL get bit on this bait, and THERE IS a fish right there.  This leaves no doubt in their minds, and for some reason beyond me, it works. 

The very minute that I loose that edge and that confidence I might as well leave the lake.  The minute I get lazy and stop paying attention to the smallest details, I am useless.  The mojo dissapears and so do the fish.  Now I know this might sound stupid to many of you, and for others it might be spot on.  Regardless, last night was another prime example.  I was jacked up all the way home from the office.  I hooked the boat up, and met Matt for a repeat of the day before (see below).  Once we reached the first spot, I grabbed a bait, tossed it to Matt and literally pointed to a spot that I believed held a muskie.  On his second cast this fish was in the boat for a quick photo session.  Seemed pretty easy...

Fast forward a couple of hours, and it was the exact opposite.  My mojo was gone.  Matt and I were talking about past life experiences, and listening to the Twins game.  Laughing and joking, we pretty much forgot why we were on the water.  Sure we were throwing muskie baits, but there really wasn't any point.  We were just relaxing on a beautiful night, and the results proved that the muskies could care less about what we were doing out there.  The mojo is a state of confidence, a state of mind, and a state of determination.  Find your mojo and hang on! 

On a side note, I am now in the works on planning a Minnesota governors fishing opener.  A dream that may come true for the 2010 or 2011 fishing season.  I have been in contact with the state, and yesterday I met with my home town Chamber from Waconia to discuss this.  So far, so good.  If this pans out, I stand a chance along with my local peers at taking the governor out fishing for the opener.  There are still tons of details that I can elaborate on later, but I can now say that it is in the works.  I just think it would be cool 30 or 40 years from now to look back and say I took the Gov fishing on opening day.  From the mojo filled muskie waters, keep on livin' the dream!

Bring It On Mr. 50...

Sunday night I was joined on the water by a couple of muskie junkies.  Pete and his friend Bret were in my boat for one of the many trips they come each year.  Their goal?  A 50 inch muskie.  Pete is still the preverbial 50 inch virgin, which drives his passion even more.  He's boated some nice fish before, and a few with me, but still wants that big five zero for his resume.  To make a long story short, and to lead into my next story, the big 50 eluded Pete yet again.  However, Pete did battle a nice fish to the boat that we never got visual of.  It got off, and while we didn't think it was "the one," it left a wonder in our minds.

The above story brings us to my outing last night.  Mike and Matt jumped in my boat for an evening of muskie tussling.  The action has been pretty darn good lately, with fish coming nearly every time out, and many active chances, which subsequently put my mojo on high.  Upon reaching our first spot for the evening, I explained to them the details of the night before, and once we pulled up to the spot, I pointed to exactly where I believed the fish to be.  As if it was written out in some holy script, the bottom dropped out on Mike's lure.  Sure enough, about 3 cranks of the lure on the very first cast over the fish, momma beast devoured his offering.  A battle ensued that all three of us will admit to being a butt-whooping.  When it was all said and done, Mike had a broken reel and a beautiful 51 inch muskie to show for his efforts.  The way everything played itself out was almost surreal.  Who's to say if that was Pete's fish from the night before, but it came from within 10 feet from the previous evening.  Oh how muskie fishing consumes us....

After a few beautiful pictures of the beast, and a successful release, we were on to spot number 2.  Again, it only took a few quick casts to have the next monster come boatside.  This time it was my enormous bait that got the action.  A mere twin to the giant we just boated came screaming for a dancing bait under my feet.  The only problem was that it grabbed the lure just short of the hooks.  We played with that fish and a few more with very similar results.  An evening that the light faded just too soon.  Our action was awesome and lasted until we were done, but only gave us the one beast.  But looking back at it now, I don't think I could ask for any more.  From the mouth of the metro giants, keep on Livin' the dream!