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Posts: 17
| It all started with me buying a couple raffle tickets at the Ohio Musky show this year in Columbus, Ohio. Of course if you know me you also know that I stated at the time of purchase that I NEVER win anything. It has been proven time and time again that I am Very unlucky when it comes to any type of drawing. I’m the guy that wins the cheap trucker hat at the end, not the guy who wins the trips, the rods, the reels, the baits, or even the decals. I have only ever won one thing ever in my life in a drawing and that was a trucker hat that I keep to this day as a reminder NOT to buy raffle tickets. So back to the story, at the lure swap Saturday night at the Musky show I purchased a couple tickets for a good cause, the Mike Money Minnow Fund. I never fished in Mike’s boat but I knew him and on many occasions we shared musky stories from St. Clair and Ohio lakes. I can’t remember if it was the next day or a couple days after I was very surprised to hear from Jason Bond who was helping with the raffle, and he told me I was one of the winners! After discussing the trips that remained I chose to go out with Patrick Briere on the St. Lawrence River. I got a hold of Pat and we talked about July sometime and this is the story of how my son JD and I 2.5 day trip went:
July 8th-10th 2016
One word....UNBELIEVABLE!!! My 12 year old son JD and I had the time of our lives this past weekend with Pat Briere. Service was top notch, the accommodations were on an island and great, the equipment was awesome, and the fishing was unbelievable as the pictures show. I went with the hope of just SEEING a fish close to 50 inches. My son however had expectations of NOT just seeing a big fish but Catching a huge fish of 50” or more casting......I told him on the way up that just because they are there does not mean we are guaranteed to get a fish that big casting. I told Pat about my son’s expectations and also stated that between the two of us if a big fish was to be caught, JD would be the one to do it, because of how lucky he is, I call it THE JD BABY LUCK. Pat laughed and said that there were big fish where we would be fishing and they had been catching a few. Well just seeing a big fish was taken care of very quickly when JD caught a 49" and then a 38” the first evening following the nine hour drive and then we called it and evening. I would have been very satisfied with that 49” fish alone, little did I know what was to come!
Day 2 we woke up to less than nice conditions, and as you can see in the pictures
we only brought shorts to wear (dad’s fault). I quickly hooked into the fish of a lifetime, and after a crazy fight she Finally was scooped into the net by Pat! We jumped, we hugged, we looked at her and then each other with amazement. We all said that is a huge fish over and over again. Finally Pat said welcome to the 50” club as he bent over to take out the hooks. While he worked on the fish I got the board out and started looking at the numbers and thinking 49? 50? 51? 52? 53? I stopped and said I think 53! As I reached down in the net to pull her out, I was in shock, and thought to myself, man this fish is heavy as I made my way to the measuring board. NO DOUBT over 50”, but when I watched the tail reach 54 ½” I was amazed. Now for some quick pics and we had her back in the water and released successfully. Time for more jumping around, fish handshakes, and that’s a huge fish statements. All were excited, but I could tell the rest of that storm shorted day that my son was happy for me, but at the same time very determined to get his own fish over 50”.
Day 3 started with even colder and wetter conditions than the previous day, but Pat as always was very positive and worked VERY hard to get my son his big fish. A couple cold/wet hours into the day it happened again, I hooked another huge fish. This time I yelled for my son to quickly take the rod from me. He did and began the fight of his fishing life! Two hands above the reel, then cranking hard, then 2 hands above the reel again………..FINALLY in the net! We jumped, we hugged, we yelled again and again, JD was shaking like a leaf. As Pat got the hooks out we sat down again and I stared at the board. This time I didn’t even waste my time with 49”, 50”, or even 51”, I knew it was bigger maybe even bigger than the one I caught. I knew for a fact that it was fatter, but bigger probably not. When Pat picked it out of the net I simply said one word…..UNBELIEVABLE!!! As he put it on the board and I moved the tail to 55”...JD said “I BEAT YOU”, and I replied yes you did WOW, WOW! After pics and another successful release we went through our little celebration again. Pat said this trip was special and that fish was a special father son moment that he will never forget and was glad to be apart of it. After a couple of minutes reorganizing we were back at it. I knew my son was very happy, but still very determined, because dad had hooked that fish. He demanded that we keep doing the same thing and he quickly jumped back into his spot. After a while Pat and I began talking about doing something a little different and he asked JD what he wanted to do? JD quickly replied with I want to keep doing what we are doing. Pat said okay and we went to the next spot. As Pat and I discussed how unbelievable this weekend had been….JD shouts FISH, I look, and he is in his fighting stance again with 2 hands above the reel putting the pressure on. I asked if he saw it yet and he said yes and “it is big”. Could it be another over 50”? That question was quickly answered as it surfaced and began the dreaded head shakes, then diving under the boat, then running away, then headshakes again as it came toward the net…….but it was not ready as it twisted away toward the bottom like a gator. At that point I looked at the rod tip, it went straight, I thought OH NO it cut the line. Then just as quick as it went straight it again totally bent in a U shape and began to fight again under the boat, but quickly surfaced. To my amazement she finally gave up and Pat was able to net her. At that point pandemonium broke out in the boat! UNBELIEVABLE AGAIN! Once again I stood/sat there while Pat unhooked the fish staring at the measuring board, once again I skipped 49”, 50”, 51” and said to myself this is another fish close to 54”? That proved to be true as I pushed the tail to the 54” mark on the board. Again pics and a quick release later we found ourselves in awe of what had just happened over the last 2 ½ days and of course we celebrated again. After some rearranging Pat asked my son again what he wanted to do and JD said “I DON’T CARE, IT DOES NOT MATTER”, Pat and I both just laughed. We continued to fish that day for a little while as JD proceeded to lay down in the middle of a rain storm and go to sleep on the wet floor of the boat….he was truly DONE, wore out, and to be honest so was I, so we called it a day/trip and headed into the warmth of a dry place to relax. While sitting in the cabin I asked him which fish he was most proud of he said without hesitation the 54” because I got it all on my own.
I said one word to describe this trip in the beginning was UNBELIEVABLE, and that word has been coming out of my mouth when describing the trip to those who ask. The funny thing is they usually say it before I do!
Special thanks to:
Aaron Pratt Churning Waters Bait Co. whose lures were responsible for the three largest fish www.facebook.com/aaron.pratt.94695?fref=pb&hc_location=friends_tab&pnref=friends.all
Pat Briere Guide Service www.facebook.com/Pat-Briere-Muskie-Guide-160098177367754/?fref=nf
The Ohio Musky Show
Mike Money Minnow Fund Raffle , and all those involved in raising money to support our wonderful sport here in Ohio
James Doug Young and My Son JD Young
49,38,54 1/2, 55, 54
Read more: http://esoxeast.proboards.com/thread/5138/mike-money-minnow-fund-tr... | |
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Posts: 386
| AWESOME...
I love the tight leopard style spots on Great Lakes fish.
Grats to you both.
AWESOME | |
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Posts: 1425
Location: St. Lawrence River | There goes the neighborhood
That is a legendary 2.5 days my man..
Edited by JakeStCroixSkis 7/14/2016 7:17 AM
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Posts: 483
Location: NE PA | Talk about the stars aligning! Congrats! | |
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49, 38,541/2, 55, 54 St. Lawrence Pat Briere