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| By Richard Collins.Subject : Good or bad? for all the other pros
In the first few weeks of October I had a stretch of 6 guiding days where I
caught a fish for my clients in the last second of the day on four of
them. Here is the low down.
On day one I had a party of 3 out and we caught a couple of small fish around lunch time but before the end of the day I wanted another fish so all 3 would have a fish on their first day out. Well as we were trolling in front of the launch and I had already pulled half the rods in when the fish
hit, it was another small fish but all had action on day 1. Now on day 2 we
moved to another area targeting bigger fish and didn't get any action
at all and my clients had a 5.5 hours drive home that night and had to leave
at 4:30 and as I was trolling in front of another launch the reel goes off
the propwash rod at 4:27 and we measured the beautifull fish at 47 inches.
Now my trio were a little late on their departure but all were happy with a
trophy release for the lady in the party.
On day 3 it was different as I had a party from NJ and the one guy was skunked for the year and the other had but 2 fish to his credit this year. Like I promissed we took care of his skunk that morning with a fat 45 X 21 beauty and his buddy caugh his fish just after lunch. Now on day 4 we didnot get a rip of even snagged bottom till there was but 15 minutes left in the day. We got 2 snags in a row and as I had 1 rod already in the boat
well we got a third snag but no it was a nice 40 incher and you guessed it this one was caught in front of a third launch. So we bettered their yearly totals from NJ waters in one weekend.
Day 5 was a third party of two and we had no action on the day till I had but a few more feet to troll before I pull the lines out and drive back to the launch ( don't fish in front of this one ) when another nice 40
incher nailed one on my spinnerbaits. Day 6 we got their fish some 1.5 hours before
days end.
I remember doing the same thing at the Can-Am back in mid September when on day 1 I went to plan B and caught a 38 incher with less then 10 minutes to go and on day 2 I trolled up a nice 48 incher for my partner in the
last seconds of the tourney.
Now all these catches are in different areas and using plan Bs and oddball techniques different then what we did the rest of the day.
Here is the question. Does this show that I did real good by figuring out these creatures in the last second of the day or did I do bad to not figure this out sooner and catch them earlyer and have a chance at more of them.
I for one like to hear the clicker go off in the last minute of the day and to do it 4 out of 6 days is just an awsome feeling. Now 3 of those four time were the only fish of the day.
I would like to hear the comments and opinion of the pros but all are Welcome to respond.
Thanks Jason for posting this.
Richard Collin
Ottawa River Trophy Muskie Charters
www.trophymuskiecharters.com
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| Many a day has been salvaged by the "last minute" bite. My question back to you is, do you think that your clients would have been happier had you not changed tactics and at least caught a few toward the end of the day? I think not. I personally think that by changing up and getting a couple is way better than getting skunked. All of us have done that from time to time and there is no more hopeless and guilty feeling than just having been paid for taking a client on an all day boat ride.
I say good job, I wish that all guide trips ended with a catch rather that with an explaination and a "we will get em next time". Just some thoughts from a fellow guide. You win some you lose some, but some days change is what makes the difference. Remember if it was easy no one would need a guide to begin with and there would be no place to park at the ramp.
Let Em Go...Let Em Grow.....Mike
Mike's Sure Catch Guide Service
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| I'm not a guide, but would like to answer this as a possible client: If I went on a guided trip, I would be happy to catch a fish at anytime. In addition, catching fish for some of us is not what it's all about. I have never been on a guided trip, but have booked one this year in Ohio. My reason for booking the trip is not so much to catch a bunch of fish, but is to get some education on how to be a better Muskie fisherman along with meeting someone that I've been an email buddy with for a while. If I learn anything on the trip that will help me be a better fisherman it is well worth it. After all, there's no guarantees in this type of fishing. Tom | |
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Good or bad for all of the other pro's