Hello all, I'm new here. I've been getting more involved in Muskie fishing each year, so I figured I'd put up a post of my first trip this year.

Fished a local New Jersey reservoir on March 15th..... about a week after full ice out.

After putting an hour or two in casting weed edges and tree stumps I decided to troll across some open water in about 20'.

All said and done, I caught one Muskie that measured 41" and a girth on her that was by far the largest I've landed. Chart estimates put this fish at 18lb to 20lb conservatively.

Best thing about this catch was the release.... which went smoothly for fish and fisherman. Using a bolt cutter while the fish was still in water, all hooks were removed quickly, fish brought aboard for a quick tape measurement and then released.

I promise the next one will included a fish holding photo, but that is so hard when you are fishing solo.

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