|
|
| What is your favorite Muskie related memory???
This one will run through November 15, so sharpen your virtual pencil and enter just one time each! Limited to 30 lines of text.
Prizes: Steve Worrall 8'' Signature Trillium Aurora rod, Aurora Reel, a Custom Suick, an Undertaker; and a MuskieFIRST T shirt! |
|
| |
|
| The best memory I have is on of myself and my (late) father. I was 14 years old and we were on a family vacation in oneida county. The guy in the cabin next to us was a huge musky fisherman and talked me into going to the local bait shop and buying a red bucktail. At this point in my life i had never musky fished and thaught my chances of catching a musky were pretty slim. Well when we finally got to the bait shop and when i walked through the door i was just amazed on how many baits there were on the wall. After finding the red bucktail, I asked my dad what pole do we have that will cast a bait this big, he says to me "well i guess your new one" I said what? well to keep this short we ended up buying 60 dollars of new baits and a 100 dollor rod and real combo. Now i was ready for water. After getting back to the cabin we headed right for the boat and started to musky fish. After a few days of fishing with no follows I decided it was time to get out the red bucktail and would you belive it on my third cast i nailed a 41 incher, and from then on i was hooked with musky fever. I guess the memories i love the most are the few times i was able to go muskie fishing with my dad because he died 4 years later.
Well thanks dad
Jim[:)] |
|
| |
|
| This goes back a year or two, my really nieve time. Wanted to fish for muskys so badly but not a clue.Was up all night fishing for walleyes.When at day break I finally got my boat partner talk into cast for awhile. After a few hours and little action my buddy was a was about to sleep.When just as I began to pull my super shad rap from the water to make another cast. A little musky comes from out of no where and grabs the bait.As the poor little fish goes flying right over Ben's head an let's go of bait, landing back in the water on the other side of the boat. I look over at Ben and say" That was a musky"! His only reply was,"Yeah.....But you didn't catch it"! NOW TAKE ME HOME!.Oh well it was enough to keep me coming back.[:p] I love this sport,no matter what my friends think of it and ME. Dennis Blume |
|
| |
|
| June 96 Nestor Falls-June Muskie trip . goergeous Canadian sunset... sitting at the bar sippin'' a Blue, a beautiful vision appears beside me- Winnipeg college girl-21-HOT- working the summer out on LOTW at a lodge. Her nite off. The Blue''s are flowin'', the nite is smokin''- she''s hot! She can''t play w/ the customers at the lodge- her> "ya gotta'' boat?" Me> "Honey-I can do better than that, I gotta'' motel rooom"................suddenly there was a huge bulge in the water about 6'' behind the crazy crawler- Me: "Holy Sh*t"- she was awesome- the sun glistening off the sinuous curves of her body was enough to take your breath away. Her gaze was fixed on the object of her desire. She moved slowly, deliberately closer, & closer, teasing until her mouth was 6 inches away from it. Then with a soft sweep of her tail she sank down and swam under the boat.
Sponge Bob- I need some more of those "Sponge Bob magic potion''s" cause the manifestations are coming back[:knockout:]
...>...
All I got is a little tail[:sun:] |
|
| |
|
| Daggone Dude!!! you don''t NEED any help.... you are there!!!LOL....that''s how I met Sponge Babe, sitting on a surfboard + here swims this mermaid..... wrapped her up + kept her gills moist ''til I got to the doc.... had her tail removed + replaced w/ legs + now she is an amphibian! Still has the gills but w/ a scarf they''re hardly noticable! After 13 yrs. + little Sponge she''s built more like a "Bluegill" but she''s all I got!(JUST KIDDING!!!) I''m going to e-mail you this fall sometime to get your advice on batteries if I don''t forget! Glad to see you know who Arlo Guthrie was.......[:sun:] |
|
| |
|
| THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY......
My favorite musky memory is the classic story of the one that got away. Back in the early days of college myself and a good buddy were working the deep side of my favorite weed shelf. I was methodically bringing in my new 8" Reef Hawg perpendicular to the boat. As the bait approached the largest musky I have ever seen torpedoed parallel to the boat and inhaled the entire Reef Hawg!!! I can still hear the god awful sound of the bait slamming the roof of the fish's mouth!! As a matter of fact... that sound still haunts me today. The entire lure fit inside this mammoth's mouth.
As I instictively set the hooks with my pool cue 5' 6" custom St. Croix, I could see that this fish had phenomenal girth as it made a dash for the depths. In the gin clear water I could see the front hook of the bait slip from the corner of the gator's mouth. She pulled me to my knees with another kick of her tail and the second hook grabbed hold. I frantically pounded on the free-spool button as I felt the second hook slip. As the reel seat began to submerge into the water, I had to decide whether to take a swim after this fish.... but the beast made that decision for me as she shook that last hook with one strong head shake!! One took one last look and then she was.......... gone.
The pure power of that fish combined with its unbelievable depth.... made me lose all bodily control and slumped down into the front pedastal seat. My buddy never saw the fish or what happened. I recall him asking "what happened" for about 20 minutes as I sat murmuring gibberish and pointing to the water.
I can honestly say that was a legitimate 50 pounder... and it swims in Wisconsin Waters. I've seen 40 pounders get pulled from that lake... but none had the girth of my memory! I can only hope she is still swimming and we may bump into one another again.
Jason Long |
|
| |
|
| tried to post three times, it won't work!!!!!![:(] [:(] [:(] [:(] |
|
| |
|
|
My favorite occurred on an evening when I never made a cast.
After supper I headed up the lake toward Kendall Club Bay where we’d been catchin’ fish on #5 plain Mepps. I glanced toward shore to set up a drift and saw Old John’s Sea Skiff drifting on the breeze. I swung towards him to say hello. He had the Big C and was in treatment. The last time I’d seen him was in a hospital room. This was his first fishin’ trip for the year. He saw me coming and started waving frantically. As I closed the distance I saw a huge bend in his spinning rod. Within hailing distance he hollered that he had a monster on. About that time the fish jumped thirty feet from the boat and it was a good four footer. He hollered “I got no net!!”
He had the fish on an old spinning rod. A Mitchell 300 hung below the handle with 10 lb. line. His musky rods were all for trolling. He’d spent all his life on both Chautauqua and the St. Lawrence for ‘Lunge and had a deft touch which he showed while handling the fish he now had on.
I eased the Peterborough up towards the lee side of his bow, tossed my big net on the deck where it hung up on a cleat, dropped my anchor with one hand and hoisted myself on board his old Chris Craft with the other.
His grin and the sparkle in his eyes are still in my memory and this was about 1970. “Damn, I’m glad to see you!!”, he said.
Twenty minutes later the fish was a little tired and John could kind of lead her around. “How we gonna’ manage this?,” he asked. “Your call,” I answered.
He plotted the upcoming maneuver, “I’ll lead her along the transom, you plant the net along the side where she can’t see it, then swoop her in like a pilgrim.
Well, it worked. The bag swelled as I swooped but the fish never saw it coming as she swam past the corner of the transom. She was so big I didn’t want to lift the net vertically and in staying horizontal over the high freeboard I bent hell out of the handle.
John dispatched her with his lead filled priest (this was 1970, remember!) and we admired her. I got back in my boat and retrieved the camera. John stood on the motor cover holding her high and she looked as long as he was tall. She was 52” and 31 lbs. He anchored and we sat on those old maroon naugahyde seat cushions and talked till dark.
Three months later John was gone. This was his last fishing trip and his final fish in a fishing career spanning fifty years.
|
|
| |
|
| This isn't my favorite story but I guarantee it was one of my Dad's, or it was at least the funniest moment. It started out on Bone Lake a few years ago when I was just being introduced into the world of actually knowing how to run the boat and trolling motor. I was already thinking that I was a master at it, and kept saying,"this ain't so hard". My Dad just kind of looked at me and smiled. It was about 11:00p.m. when my Dad had a nice fish follow. It was probably about 40. After we finished my Dad told me to bring the trolling motor in. I ofcourse said,"anything else Dad"? Once again he looked at me and smiled. Just as a side note, we have a Ranger Boat with one of those tough to put in AutoPilot trolling motors by MinnKota. I reached down and got half of it up but couldn't get the rest in. My Dad was making fun of me and said that I need some muscles. He said,"put your foot on the fiberglass and get some leverage into it." I got it half way up and slipped on the wet fiberglass and fell in. Along with me came my Dad's 2 G-Loomis rods and my St.Croix. I was yelling because it shocked me so badly. My Dad reached down and got the rods just in time or we would have lost them, and I said to him,"what the heck are you getting the rods for when I'm in the water?" He looked at me with that same smile on his face and said,"these rods are a whole lot more expensive than you are," and he just started laughing so hard.
It was pretty scary at first because it shocks you pretty good, but after you think about it, it just makes you laugh!
Thanks,
BrettC[:)] |
|
| |
|
| Very few days go by when I don't think about the big one that I battled with George Stoeberl on 8/29/99. I hooked that giant musky on Whitefish Bay LOTW on the first day of our trip. She inhaled my homemade 11" spinner. I fought her at least 10 min as she swam all the way around the boat, under the big motor and the trolling motor. She was close to the boat when she dove under the boat when all of the sudden she stopped. My line hooked my boat 5' from my rod tip. The musky was 10' beyond that. Not sure why she didn't keep fighting, break the line, & swim to safety, but instead she circled around to where she surfaced RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME! She was massive! I thought it was over when she made another hard dive. I was sure the line would break, but somehow it freed itself & the fight was back on. I managed to get her back up to where George had his Beckman waiting. In she went! Just as George inched the hoop of the bag above the water, he announced, "She's ours!" As George said that the giant musky's nose hit the bottom of of the bag of his 48" deep net. Her giant tail still hung past the hoop by at least 6"! At the exact instant of George's announcement, I screamed, "All right! Oh no..." That musky had other plans. As time stood still, somehow she spun around in the bag of that net, spit both 5-O hooks of my spinner and in super-slow motion inched her way over the hoop of the net and sunk out if sight. I have an extremely vivid picture of the events of on that day. I caught that 54" musky; I just don't have the pictures to prove it. [:((] |
|
| |
|
| That`s an easy one.
When my wife and I got married, we got a guided trip with Rollie Besset for a present. We were going up to Phelps to fish the Mid-West Muskie Classic, so we stopped at Pelican Lake on the way. First week of October, but a major high pressure system brought 30 degree temps and bright blue skies. Not the kind of weather I had hoped for. Anyway, we pounded away for some hours and saw a couple fish but nothing major. We headed to a lakeside pub and had a bowl of soup and a burger and BS'd a little and I told Rollie,"Hey man, you don`t have to knock yourself out. I know this isn`t a good day for fish so we can quit any time you want." (Besides, he showed me all of Sworralls spots along the way.
[;)] )
"I just want to try one more spot." he told us and we headed out the door and back into the boat.
We were working a weed edge with Suicks. My wife was in the bow, and I was hanging out in the back while Rollie ran the T-motor from the drivers seat. Well somewhere along that weed edge something swirled about 15 yards from the boat. We both had our lures in the boat at that moment and we looked at eachother and I told my wife,"Go ahead." And she did. She casted about 5 yards wide of the swirl, twitched her Suick twice, and WHAM!!! The battle was on.
There I stood in the back of the boat, a place that I never fish from, watching my wife doing battle with a muskie and doing a great job.
"Watch the trolling motor." Rollie said once. To which my wife replied "I know." I just watched and took it all in.
Usually at this point I`d be barking orders and grabbing the net and turning the boat....but not this time. I got to sit and watch and enjoy.
Some minutes later, Rollie snapped a Boga-Grip on the fishes bottom jaw and it was all over. He hoisted it aboard, measured it and weighed it and handed the Boga to her for some more pictures, then let her go.
It was a fat,healthy fish of 43" that pushed 20#. A real butterball.
My wife was so happy she was huggin` Rollie, then me, then Rolliie some more. That was the best wedding present that we got. And I think that I had as much fun watching her as she did catching that fish.
I know that it`s a day that we'll never forget. Beav |
|
| |
|
| I had just moved into a new home. A couple of neighbors saw my boat and asked what I fished for, Musky I replied. What's a Musky they replied. Not wanting to miss an oppotunity I invited them to go fishing on the up coming Saturday morning. We got to the landing at about 6 am, at which time they saw my rods and lures for the first time. One of my neighbors (pete) picked up a 10" jake showed it to my other neighbor (John) and said unknowingly "You don't really fish with this do you?" I informed them that Musky can get pretty big, sensing that they didn't fully comprehend what we were after. The first hour was pretty uneventful, with John throwing a 6" Orange Tiger Jake and Pete throwing his favorite white spinnerbait when John asked the following,"we haven't caught anything yet, is fishing usually this slow here?". I just smiled and said,"Did I forget to mention that just seeing one during the day can sometimes be considered a good day". This comment was not taken very well, followed by "How many have you caught this year". Unfortunately the answer was only one (it was early June). This response was again not received well. Suddenly, Pete had a strike and within minutes was the smiley guy being photographed with a 16" Largemouth. I scoffed with "looks like bait to me". Pete responded "I haven't seen you catch anything yet". Another Hour Passed with no Musky action. My new neighbors were tiring. Two plus hours of fishing with only one bass to show. We decided to fish one more spot by the landing. "Its a good spot" I said (never having seen a fish there) trying to stall for some extra time. I pulled an Orange, Yellow and Green Mepps from my tackle box, stating with confidence that this was the magical bait, only to hear yawns from the back of the boat. One my second cast I had a bone jarring strike. Arrogantly, I turned to Pete and said "get the net" and resumed battling the fish. "Its a Musky I declared", How do you know they responded "because I can tell this is the biggest fish I have ever had on" Pete readied the net. As I battled the fish to the boat, Pete pulled the net from the water. "What are you doing", I screamed His response " You didn't tell me we were fishing for that", as a beefy 46" musky surfaced next to the boat (my biggest to date). "Net him" I screamed, "No" responded Pete. "If you don't net him you are swimming home" I replied. Finally, after was seemed like hours Pete netted the beast. With the fish finally secured in the net I turned to John (white as a ghost in the back of the boat) who said "If I would have known we were fishing for that, I would have either stayed home or brought my gun"
I love rookies
Dave |
|
| |
|
| Come on, folks, the prizes here are worth hundreds, I need more memories submitted!![:0] |
|
| |
|
| my best memory has to be the first time i was introduced to the famous walter. seams like every lake has one but. this was a life long quest of my grandfathers. and he shared it with me ive never seen a fish that big. i had him on and when it wass over i had a 3 pice rod. but the story goes on to one specific point and that is that that man took all the time in the world to share the outdoors with me. and now days i just dont see enuff kids being givin the time of day to be tuaght what its all about. its not about us its about shareing what weve learnd and what we love and the futcher of are sport. so next time you see a child in need of help or guideince take the time to help and share the extra mile is worth it. lets help the kids to have a memory of a life time. that is my truely greatest memory is all the kids ive helped to catch a fish and to teach them to respect and love the outdoors. there is no greater prize then that a fish is just that but a child is the futcher and is not replaceable. may we all thank god for the greater things in life. and take a kid fishing.
god bless all and good luck this fall.
jack some jaw. |
|
| |
|
| This was a few years back. My younger brother Tony went to Canada musky fishing with our crew. It was his first trip with us, and his first musky trip. For the record, he is hardly a novice. We both have fished most of our life and love the outdoors. So much so that Tony has a biology degree, emphasis in fisheries management (I can't spell icktheology as you just noticed). We were in a 14' wobbly rental aluminum number, with a 9.9 on back, just pushing off on our first morning. Tony had his brand new St. Croix "pool cue" as he called it, and was asking for a quick training lesson on using baitcasters (he was strictly a spin-cast man prior to this week). Instructions given, 10" top-water attached, he decided to practice, before moving to our starting point. I'm glad he did. First cast, big wind-up, let's it snort only to forget to let go of the thumb bar, or some such thing. To this day he doesn't know what he did for sure, but the end result was the lure going out about 10', stopping, proceeding to do an about face and take me clean out of the front of that wobbly 14-footer. I'm now standing in 4' of ice cold water, somewhat annoyed and slightly concerned about the potential damage the still attached lure was doing and or did to my chest, only to look up and see what all brothers would do in a similar situation – laugh so hard he almost wet himself. I sported bruises across my chest for more than a week. |
|
| |
|
| Favorite recent muskie memory:
Last Saturday morning. Steve Cady and I are just a couple hours into into the Cass Lake tourney. Steve is fishing a Jackpot off the deep side of the drop, and I am throwing a Sledge to the shallow side. I hear a little racket, followed by Steve grunting and then a quick shout.."got her!". The fish rolls on top and Steve states loudly..."good size...she's got size!". As the fish gets closer I'm standing in the front of the boat with the Beckman at hand. I ask Steve "where are you bringing her", trying to figure out which side of the boat he was going to bring her to. He replies in a panicked, shaky voice.."To the BOAT!". He gets her near the boat, and attempts to steer her into the net, but only manages to get her close enough for me to hook the front hook of his jackpot in the bottom of the netbag. Steve sees his whole muskie fishing life pass before his eyes and yells at me to "net her backwards.." so I turn the net inside out, and get the slob into the net. Steve responds by yelling several times and pumping his fists a la Tiger Woods. After the hooks are cut, several high-fives, and the judge boat verifies her at 52 5/8", we get her back in the water and let her go to recouperate for next years event. The best part of the whole ordeal was minutes after the fish swam away and the judge boats had motored off, Steve and I both try to get the split rings open on his Jackpot to replace the cut hooks, but we are both still shaking so bad that it takes nearly 15 minutes to do a 1 minute task.
I won't soon forget that fish, or that day. Thanks again Steve for the memories!
Jamie Schmidt
Esoxjunkie Inc |
|
| |
|
| My very first musky encounter has so far been my most memorable. Several years ago my wife (the old one, not the new improved model) and I were treated to a week vacation in Wisconsin by her parents. To that point in my life I had watched musky caught on TV and read many an article about fishing them but never had the opportunity to hunt the mighty beast myself. Needless to say after 14 hours of fruitless casting and with absolutely no real knowledge of what I was doing I gave up (perhaps the fact my arm was numb from the shoulder down had something to do with this). Next morning I am out early, way back in a cove, minnow fishing and doing quite well with small walleye and crappie. The setting became surreal as a fog bank rolled in and limited visibility to about a hundred feet. It was deathly calm and I was beginning to wonder if I would find my way back to the landing. A moment later my next minnow sailed toward the hungry crappie horde. When it splashed down I noticed a wake appear about forty feet behind my boat heading for the cattails to my right. The first irrational thought which came to mind was no one mentioned alligators existed in Wisconsin!! As the hump grew in size it started moving faster and suddenly I saw its objective. Two ducks scurried out of the cattails in an effort to get airborne. After the first lifted off, the second had just cleared the water when a giant head reared up and grabbed it by the leg. HELLO MR. ESOX MASQUINONGY!!! The terrified duck flapped frantically a few times but the musky thrust upward quickly, succeeding in grabbing the duck’s belly….a big splash and they were both gone. The wake receded slowly into the deeper water and I just sat there speechless. The absolute ferocity of the attack I will never forget. Perhaps ten seconds elapsed during the whole sequence but it was permanently etched in my mind. Needless to say, after witnessing this episode, I picked up the musky rod and again spent another 14 or so, fruitless hours of casting.
BrianW |
|
| |
|
| September of 98 I was fishing with my wife on Silver Lake. Conditions were perfect. There was a front moving in, full moon about to rise and sunset about an hour away. While I'm casting, my wife is busy painting her nails. I'm getting a little anxious because I really want to see her catch a musky. I start pleading with her to stop painting her nails and start fishing. I tell her that as the sun goes down there is a great window of opportunity. Her reply: "Yeah, as the sun goes down the opportunity to paint my nails is gone." Finaly she asks me to hand her a pole. Two casts later I'm netting a 36" ski for her. As I'm unhooking the fish she puts the pole down and smuggly says "I'll let you catch up, I'm gonna do my toes now." [:0]
It is a pretty cool story, but why is that my favorite musky story? Whenever I want to go fishing I just give her a sad, pathetic look and say, "Uh honey, I'm gonna go out and practice my musky fishing so one day I might be as good as you are, oaky?" She thinks that's pretty funny stuff and I'm out the door. [:bigsmile:] Another cool story is the 38"er she caught on a quick-strike. I'll save that one for the next contest. If we have enough of these contests everyone here will see a sad, pathetic trend when I fish with her. |
|
| |
|
| My favorite muskie memory is one I will never forget. It was probobly my third time ever fishing, and i was on a fishing pier with some other people that I didnt' know. Suddenly I heard them yell there was a muskie there. I saw it and was amazed. One person had a big rapala bass lure and started casting to it and i casted a moss frog at it, but it swam away. Later on i was fishing off the shore close do that pier and i saw it had come back. About 10 or 15 people came running throwing everything in its face. I wiggled a leech in front of its face and it bit it. I had it on and was reeling it in (only 2 feet and it'd be on shore) Then, it looked up, and turned its head and snapped the line. For the next week it would come back every night at about the same time. But everytime i would cast to it it ran away. That was the moment when i became hooked, and I am now hooked for life. |
|
| |
|
| One of my favorite memories goes something like this... It was a tyipical fall day in late September/ early October,4 years ago.I took my brother and his son down to the river to do some fishing.They were fishing for small mouth bass while i fished for muskies.They caught a few bass and I had action from some norhern pike,one was about 30"s and by far the biggest fish my nephew had ever seen.I got to particular spot where i had been seeing the same muskie for about 2 or 3 weeks,it would follow but never hit.I actually called it my pet fish,I would whistle like you do for your dog to come and sure enough,the muskie would come following the lure in to shore.I would pull my bait out of the water and just look at the muskie.wondering what happened to the lure that it was chasing.On this particular day,I decied if it followed,I would try and catch it so my nephew could see a muskie up close and personal.We got to the spot,I told him to sit on a log and watch,I did my whistle thing and about 5 to 10 casts later,here it comes.the lure got to shore and I did an L turn,fish was right behind the bucktail.The only thing I could do was a twitch,the hiar flared and the muskie struck it! FISH ON!!!! After a quick fight,I landed the 36" muskie.We took a few pics with my nephew,myself and the muskie.I did the release and the fish swam away strong.My nephew was scared of the fish,but I think he did ok,he still talks about that little muskie... I cant wait until he asks me to take him out muskie fishing,watching him get his first will be a memorie that I cant wait for...Any way,I know this is not a big fish story,I do have some of those,just my own favorite,with my brother and his kid...Good Luck,Paul |
|
| |
|
| To many memories to little time. I was ten years old at the time of this great fishing trip. My uncle, his son and I were fishing the Tiger Cat Flowage near Hayward, WI for a week long trip in the month of June. This was my first time really fishing in a boat on prime waters.We were fishing a weed bed adjacent to deep water for bass.My Uncle was using his custom pistol grip rod his friend made him, calabrated with a Zebco 808, that he still swears by. He tied on an orange beetle spin with no leader on eight pound test monofilament.We fished the location for a long time, and it was getting much warmer as the day became longer. We had no luck until I saw his pole bend over at a fast rate. He said he had a large fish on! I grabbed the net before my cousin did. His pole was bent over still but no sign of a fish. Then the line came to the boat signaling a fish was still on, but still not visable. The fish eventually surfaced right by the boat laying there like a log. It was the biggest fish I had ever seen up close. When I stuck the net in the water my Uncle yelled and said not yet, then immediatly the fish bolted again, snapping the line like it was nothing. This fish was half the size of the boat(14'). We went to the Moccasin bar in downtown Hayward to scop out the world record. The fish that was on my Uncle's line looked identical to this fish.[:0] |
|
| |
|
| Geez people...I thought muskies were memorable. Only 20 odd responses?? Are we all brain dead, or what....come on, more stories.
BrianW BTTT[:bigsmile:] |
|
| |
|
| I see we have several new members...how about telling us your favorite Muskie memory story, and maybe win a really good prize package??[:0] |
|
| |
|
| It would have to be the first musky I ever saw. We were on a family outing and picnic on Middle Island Creek here in W.Va., looking for a good hole to fish for smallmouth.Nice little sandy beach and good swimming area for mom and my little brother. My dad and I were wading downstream when we came to a sharp bend in the creek that was too deep for me to wade, so I had to climb the bank to get below the deep area.Casting a #13 Rapala to a small log jam with a few weeds just upstream from it, all hell broke loose along with my line. 15 seconds later, as me and dad looked on , a musky that at the time looked like the "great white whale", but was probably no more that 36", cleared the water with my Rapala clearly visable in his jaw. I couldn't tie on another lure for a few minutes and when I think about it , I can still see that fish, gills flaired out and that Rapala hanging from it's mouth. I've caught a lot of fish in my life and hope to catch more but I don't think that one will make the impact that that fish made on me. It was in my junior year of high school and I'm 47 now, still I see that fish when I close my eyes and think about the time my dad and me spent on a small creek in W.Va. and saw the fish that changed my life. |
|
| |
|
| My favorite musky memory has to be my first catch. It was shortly after sun-up on a late June morning. I was about 15 at the time. My buddy and I had been fishing for channel cats most of the night. After a couple hours of sleep, the standard procedure was to fish the smallmouth bite at first light. As I walked upstream to a productive riffle, I glanced into a small pond formed by the falling river level. The fish sat motionless among some fallen branches. As still as it was, the musky's form was unmistakable. I went straight to the rivers edge. Minnows were plentiful along the shoreline. With a flick of the wrist I had a 2 1/2 inch minnow impaled on a small treble hook. Switching the hook from the bait's side to its lips, I headed back to the pond. I lobbed the bait in the musky's direction. It hit the water about 5 feet directly in front of the gamefish. On impact, the musky moved forward to investigate. The minnow responded by diving under a small tree limb. The musky didn't charge forward and attack. It cruised slowly over to the limb, tipped its nose down and cocked its head slightly to the side. I realize it was probably just angling its eyes into position to locate the hiding minnow, but it looked as if it was pondering its next move. The next move was to lunge forward and suck in the minnow in the blink of an eye. I set the hook and quickly landed a lively 16 inch musky. Knowing the tiny pond would soon be hot and stagnant, I removed the hook from the fish's lip and released it in the river only 20 feet away. This was the beginning of my fascination with muskies. My obsession would begin years later. - Angus |
|
| |
|
| Well last weekend I figured it was time to propose to my girlfriend. I wanted to do some thing that she would not forget. Went to a hockey game and that didn't happen so when we got home I decided to combine my favorite thing and hers. Musky fishing and our Yellow Lab Dcota. I went out side (-1 degrees out) and tried to rig the ring on a musky leader and put it around Dcota's neck and it slipped off the leader and fell into the "time to be mowed" grass. No problem I figured, I began running my hands trough the grass in search of "our forever bond in love". 5, 10, 15, 20 minutes go by and still no ring. WE HAVE A PROBLEM HERE. I run back into the apartment and I am greeted with " that was nice of you to take the dog for sure a long walk in the cold". ...."I think he has to go again"I respond. Another half an hour goes by and still no ring. 1:30 a.m is the time. I come back in our place and she says "why are you all dirty"? "I lost ten bucks in the grass, do we have a flashlite?" nope! I leave the house again, get in the car and go to three stores. Finally I borrow one at a gas station. I drive back and run to the grass to restart my search. 2:30 still no ring. Back in the house I go. At this time I feel the truth is the only way to get out of this. Honey, I was going to propose and I lost the ring,fell off the leader... Up she goes, I want my ring! for the next 3 hours both of us look on hands in knees in the cold wet grass. Fishing jackets on, neighboors wondering what is going on. at 4 a.m we decide to wait for day light. I cannot sleep so back out I go. I have to be at work at 10 a.m so the search continues. At 6 Andrea meets me on the wet lawn and helps the search. Still no ring. I am figuring " no more fishing this season, have to buy another ring, no new boat, no over the winter lures...
An idea pops in my head. I will rent a metal detector. I drive off to the rental center pick one up. Back to the house and I am scanning the lawn for the ring. By this time the neighboors are up and walking thier dogs and the looks are deadly. After half an hour I hear a loud beeping sound. I bend down,look and see a shining ring. I get down on one knee, metal detector in my hand and ask her to Marry me. She agrees and we laugh and laugh at our experience. So on I go to work with no sleep, a new fiancee and a few more day trolling the river for fall beasts
Jamie
p.s I have to get the search pictures developed. |
|
| |
|
| Steve,
who is the winner of this Contest. The last day was the 15th of this month...
|
|
| |
