Posts: 2089
| What an awesome week.The weather blew(literally) but it was a great experience.Bob M worked his butt off to pull this thing off and deserves some real credit..Here's what really impressed me.On Wed. the 50 mph winds were blowing into the docks later in the afternoon/early evening.Rain was still coming in sideways.Most were up in the lodge while Bob was down at the dock helping GregM, JoMusky and I get Greg's boat out of harms way.Pretty cool.Also, Steve Worrall is one of the hardest working men in the industry.We come in on Day 1 and he's standing on the dock taking video and pictures.After driving ctrazy distances, he gets the info from out there(wherever that may be) to put on here for us all to devour.Wait, just going to get better.It was good to see a lot of familiar faces too.So many great muskie fishermen and women in one place at the same time.Met some new friends and learned a ton about muskies and the Big V.Was it worth the $2500?Without a doubt.Now, the fishin'.On Monday, we got on the water about noon.East wind.2nd spot we hit (rocks), a fish that may have been legal(40") tries to eat the Honkey Weagle(all white).10 minutes later ,a mid 40's tries to eat the thing.Partner then has a follow from an upper 30's.I'm about to pee with glee.So we go check out some other stuff and off the water about 7.Wednesday morning we go to the spot and a 37"eats Old Perchy(brought out of retirement for the occassion).Yee Hah!!We see one fish about 42" the rest of the day.Followed Justin's shallow invader.Maybe this is going to be tougher than I thought.Day 2....1 follow @ 3pm on a walleye mag dawg.Reality sets it.We need a 40" fish on Day 3 and we're IN!Day 3....1 45" follow on Bait X(DeLong Kil'R Eel).She was hot and I thought we were going to have a replay of the Woods.No Dice!No fish the rest of the day either.As we are running to our 1st spot that day, we watch Tim Widlacki and Jason Summers with their fattie.High Hopes.I also have to give a great deal of credit to my partner Justin.Hung in there and casted like a crazy man.We'll get 'em again.Time to watch the Hawks.More later. Steve |
Posts: 2089
| Ok, so my Hawks blew like the wind on the Big V.Stopped watching @ 37-0.Lots of talk about the big names that didn't catch fish.These folks had numerous opportunities(as we all did) but couldn't get them to eat or if they did eat, in the net.We heard lots of stories each day.Takes some luck, that's for sure.Even though our"performance" was a bit disappointing, I still learned a ton .Muskie tournaments are unlike ANY other tournament out there.We proved that in 3 days.Can't wait til next year.Hope it's on the V again.Of course I'll have new motors then and won't lose any fishin' time.Was hoping to get through the week.No dice.Spun the hub on the prop at 50 mph.Knew right away what it was.That kicker is the best investment I've ever made.Saved me/us 4 times this year!I started laughing ,believe it or not.Kinda expected something.You've never seen someone rig a rod to troll so fast in your life.We even hit some good stuff on our way in. That would've been a good story.Pop a fish while trolling in the last hour due to motor problems.Only in Hollywood I guess.A big congrats to those that boated fish to move on as well as those who didn't.Better to have tried and failed than to have never tried.We can all use it for motivation (as if 80K and rings weren't enough) on the next go round.Still have dates with a few Minnesota fatties before hard water.A little tip.Read or re-read Laura Morrison's article in the Spring 2002 issue of Esox Angler regarding fishing the wind.Good stuff. Steve |
