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Location: SE Wisconsin | What does a Monster energy drink and a blind-sided boatside strike from a musky have in common? Wobbly legs, shaky hands and enough butterflies in your stomach to stutter your speech as she slides into the net – that’s how it is for my good Ryan, anyways.
No matter the size, his casual demeanor changes quickly when he catches a musky – any musky. A hunter on the water, through and through, there in that boat is where he feels at home, but when a guest comes a knocking. . . Well, let’s just say he loves company 
A slump in the action had Ryan feeling pretty blue last year, real blue. Mutual best pal, James Formolo, and I had been on a hot tail-bait bite the last couple of nights and decided we needed to get Ryan in on the action.
The evening showed us less than our expectations, and reality started pulling the energy from our chests until, “WHAM!!”
Ryan, who had switched out from the Top Raider he had been throwing to his go-to black/orange Mepps #5 had hooked up way out on the cast and a look of intensity took over his face. When that fish neared the boat, that look of intensity turned to a look of desperation as he instructed when to dip the net.
I’ll say this, I’ve never had an unsteady hand when it’s been my turn to be the netman, but this time was truly nerve racking. No bigger than 38 inches, this fish meant the difference between rejuvenation and serious frustration – a mind frame most musky hunters can attest to.
As soon as that fish was in the bag, Ryan laid his rod against the keel of the boat and turned to each of us to shake our hand. His knees started wobbling and his hand was shaking. That hand shake was one that I’ll never forget!
After that night, Ryan was back on his game and finally started feeling comfortable in his own home again – his boat.
Let’s not forget why we do this. These boards are filled with wisdom from some serious slim-timers and little stories like this one are what motivates us to get out there and chase. Politics aside, Musky fishing is a lifestyle.
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 The End to a Slump.jpg (43KB - 114 downloads)
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Posts: 1916
Location: Greenfield, WI | Sam, Well stated! |
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Posts: 2687
Location: Hayward, WI | Awesome story. I really enjoy your writing style and the way you look at things Sam.
curleytail |
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Posts: 1425
Location: St. Lawrence River | It definitely is a lifestyle |
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Posts: 85
| Nice story and I appreciate the enthusiasm, but I have to ask....
Is a three person posed out "photo shoot" with a 38" muskie really necessary? We really need to work on driving the delayed mortality rates of an estimated 5% down with every fish caught through proper and efficient handling of EVERY fish caught. |
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Posts: 32922
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | What? 1 picture? Bet that fish wasn't out of the water any longer than if there was one person in the image. Set up...lift...shoot...release. |
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Posts: 463
| Dude you need to get off of your soap box. A picture like that will live on with those three way longer then a stocked muskie will. If you are really that concerned with the fishes well being then you should probably stop fishing for them all together. |
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Posts: 105
| I'm all for taking care of the muskies, but some times the picture isn't about the fish. Great picture, I would want that one to reflect back on many years from now. |
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Posts: 692
Location: Pelican Rapids, MN | Great story, great team shot!
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Location: SE Wisconsin | Thanks guys. Honestly, anyone that knows me knows that I am as careful with my fish handling as possible. The fish was in the Kahuna boatside for about a minute, the camera on a tripod that is always in my boat for when I'm fishing alone and the fish was literally lifted, picture taken and fish returned safely to the water. |
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Posts: 1901
Location: MN | I appreciate everyone's concern about safe handling and quick releases, but Sam you shouldn't have had to explain or defend yourself. Good job. |
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| chasintails - 4/1/2010 8:19 PM
Dude you need to get off of your soap box. A picture like that will live on with those three way longer then a stocked muskie will. If you are really that concerned with the fishes well being then you should probably stop fishing for them all together.
Amen!!! I am so sick of the muskie police attitude. Don't you love it when someone sees a picture that is fraction of second in time, and they can preach from their pulpet like they were there!
Its obvious why the rest of the fishing community looks at muskie guys and thinks were snobs! Geez and I thought trout guys had a bad rap! |
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Posts: 468
Location: Not where I wanna be! | Very well said and writen Sam! And I agree, sometimes the picture is not always about the fish. Keep On!
Chris H............. Seriously???
PS, I take pix of every single fish I catch
Edited by THA4 4/1/2010 9:06 PM
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Location: Northern Wisconsin | Chris H - 4/1/2010 8:48 PM
We usually pull baits away from sub 40" class fish here in MN.
I'm fishing the wrong lakes! |
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Posts: 133
| Great story Sam. I have only been targeting these fish for a year now, but when my little cousin caught his first, a 38 incher also, I felt the same stress you did. Great picture of all three of you together. That is what I wished I would have done with my cousin's fish, to be in it with him. That memory will last forever. Well done. You are correct, that is why we do this. |
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Posts: 999
| Awesome story Sam MacQuarrie! I always enjoy your musky/whitetail storys!
Mr Musky |
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Posts: 402
Location: Eagle River, WI | "We usually pull baits away from sub 40" class fish here in MN."
HA! But you throws big piles of money at + 40 year old quarterbacks.
Great story. Great picture. I have a picture of my PB next to my desk at work and it has 5 guys in it with me. I take pictures of all the fish in my boat, and we catch 50-75 fish a year. It takes 10-20 seconds to lift a fish and take the picture if you are set up right.
Alot of times the picture of the fish has less to do with the fish and more to do with what else was going on when the fish was caught. I love looking back at old pictures and being taken back to that particular day on the water. It might have been the first fish of a multiple fish day or the last fish for someone that is no longer with us.
Chris, I think you need to rethink why you are in this sport. Your elitist, arrogant bashing of other people is giving all of us a black eye.
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Location: SE Wisconsin | Ryan's slump lasted about three solid weeks of steady fishing. . To him, it didn't matter how big the fish was, to him it meant the slump had ended and he was back on track. To James and I, it meant we were buying that night
There was no pulling the bait away - he got bit at the end of the cast.
Edited by Sam Ubl 4/1/2010 10:12 PM
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Posts: 85
| welldriller - 4/1/2010 10:05 PM
"We usually pull baits away from sub 40" class fish here in MN."
Chris, I think you need to rethink why you are in this sport. Your elitist, arrogant bashing of other people is giving all of us a black eye.
Thanks for the advice, I know why I'm in the sport and why I dedicate my free time and monies to the continuance of the sport and the betterment for all. I'm neither elitist nor arrogant, rather I'm simply into the betterment of the fisheries.
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Posts: 402
Location: Eagle River, WI | Well, let me be the first to thank you for lending your free time and "monies" to make MN a top musky destination. And, for single-handedly making this a better for sport for everyone.
(Did you catch the sarcasm? Because I'm laying it on real thick.) |
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Location: minocqua, wi. | welldriller - 4/1/2010 10:05 PM
I think you need to rethink why you are in this sport. Your elitist, arrogant bashing of other people is giving all of us a black eye.
Sup Kettle?
Black |
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Posts: 402
Location: Eagle River, WI | touche' |
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Posts: 70
| great story, great picture
when i was in the early part of my musky yrs my friend and i boated pb's 20 min apart
these fish where 42 in, picture taken and displayed on the wall of fame
many much larger fish have seen my boat but are not on my wall of fame .
those two fish meant alot to us , changed us and put a swagger in our walk 
many more for you fella's and good on you
bob syrenne |
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Posts: 994
Location: Minnesota: where it's tough to be a sportsfan! | Countless times I have wittnessed the joys that came after 1. the anticipation, 2. The effort, 3. The lack of success. It doesn't matter sometimes the size of the fish as much as the success itself. I have a 10 year old that'll be back this summer to try it again! He's been waiting all winter for another go at it. He's had more drive-by finnings than I can count. This might be the year he puts one in the bag. The smell of Muskie, the joy of seeing her it the bag, and the look into the eye of the beast. I think I'm as excited about it as he is! Sometimes we want something so bad we delay it's coming.
Conversely, my wife, who could care less if she caught any fish let alone a Ski, sat down on the back deck and had a jig/reaper in the water as we fished down a weedline break. She reeled up and had the bait hanging there 4 feet down while she was engaged in watching the "important" stuff like a sparrow flying overhead. A 44" fish absolutely killed the reaper boatside....go figure it was her first time with a Muskie rod in her hands. |
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Posts: 158
| Chris H - 4/1/2010 8:05 PM
Nice story and I appreciate the enthusiasm, but I have to ask....
Is a three person posed out "photo shoot" with a 38" muskie really necessary? We really need to work on driving the delayed mortality rates of an estimated 5% down with every fish caught through proper and efficient handling of EVERY fish caught.
That very well could be the dumbest post I have ever seen on a forum. Get over yourself. |
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Posts: 188
Location: Downers Grove | GREAT STORY!
chris is the dad of a kid who catches his for muskie around 30'' un hooks it and lets it go while his kid is crying because he wanted a picture to show all his friends at school the next day. guess he cant
way to bring someone down from a great moment in there lives, Having a picture with more then just you Is a framer and that will be the one sitting dusty on a shelf in your house someday, guess you dont have any frames do ya?
2 more things
getting a double header with both fish under 38'' with a friend, we jsut slide them back in and don't take a pic to remember that?
HA...
that will last forever, and a PICTURE is nice
Edited by Briguy48 4/3/2010 8:04 PM
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Posts: 4266
| I always enjoy reading your stuff Sam. Ever submit anything for publication? |
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Location: SE Wisconsin | Thanks Beav. I was fortunate enough to have a page in MH's Musky Matters section on the Musky Swap and Operation Musky for this April/May issue. I've submitted a couple stories, but MH prefers How-To articles so I did, in fact, recently submit a How-To. . . We'll see. Thanks for the great compliments. |
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Posts: 1185
Location: Wishin I Was Fishin' | Great story, thanks for sharing.
It really is something how any sized fish can mean so much to us at just the right time. I've been there....a 34.5" skinny one did it for me last September on a week long trip. |
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Posts: 1767
Location: Lake Country, Wisconsin | Chris would you mind posting the appropriate lengths of fish that are acceptable to photograph? I occasionally take a photo of smaller fish in the early season, I was just wondering at what size length I am in the right....eagerly looking forward to your answer, and thank you in advance for "bettering" things for all of us! |
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