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| Another year of Musky Mission Complete’s main event is in the books! We were a little short-staffed this year due to a deployment and a family vacation, so this is more of a big end of event re-cap. All the staff and fishing guides arrived on Wednesday to get set up for the Vets’ arrival on the following day. During pre-fishing, volunteer Jesse Norling caught a nice 32” musky. Guide Jason Hansen also caught a low 30” musky. Guide Will Walkoviak surprised everyone with some delicious homemade pork burritos to get everyone ready for the big event. Big thanks to Jason Hansen for filling in for guide Gary Dew who has had a string of bad luck in the past couple weeks.
The Vets arrived in the early afternoon on Thursday. They received their room assignments and then everyone met outside for our opening ceremony. The vets were treated to some nice prizes and a little dockside fishing instruction. You can’t musky fish without knowing how to work a bait caster and do a good figure eight! Thanks for the great demo Nate! The weather was actually the best for fishing on this day, unfortunately it didn’t yield any fish. The Vets and guides came in for a nice hot meal and had time to bond with each other before hitting the bunks for the night.
Friday brought an unfortunate change in weather. After a decent morning, that famous Leech Lake wind decided to show up. This made for some challenging fishing for everyone. Vet Dan O’Meara scored with a nice 33-inch musky, and in the figure 8 no less. Well done Dan! Guide Jason Hansen caught a nice 41” musky. There were multiple nice musky follows, some nice pike caught and a big walleye. The Vets and guides came in for a great taco dinner and more camaraderie after a long day of fishing.
Saturday saw a little nicer weather return. Unfortunately, the tough fishing stayed with us. Multiple musky follows were experience and even a few hits. No hooks though… DARN! All the Vets were true warriors though and put everything they had into getting one of these magical beasts. After fishing, everyone returned to Grand Vu Lodge for real treat. Guides Shannon and Randy, once again, provided some panfish for an incredible fish fry. Following the dinner, closing ceremonies and awards were handed out. Guide Nate Reilley won the highly coveted “Guide Championship Cup”! Although the fish didn’t cooperate this year, our main mission was accomplished. This was to promote camaraderie and healing with our chosen Veterans through fishing and the outdoors.
A HUGE thank you to all our guides, volunteers and donators. We will send out a separate thank you letter to all contributors shortly. Please remember to pass on information about our organization to any Vet you know who would benefit from our mission. Applications for our 2022 event will be open on January 1st.
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