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Posts: 51
| Thanks guys!! It was great to have Team Iowa and the UGP Chapter back on the leaderboard again this year. Muskies haven't until recent years been very easy to come by down here so we've had to learn to work hard to get them. I'd first like to thank Paul and Kristi Hartman for another well run show. They always do a heck of a job and make everyone feel welcome.
Mike and I caught "our" fish in the big part of the lake. We stopped way south of a rock pile to slowly/quietly drift up onto it and caught the 50 1/2"er on the sand well short of the rocks after just a couple casts. Mike did a great job fighting the fish, and we netted it on the 2n'd or 3rd pass by the boat. The judge boat was called and was there very quickly. I believe the fish was better cared for because it was caught in a tournament. We laid out the procedure before removing the fish from the water and brought her aboard cradled in the net horizontally, then laid her on the measuring board, pegged the board at the tail, Mike then cradled the fish, held her horizontally for a couple quick pictures and she was right back in the water. The fish was never grabbed by the gillplate/jaw and pulled vertically from the net, before being held horizontally for the pictures. If we had been fishing on our own and not in a hurry to get her measured and released as soon as possible so that we could get back to fishing we would have had a more lengthy photo shoot for Mike's personal best musky. We actually spent way more time holding the fish by the boat and making sure she had enough strength to swim off on her own than we did with the entire measuring process. Jamie and the other judges are to be commended for thier work to get the fish handled properly. Luckily one of the photo's turned out well and he can get a replica made some day if he chooses to.
As far as Beaver's question about the Cedar bar, yes I heard there was some big fish going in that area and at least one of the top fish came from that area of the lake. We didn't have the radio on the entire time but heard that several fish were caught from the NW part of the lake also. I don't think there was any real hot spot, just a few fish caught all over the lake. It was a tough bite , evident when some very good teams that caught fish on day one were not able to double up. Most teams reported that they saw way fewer fish on Sunday.
Mike's 50 1/2"er is the bottom picture.
See you all next year!
-Clay Fletcher
Edited by MUSKEEZ 10/1/2004 8:49 AM
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