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| While conducting an interview with Roger Sabota from Musky Hunter yesterday at the show, we talked about the 70's, and how we began our 'muskie career'. It was fun remembering the competition of the day, and talking about where the sport has gone from there.
The question:
How did you get drawn into the sport? |
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| As a little kid growing up in Palmyra, N.Y. I remember walking by a magazine rack with a Musky Hunter issue for sale. (Now i get the Musky Hunter at my house and look at other big things on magazine covers at the store).It was the size of the fish that caught my attention, dreamed of catching something that was that big. I didn't grow up in a "fishing family" and only had access to farm ponds so bass was all i knew. I never pursued my obsession until I moved to Wis. 8 years ago, now its more like a "MAJOR ADDICTION", gotten much worse the last couple of years. I hope to be able to fish muskies sometime back in Western N.Y. when visiting relatives, there are some great waters there.
p.s. still dreaming of catching something that big [:bigsmile:] [:bigsmile: |
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| While I was growing up, all my father fished for were walleyes. We'd go "Up North" every year for vacation and occasionally we'd see a muskie or see somebody catch a muskie, but our family never bothered with them.
Then when I got older and was allowed to take a boat out on my own....mainly to get out of moms and dads eyesight so I could have a smoke and sneak a beer....I had a couple of chance encounters with muskies. Either they followed hooked fish or followed in smaller lures.
Well, the next year when we went up, I brought along a 6' stiff as a board rod, a Mepps and a Radke Pikie Minnow...... If they were there, I was gonna fish for 'em.
It's been an addiction ever since the first time that I caught one on purpose.
Beav |
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| Well watching simply fishing is what got me interested, but the thing that really got me started was catching a tiger musky by accident while bass fishing one day. |
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| Me Grandad used to fish them yrs ago but I was too busy "Woodstocking" it to be serious....Dad used to gar fish in Louisiana when I was little + that was the closest thing to a ski I had seen....yrs later I'd hook into a big one, lose it + go on....after catching a few miniature ones I decided a couple of yrs ago I'd concentrate on them + now have the fever...[:sun:] |
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| Just by accident- Grew up fishing for pike & watever else, in central WI & on Mississippi by LaCrosse. (My Dad was from Jump River, Vet's Post in Jump River is named after my Grandpa's brother "Hugh Warner") + Grandpa had place on Holcombe Flowage up until I was about 11. But I & my brother never fished for Muskies there (Bullheads- big ones). But I heard stories about big Muskies from Dad, Grandpa & Uncle's while growing up. Like fishing for them w/ live red squirrels in custom floating harness- main problem was they kept swimming back to shore & you needed real heavy leather gloves to get them rigged. Also shooting Muskies with a 12 gauge w/ 00 buck in the rapids on the "Jump". One kid would dive into the pool & the other's would shoot the fish when it they came out. (This was during the depression.)
Never thought about Muskie's much until winter of 1995, a friend at work asked me if I'd be interested in a Canadian Fly-In in. He & 4 others were going into a lake with Smallies/Lakers/Muskies and had room for one more. Having always wanted to go to Canada fishing I said why not. That was 1996- Threw my Pike gear in the truck & stocked up with some Husky Jerks in Superior Gander Mountain on the way up. Caught two fish that trip (4 days) 38" & 50" twitching a metalic green Husky Jerk. I was the only one out of six guys that actually was trying to catch the Muskies. Eveyone else hated Muskies! So I fished alone for most of the trip. The funny part is the Smallies were right there w/ the Muskies! So I was catching a nice bonus Smallie now & then. I saw a lot of Muskies, including a trout lake supertanker that made the 50 look small - Now I know why Louie Spray and the old timers used a gun to dispatch the big Muskies before they brought them into the boat. I've been hooked since. [:p]
Al Warner
www.wheresyourspongeboblookalikephotosonMF.com[:devil:] |
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| Kinda like GregM, the seed was planted long ago when I read a story in "Boys Life" (yes, I was a cub scout) magazine about a huge fish being caught by a kid and his grandpa on the St. Lawrence. The story had it all...row trolling a Grandma in a snow storm, cold winds howling, working the leviathan's lair, freezing hands and feet, cold sandwiches, the day almost over when BANG! FISH ON!
After reading that story, I was so excited about Muskies that I went into Dad's tackle box, got out the biggest crankbait that he had (L&S Bassmaster) and threw that thing while the rest of the family dunked bobbers along the Madison lakes shorelines. Never did catch one and the rest of the family was into panfish and bass so the proper opportunity never presented itself.
Flash forward years later in my early 20's....me and a buddy decided we were going to try this Muskie thing so I bought a #5 Mepps and few others and headed to Bone Lake, fueled by the thoughts of that big monster in the story I read as a kid. It was this trip where I set hooks into my first. The rest is history.
Jono
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| From watching the in-fisherman on tv. Always thought that would be great to catch a muskie, didn't know they were around here. So I saved my money and went to canada, caught my first there, the rest is all history. |
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| I can't believe how long ago, but it was all my dad's co-worker's fault. They got talking about fishing and decided it would fun to take their sons on a fishing vacation. He use to fish muskies when he was a teenager around Booth Lake Wi., so we went. I was around 13 (I am not going to say how long ago) and we kept it going for the next four years. We use to have a bet a dollar a piece for the first fish 30 inches or longer and the biggest fish. For the first three years I would always catch the first fish but it would always be 28 to 29 1/2 inches no matter how I would stretch that fish and they would always love taking my dollar, because they knew I would be ******** off. Finally, the fourth year I got my first legal and it was the first fish of the trip and can you believe it they gave me a hassle about giving me the money (that is a story for another time). It's funny it took me the longest time to get my first legal out of the group, and I am the one most affected with the fever and still going after them. Al[:praise:] |
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| I saw a muskie and thre everything I could at it...finally it took my leech and It was right in front of the shore, but then it snapped my 8 lb test trilene. It was so exciting and I knew I had to catch one of those fish, but I caught 4 in my first year...went all the way from starting fishing w/ a zebco spincast reel to having 3 muskie setup w/ abu reels and from a few panfish jigs to 60 muskie baits all this year. I think maybe i'm addicted? |
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| I was taking a pontoon boat ride on my local Maryland lake & found out that they had stocked Tigers in the lake and remembered a local fellow that had fished for Muskies in Northern Va. I remember him saying that he used large crankbaits and trolled them. NOBODY fished for them or knew how to catch one on purpose!!!! I had been a Bass fisherman since the early 70s (I am 57 yrs. old) and decided that I would catch one on purpose. I bought a boat, lots of gear, lures, you know - too damn much. Anyway, I started trolling for them using planers and propwash lure and got one, finally after about three months. Then I got four in the next two weeks. I was hooked. I even got an 8 1/2 pound bass trolling for them!!! However, I am now a FORMER Bass fisherman. I've got the fever. |
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| First time was in Oct. '94. I was working at Ed Shirley Sports in Chicagoland and won a spiff contest sponsored by St. Croix. The prize was to come up to Park Falls, stay at one of the cabins for around a week, use of a boat and motor, tour the factory and try out the Legend Musky Rods that were being tested.
Met up with local guides Joe Brezinski and Frank Cella and hired Frank for 3 days. The first days within the first 50 casts, had my first one on which only went 31", but right then and there created the monster which hasn't let up at all.[:devil:]
Rob
www.indecisionnowayfishfishfish.com[:praise:] |
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| I am ashamed to say that at one time all I fished were walleye and bass. When the Indians started spearing real heavy in the late eighties the walleye fishing dropped off substantially. It was then that I made the decision that if i was going to have to fish hard to catch them I may as well fish for the biggest, baddest hombres in the lake. That may be the worst decision I ever made. Many years later and my addiction still runs rampant.
Norm Wild |
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| I'm not into it yet. I'm just building up info. and equpment
so when I get more time I can get into it. [:bigsmile:] |
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| I can blame it all on the "family fish", the fish that at 46" looked monstorous hanging on the wall, or laying on its side in storage, the fish that my grandfather caught on a crappie with a cane pole back in 1951. I loved fishing for whatever when I was a little tyke, from panfish to suckers to snapping turtles....but when I was big enough (about 8 maybe) my dad relented and took me up to Big Lake in Vilas County. Took alot of years to get the hang of it, not that I'm too frickin good now, but I think when I got back from school, and had the wherewithall and the truck to take the boat whenever and wherever, thats when I really got bitten by the bug, or addicted by the drug, whichever way you want to see it.
Slamr |
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| My muskie fishing sickness started sometime in the mid 70's. My dad took me to Lake Winter in NW Wisconsin when I was a teenager to fish for muskies for the first time. He gave me a Marathon Musky Monk (shaving brush to you old timers) to use. I think I was given that bait because it floated if I backlashed and he wasn't worried if I lost it. The Musky Monk was a poor hooking bait but sometime that first day I happened to hook and land my first muskie. Only 35" long but I think dad was more proud of that fish than any he ever caught. That was many years, many backlashes and many fish ago but still ranks as one of my proudest moments.
Fred J |
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| Schuler, you are toast, you are now hooked line sinker and all to musky fishing. No cure, only occasional relief once in awhile. Addicted to musky fishing,and proud of it, Al[:bigsmile:] |
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| Caught my first one in 1955 while on a family vacation, and other than a 9 year hiatus living in the S.W. part of our country and being forced to bass fish, I've been hooked. |
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| My Dad and Uncle went out on the Chip Flowage with Ty Sennett and he was actually guiding them for bass. They were fishing right over by Herman's Landing when my uncle said he saw a monster fish swim by. My Dad and Uncle made several casts at it, then Ty cast on the other side of the boat with a bass sized spinnerbait and it hit. It was 46" and a beautiful fish. The next day my Dad woke me up and said, "were gonna start to musky fish". I thought he was crazy, but I'm sure glad he did it.
BrettC |
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| When I was living in Madison, WI going to college I bought a boat and wanted to get back to my fishing roots. I was raised fishing the Madison Chain and all the great pan fishing and walleye fishing that I had enjoyed as a kid were gone, but there was talk of the hybrids that had been planted and there was some great bass fishing to be had as well. I decided to make the switch from my "meat eater" days to sport fishing. The hybrids got me hooked right away. After I had the bug bad and was out of school, I knew I had to find a way to move North. I was fortunate to relocate with the job I had at the time and the rest is history.....so to speak.
By the way.......great question Steve. It made me think of some times long sense past. Thanks! |
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| My first muskie came on French lake in MN, 36" and I was hooked for life. I was an avid walleye angler and spent almost every weekend on area lakes and the Miss below Red Wing and fished Lake City alot.
Walleyes were easy, but when I found something that I could hunt...the addiction started.
Funny thing is, after countless hours on the water and many many fish.. I still love to catch a 36". Thats muskie fishing, I live it and I learn it. |
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| steve just went through all the posts,really got me thinking. I think that i got hooked about 30years ago when i was only 10 and used to walk the shore line on pewaukee lake from our cottage. we would stay there all summer and the first person up would grab a rod and cast our way down the shoreline looking for bass mostly. this day i got up before my brothers and snuck out first. I cought and released a couple bass when the monster showed up, this fish would not take my rapala, i tried for days to catch that fish. then it happened i actually cought the monster fish. I ran home and got my brothers up,showed mom and called dad. dad came home took pictures and we ate that fish that night. that was the first and only musky to be killed by me to date. living on pewaukee lake every summer let me fish for these monsters all my summer vacation. now i look back and see just how lucky i was. now the addiction is stronger than ever. Last year i fished the pmtt and finished 17 over all. what next only time will tell. the memories are just flowing. thanks for the thought steve. |
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| Started when I was 15.I was fishing with a friend in Vilas County on a weekend get away. We where throwing little spinners. Wasn't even fishing for Muskie. Got a boat side and its been history ever since that day, Started making bucktails a couple years after that, now I've been both for many moons. |
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| I really developed this chronic state of sickness about 12 years ago after hearing tales of 50" inch fish caught by my uncle and then seeing pictures of these monsters. I was an avid walleye and bass fisherman upto this time and I really got interested when my little cousin had her foot chomped by a huge muskie while dangling it over the water off of a dock up north, I think it was on Big St. Germain, it even made the papers. I wanted to catch a beast like that, almost like a lion of the water. It's been all down hill from there.
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| I really developed this chronic state of sickness about 12 years ago after hearing tales of 50" inch fish caught by my uncle and then seeing pictures of these monsters. I was an avid walleye and bass fisherman upto this time and I really got interested when my little cousin had her foot chomped by a huge muskie while dangling it over the water off of a dock up north, I think it was on Big St. Germain, it even made the papers. I wanted to catch a beast like that, almost like a lion of the water. It's been all down hill from there.
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| I had previously tangled with a few nice ones while bait (eyes and bass or whatever would bite a minnow ) fishing but the tought never crossed my mind to actualy fish exclusively for them as I had never seen anyone fish for them. That was untill we had a member of Muskies Canada come and do a seminar at a fishing club I belongned too, man those big lures are what got my atttention and after attending a few Muskies Canada meetings I started to catch them myself quite easily and after my first year ending it with a 45 incher I was hooked and all the bass gear was sold before the next season. It's been 8 years and over 400 muskies with 10% of them 50+, I will never look back.[:sun:] |
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| It started out while I was walleye fishing in northern WI. I saw a Musky chases a baitfish in the reeds, and figured why not cast at him since my dad had a muaky rod in the boat. I through on a Mepps bucktail and threw 1 cast in the direction of the fish. The fish followed the lure to the boat so I started the figure 8. Low and behold I caught my first musky on the figure 8. I have been hooked ever since.[:p] |
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| The musky mystique was passed down through generations of my family tree. Grandpa was a fishing fool... but mostly for panfish and big pike. Spending summers on Grandpa's Farm as a very young boy taught me the spirit of fishing. I could catch bluegills off the dock from sunrise to sunset, even at the age of 5, without getting bored.
What got me hooked on muskies was after my Dad bought a cabin on a class A muskie lake that happened to also be a REALLY good bass lake. After losing my prized collection of rapalas to muskie biteoffs.... I got smart and began using a wire leader. That resulted in several musky catches.... which also started a lifetime of insanely obsessive behavior.
With my own boat, a 12 foot rowboat, at the age of 7 and a family feud going on at home... I found refuge in fishing alone away from the mayham. I caught lots of muskies on my own and released them before my parents even knew. I only began bringing them home (killing them) out of spite to PROVE that I was not lying about by success.
When I became a teenager and realized that all the 35 inchers I was catching were not the giants I thought they were..... I became really obsessed. The idea of catching a fish bigger than me consumed me. Problem was, as I began catching bigger fish.... I was also growing too.
Anyway, that is how I got started. Thanks Steve Worrall for starting this post so we can all reflect back on "good times". |
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| My grandparents used to stay at Venn's Resort on Upper Post Lake in Langlade Cty. Wi.I remember going into Johnson's Sunset View with grandpa and seeing these toothy critters and all the people going oooh and aaaaah.I had to catch one.My dad was also hooked.In Sept. of 1977 it happened.I caught my first legal which was 31" and was promptly released.I was fig.8ing a 7" perch Suick with a 5'3" Fenwick Lunkerstick,cardinal4 with 12lb. stren.My how times have changed.Funny that every time we went to Elcho ,I was hoping to catch a glimpse of this musky guide that lived in town.Guess who that was!That winter Dad set me up with real musky gear,a 5'6" Heddon Pal musky rod and a red 5000.Now I was dangerous!!!Spring rolls around and we head up to open the cabin my grandparents bought across the lake.After raking for hours,we decide to go to the Pelican Lake store for an ice cream cone.I see this big sucker colored Teddie Bait and must have it.After begging and pleading,grandpa buys it for me.I'm 10 at the time and already afflicted!We get home and the bait must get wet.While casting off a neighbor's dock I hook a good fish.I'm by myself screaming for help,but nobody hears me.The fish is at the end of the dock thrashing ,when all of a sudden the rear hook pulls out of the bait which proceeds to fly up and hit me square between the eyes!Dazed and confused,I stumble home with my first fish story.Sad but true.Thanks for giving me the opportunity to relive this episode. Steve[:0] |
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| Keep them coming!! This will be edited and added to the articles section. Great stuff.. |
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