Posted 12/3/2008 3:51 PM (#347864) Subject: crying muskie guy
this was weird, but i was fishing in late august this yr and was fishing near this guy and noticed a few minutes earlier he released what looked like a nice fish. after releasing he was sitting there, i though he might have been injured, but motored over and he was crying, not bawling , but very teared up. i asked if he was alright, he could barely talk and started crying harder and said he just released his personal best and was so happy. it was a 51". i congratulated him and moved on... needless to say my parnter wasnt to considerate as he laughed pretty hard.. anyone else ever run into someone crying over a fish they caught???
Posted 12/3/2008 4:07 PM (#347866 - in reply to #347864) Subject: RE: crying muskie guy
Posts: 691
Location: nationwide
Nope . . . . . all my crying is over lost fish.
Corey Meyer
bn
Posted 12/3/2008 4:12 PM (#347868 - in reply to #347864) Subject: RE: crying muskie guy
he wasn't crying but after a buddy got a big one a week ago, his biggest of the 6 he's ever caught...he gave me a big ol man hug i'm not sure was needed.... ; )
Posted 12/3/2008 4:13 PM (#347870 - in reply to #347864) Subject: RE: crying muskie guy
Posts: 8782
I cried over a few I didn't catch!
Being serious for a moment, though...
It's a pretty big deal for a lot of guys, especially one over 50". Yeah, it sounds kind of silly cryin' over a fish, but some people fish for their whole lives and never break 50". You never know how hard that guy worked or how long he's been trying to get one like that. Or maybe the guy had lost a friend or a relative that loved muskie fishing. Couple weeks ago I ran into a guy on a bus who was crying because he got laid off that day. My first thought was "dude, its just a job, you can find another one."
I don't know though... Makin fun of a guy for crying sounds like a good way to get the crap kicked out of you by some dude who turns out to be tougher than you thought.
Posted 12/3/2008 4:22 PM (#347872 - in reply to #347870) Subject: RE: crying muskie guy
Posts: 550
Location: So. Illinois
When your livelyhood and security are on the line, its more than just a job. Too many people are just handing on as it is. A layoff can be devastating, even if it is only for just a short peroid of time....
League of Their Own
Posted 12/3/2008 4:52 PM (#347882 - in reply to #347864) Subject: RE: crying muskie guy
Posted 12/3/2008 7:53 PM (#347926 - in reply to #347864) Subject: RE: crying muskie guy
Posts: 477
Location: Iowa
I want to cry about some lost or missed fish. Usually pretty happy to release one, but that 57X33 that was caught, well, don't know what I would do there after watching it swim away. It might be dripping out the other end?? I'm told I need to show more emotion, but I've gotten pretty good at hiding it through the years, just seems easier sometimes.
Posted 12/3/2008 7:53 PM (#347927 - in reply to #347864) Subject: Re: crying muskie guy
Posts: 294
Location: Bloomer, Wi
I dont remember crying but was VERY, VERY, close when I got my 1st 50 which was also my 100th career musky, It was just such and accomplishment to me at the time I was overwhelmed to say the least.
Also have had to sit down after catching a musky that at the time was the fatest Id ever seen, it shook me up, my buddy teased me but later said he thought it was pretty cool to get that pumped about catching a fish.
Posted 12/3/2008 7:53 PM (#347928 - in reply to #347864) Subject: Re: crying muskie guy
Posts: 2687
Location: Hayward, WI
Call me a little girl, but I think that's kind of neat to be that emotional about a big, personal best fish. It happens to some guys when they shoot a giant deer they have been patterning forever, why can't it happen on a fish? I wasn't crying, but when my PB fish hit the net this year I was more excited than I thought I would be...
Like somebody else said, there may have been more behind the emotion than it being a big fish. Call me crazy, but I have some respect for that guy. He's obviously pretty into the whole part of the fishing sport.
Posted 12/3/2008 10:15 PM (#347953 - in reply to #347928) Subject: Re: crying muskie guy
Posts: 305
never seen crying...hopefully never will. one buddy consistently does a little "dance" that can best be described as similar to that done by the riddler on batman when a pig hits topwater near the boat...another buddy was just completely incoherent for 15 min after his PB. a third buddy had large pee stain in his pants after a 27#er blew my jackpot 3 ft out of H20 and then alligator rolled and ate it...all 10 ft from boat. herbie was guiding us last yr and said he still shakes after each fish. i guess thats a good thing...may we all do the same.
Posted 12/3/2008 10:36 PM (#347956 - in reply to #347953) Subject: Re: crying muskie guy
Posts: 4080
Location: Elko - Lake Vermilion
Come on you Sally's Pick up your Dress and move on !!!
Dudes,
Man rule #1, Never Cry over a Fricking Fish,............ Unless it is over 55" and you just blew it ..... Big Time..... Oh it Hurts so bad...... Waaaahhhh.Waaaahhh.
Posted 12/3/2008 11:25 PM (#347962 - in reply to #347864) Subject: Re: crying muskie guy
Posts: 1058
Location: Medford, WI
Haha Jerome, that was great!!! I was going to post something related to what you said but then I saw you had already done the job. I'm 100% sure I would never cry over catching a fish. Thankfully I haven't ever blown/missed a chance on a mid-50"er. Jerome probably saw me as emotional as I'll ever get after catching a fish, and that basically consisted of a bunch of yelling, high-fives, and I don't know what else!
Man Rule #1, Never Cry over a Fricking Fish - I love it!
Posted 12/3/2008 11:45 PM (#347966 - in reply to #347962) Subject: Re: crying muskie guy
Posts: 315
a lot of my most memorable fishing experiences have happened with my dad while on our annual canada trip together,
see i dont get to see my dad too often since he lives pretty far away, its mostly holidays and our fishing trips that bring us together. so when we are together it is a special time.
so when we get to spend some "quality dad and son" time together in a place like canada for a week the time is very special and i guess emotions can start to fly.
-ba-
btw -- ive never cried over a fish, almost did last year, but i think that they were the shakes cuz i was scared sh*tless over the size of the fish i lost = )
Posted 12/4/2008 7:07 AM (#347979 - in reply to #347864) Subject: RE: crying muskie guy
Posts: 2865
Location: Brookfield, WI
My Dad always said, "nothing wrong with a little honest emotion". Any of you tough guys ever read or seen the movie, Where the Red Fern Grows? Or how about "Beaches". I bet all you hard musky men secretly cuddle with your women, balling your eyes out during that gut wrencher starring Barbara Hershey and the incomparable Divine Miss M.
Seriously though, much like many people take 15 to 30 minutes each day for a little exercise, I like to take 10 or fifteen minutes each day to curl in a ball and sob quietly. For things that were, things that might of been, and frightening things to come. It's a coping mechanism I feel makes me a much better person.
I have no problem with a guy crying over a musky. Cry away I say.
Kevin
Plan?
Halfpint
Posted 12/4/2008 7:29 AM (#347986 - in reply to #347864) Subject: RE: crying muskie guy
He was probably crying because there was nobody with him to take a picture!!!!!
Rule #2: No mention of "Beaches" on muskie fishing boards. J/K :0)
Posted 12/4/2008 8:17 AM (#347991 - in reply to #347864) Subject: Re: crying muskie guy
Posts: 1080
This past season....I did get pretty worked up over one, specific, big fish. It was a mixed bag of emotions; surprise, disbelief, excitement, amazement, as well...after the fact....believe it or not...anger and frustration set in.
Why?
Here's the story:
I've been chasing these fish now for 26 years. I've worked really, really hard over those years chasing these fish. Well...over those years, my cousin and my uncle and I have gone on many, many, many trips up north to my uncles hunting/fishing cabin. He's taken us up to that cabin back before we were old enough drive. He'd do the driving, he'd do the cooking, yada, yada yada until we were old enough to finally start having him sit in the back seat and my cousin and I do all of the work. Those trips lasted all the way through my cousin and I's college years and a few years beyond college.
Well...over the past five years, both my cousin and I have found our soul mates and we've both settled down and married our soul mates and went on to have families. Kids have come in to the picture now for both of us and my uncles health has been on the decline due to too working too many mean jobs and it's now all been catching up with him. He's a tired man...more tired than he should be for his age. Throw in there the fact that both my cousin and I in the past five years have changed jobs and have even bought and/or built a house or two.
So...needlesstosay...my cousin and uncle and I haven't gotten together for our annual fishing trips these past five years due to "life," and all that goes with it, got in the way.
Finally...this past season, after things have slowed down a bit for my cousin and I, I brought up the notion that it's time for the guys to finally get back together for a fishing trip and re-kindle what we started and maintained for all those years and go have some fun.
Enter into the picture, a newbie: my cousin's father-in-law, Gary. Now...my cousin's father-in-law IS a genuine, great guy. I have no problems with him and I do enjoy his company and welcome him any time in my boat. But you see...Gary hasn't been there through all of the years and hasn't endured what my cousin and uncle and I have endured and gone through all those years on those trips. Any and all outdoorsmen know what kinds of things happen on hunting/fishing trips, traveling to and from, blown trailer tires, trailer lights not working, truck breaking down, boat motor not working, well water pump to the cabin blown, water lines in the cabin having burst from some other idiot that didn't blow the lines out the last time they used the cabin in the late Fall only for us to find them that following summer on our week-long fishing trip only to spend nearly the entire trip ripping down the ceiling in the cabin and pulling all cabinets and fixtures from the walls to replace all of the water lines, etc, etc, etc...that kind of stuff. We've been through a lot together, which has been great bonding time for the guys.
Well...obviously...this past season, gas prices went through the roof. Being my cousin and I have new families to provide and care for, a week long trip up to our cabin up north, where we've always gone for so many years, was just not financially feasible this year to be able to feed the fuel into the truck(s) and the boat(s) there and back and trailering to the two lakes we'd fish up there plus other expenses, food, etc. So...we "downsized" the trip this year and stayed closer to home and fished what I consider my "home waters" and stay in one of our familly's cottages this year instead. Not much of a break from the scenery for me...but..oh well. At least we were finally able to get us all back together this season after a five year hiatus.
This was to be my way of saying "Thank You" to my uncle, for all of those years and all of his hard work of taking my cousin and I to his cabin up north. I wanted this year to be my repayment to him and for me to do all of the hard work this year and for him to relax and enjoy himself.
Well...one night we were out fishing and with my uncle getting older and becoming much more tired than he's ever been and my cousin's father-in-law Gary, not being much of a fisherman at all....and after working our tails off all day out on the water not seeing much of anything that day, we sat down to relax and troll. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know a lot of guys despise the trolling. Big deal. In effort to keep these two guys in the game that night...this is what we decided to do, to give them a break and get them off of their feet and give their backs a rest...and...to hopefully put these two guys on a fish since my cousin and I had caught quite a few already that week.
I set the lines, everyone takes a seat, I sit down and put the boat into gear and we went no more than 50 feet...and there's a rip on one of the starboard lines. Being my cousin sat next to me in the boat's co-pilot seat on the port side, his dad, my uncle sat behind him in that back seat on the port side, so....that put my cousin's father-in-law, Gary, behind me on the starboard side.
I jumped up and grabbed that screaming rod and I set the hook and I FEEEEELT that fish on the other end of the line KNOWING it was a GOOOOOD fish....and in the heat of the moment and in all of the excitement, I wasn't thinking clearly, as everything was happening so fast, I just handed that rod with that big fish on the other end of it, off to Gary, my cousin's father-in-law.
At that time, that was fine, great and dandy. No problems. Gary enjoyed that fish and fought it into the net and we boated that fish, measured it, a few quick photos and off she went. Big fish for the water we were on at that time. A season best fish.
After that fish was gone and we finished all of our high fives and laughing and enjoying the moment and we've regained our breaths...we decided it was late and to end that night on a high note and head back to the cottage and have a seat out by the bon-fire and have a few celebration brews.
Well...as we were slowly motoring back across the lake, headed home for the night and those three kept talking of the big fish and the experience that just took place....I all of a sudden had that huge rush of emotion come over me of what those guys were just able to see and witness and be a part of. Something I have worked so hard for all these years...something I pride myself in. And it hit me like a ton of bricks:
Why did I not hand that rod and fish off to my uncle?!?!??!?!??!?!???!!
Talk about the ULTIMATE way to have been able to say "THANK YOU" for all of those years of taking us to his cabin up north and all that he had done for my cousin and I! That would have been an awesome way to repay him!
Now I was overwhelmed with guilt and anger and frustration as those kinds of moments and those big fish don't come very often on these waters that we were on that night. Instead...in the heat of the moment....I handed that fish off to my cousin's father-in-law who had not been there all those years and gone through all we had gone through and had not worked as hard as we all have worked towards these fish...instead...he just hopped in my boat, sat down for a ride and I handed him a huge fish within five minutes of effort? It just didn't seem "right" to me.
I was sooooo ticked off at myself. Hindsight being 20/20....it's always obvious what I should have done...but...it just didn't work out that way.
I held back my emotions in the boat on that ride back to the cottage, we docked the boat, went up to the cottage for the brews, several high fives took place, tunes were cranked up, and as those guys whipped up a quick meal before heading out for the bon-fire...I had to take a few minutes of "quiet time" down on the pier to reflect on what just took place and the thoughts of how I wish I had done just one simple thing differently to give back and say "Thank you" to someone that had given my cousin and I so much over the years.
Will I ever get another shot at something like this to finally give my uncle that ultimate repayment? Who knows? Life is too uncertain and with as busy as we all all are these days...an annual trip like this isn't something that is guaranteed each and every year anymore like it used to be several years back.
I was seriously kicking my own @ss that night and I really did come down hard on myself. Each and every time I look at the photos of that fish and I remember that night...I still get a bit worked up over it.
So...now...my goal is to at least try it again, as soon as I can, for my uncle. Will I put him on one as big, or bigger, than that fish that night this past season? I dunno. All I can do is try.
These fish...they do have a way of being pretty powerful over us at times.
I let my passion get in the way at times. I'm pretty passionate about this sport and these fish..and I just wanted to share that experience with them and to hopefully have said thanks in an awesome way to my uncle. Just didn't work out....
So. Yeah....I can see why that guy was crying after releasing his PB in the boat that day. Makes sense....
Posted 12/4/2008 8:27 AM (#347993 - in reply to #347864) Subject: Re: crying muskie guy
Posts: 2024
Came close on a trip to LOTW in 2003. We didn't know what we were doing back then. It was our first year out with the new boat and prior to that we'd just used rentals. Arrived on a Saturday and proceeded to catch one 32" the ENTIRE week (remember, this is LOTW...) while guys all around us were catching fish left and right, including some dandies. The following Saturday (it was a 2 week trip) we roll up onto a great rocky island and shoreline. Hadn't fished the shoreline yet, but my buddy said we should try it. Low and behold... launch my Lilly Tail towards shore, take a couple cranks, say something to my buddy and dad, feel something thump the lure, set the hook, look up and see this broad, red tail slap the surface. She never jumped. She never took drag. Just bulldawged around. My dad slides the net under her and I collapse on the front deck. My first "big" fish at 48 (prior big fish was 38 I think). I was in shock and on the verge of tears-of-joy. It's all on film. lol
Few days later I lost an even larger fish, but didn't cry... nearly put my hand through the CD player that was blaring 50 Cent's music. Yelled a curse word so loud guys on the back of the island heard it, came to the corner of the island and waited until we were gone then slid into the spot to fish it. Got back to the dock and they approached me and said, "Heard you lost a big one." To which I responded, "Really? I didn't tell anyone yet." "I know, we heard you F-bomb." Oops. lol! They were nice enough to give us a few spots, which actually produced pretty well for us this year up there.
Posted 12/4/2008 9:22 AM (#348000 - in reply to #347864) Subject: Re: crying muskie guy
Posts: 238
This year on Nov.14th i missed a easy 27 yard chip archery shoy at a heavy,wide ten point buck that will likely gross in the high 160s to mid 170s.
I had been after this buck now for three strait seasons and had become obsessed with him,passing up many other quality bucks in my quest for him.
Being very patient i never,that i known of,made i mistake on him.
Never set a bad wind and never comprimised anything.
The shot was missed high after the third time coming to full draw on this animal and on the 6th day off all day sits,not to mention countless hours spent in the tree in previous seasons and earlier this season.
All the stand preperations,20 some stands hung,trail cams,pre season survailence and scouting etc.you know what im gettin at.
At the miss i felt dejected and exhausted.Very upset with my self for my failure to execute the shot.I shrugged it off with an oh well ya win some ya lose some attitude.Its not the first big buck ive missed,likely wont be the last but just hurt real bad cause he was the biggest.
I liken it to going to game seven of the stanley cup only to loose in over time.
Later that night when the gravity of the whole situation set in,knowing it took me three long years to get the shot and i blew it,and also knowing full well that its very rare to ever get a second chance at a world class whitetail,heck first chances dont come easy,i can honestly say that tears welled up in my eyes,not sobing but i had to wipe the welling eyes.
I spent about a week in depression over this,im ok now but it did hurt bad.
Nothing stings more than letting yourself down when youve worked so hard for that one moment.
So i can see where the crying angler may have been overwhelmed with goy and pride of self accomplishment that it brought tears to his eyes.
Had i greased that buck that day i think i may have shed a few myself not just for the kill but also because the game of cat and mouse that i have come to love playing with this buck is now over.
Posted 12/4/2008 9:36 AM (#348004 - in reply to #347864) Subject: Re: crying muskie guy
Posts: 281
Location: ROckford IL
After catching 70+ muskies I still have not broke the 50" mark, i have been to Eagle, LOTW, Vermillion, Mile lacs, Cave run, and tons of other lakes in Villas county. I have seen many fish in the 50" range, some following my lures and some just passing by. I just cant seem to connect t with a fifty yet, I know that I need to pay my dues and one day it will happen, my personal best is a 47 that I got on the Madison chain while fishing with a close friend Jerry, one day I will break the 50 mark and when I do some tears might just fall from my face, its been a long hard road so far trying to catch one of those pigs, the experiences I had along the way are priceless, one day, one of those big fish will be on the end of my line.
Posted 12/4/2008 9:41 AM (#348007 - in reply to #347979) Subject: RE: crying muskie guy
Posts: 1168
MuskyHopeful - 12/4/2008 8:07 AM
Or how about "Beaches". I bet all you hard musky men secretly cuddle with your women, balling your eyes out during that gut wrencher starring Barbara Hershey and the incomparable Divine Miss M.
If you cried while watching Beaches due to emotion your man card needs to be revoked. You are allowed to cry while watching a movie like Beaches or the Notebook if it is a blatant attempt at getting sex. Consider me guilty and unashamed that I would do such a thing.
Posted 12/4/2008 11:55 AM (#348036 - in reply to #347864) Subject: Re: crying muskie guy
Posts: 2687
Location: Hayward, WI
Great story MACK. It's obvious you're pretty passionate about the sport as well as your family. Did you ever talk to your uncle about what happened that night?
Posted 12/4/2008 12:58 PM (#348047 - in reply to #348036) Subject: Re: crying muskie guy
Posts: 1080
curleytail - 12/4/2008 11:55 AM
Great story MACK. It's obvious you're pretty passionate about the sport as well as your family. Did you ever talk to your uncle about what happened that night?
Good luck with getting him a dandy next year.
curleytail
Sure did.
He understood and knew the circumstances when it was all happening and how chaotic things can get.
I have no doubt in my mind I'll put him on a fish next season...but....man...to get him on one of the caliber we hooked into and boated that night? I really doubt it...those fish don't come easily and they're few and far between.
I really should have had the forethought and presence of mind to hand THAT fish off to him. That'll be an opportunity that may never materialize again.
Oh well. What's done...is done.
Lots of fish out there for him to tangle with for sure.....but that one would have been the cream of the crop to offer to him for me to offer my gratitude and say "thanks."
We did get him into another fish the next night, but being my uncle is a bit "rusty" behind the reel, since it's been so long for him...that fish threw the hooks. Felt like another decent fish...just not what the fish from the night before was...
Edited by MACK 12/4/2008 12:59 PM
Cast
Posted 12/5/2008 9:06 AM (#348195 - in reply to #347864) Subject: RE: crying muskie guy
Perhaps this angler just went through a lot of hell in learning the skills of a musky fisher. Many days without a hit. (Been there.) Hooked fish throwing the lure. (Been there.) Expensive lures lost on snags. (Been there.) Soaked to the skin by summer cloudbursts. (Been there.) Shivering in spring chill. (Been there.) Scared by wind-driven waves. (Been there.) And on and on.
And then, finally, the big fish strikes; is skillfully handled; and brought into the boat. Joy. Emotions are up. Tears come to the eyes.
I've never cried, but I've sat stunned and numb after having the biggest fish I've had on line break my knot at boatside and swim away.
Posted 12/5/2008 10:35 AM (#348215 - in reply to #347864) Subject: Re: crying muskie guy
Posts: 16632
Location: The desert
One of the few things that can bring tears to my eyes.....is definately not catching a fish. Sure its exciting, but crying over it? Come on. The one thing that can get to me is a tribute to veterans, thats about the only thing I can think of that can really make me emotional. An example, at the last Packer game I was at they did a big ceremony remembering Oneida Nation vets and vets in general, and also had the pledge or oath taken by new recruits. Pretty impressive little halftime ceremony.
Posted 12/5/2008 11:49 AM (#348230 - in reply to #347864) Subject: Re: crying muskie guy
Posts: 413
Location: Madison WI
I have never cried over a fish, I will note that I was pretty overwhelmed after I caught my PB this year and took some time to allow it to sink in before I got back to fishing. The only other time that I was even remotely close to crying was on the 13th muskie I caught this year which didn't survive at all but by law I had to put the fish back in the lake because it was too small. I was really mad at first but later decided that this is the chance we take everytime we throw a lure.
Posted 12/5/2008 12:10 PM (#348233 - in reply to #348230) Subject: Re: crying muskie guy
Posts: 1767
Location: Lake Country, Wisconsin
Yeah I really don't get the crying thing either....If it gets that emotional for you maybe you are in the wrong sport, the bottom line is that fishing IS supposed to be fun, not a source of years of frustration
Posted 12/5/2008 5:30 PM (#348279 - in reply to #347864) Subject: RE: crying muskie guy
Posts: 556
Had to fight back the tears this May when I lost the largest Musky I had ever hooked. Unfortunately for me I hooked him while walleye fishing-spinning rod- 6 lb test. Got the opportunity to play hin for a good 10 minutes and had him up on the surface about 15 ft from the boat but no way to get him to the Net. He just went where he wanted to go and I was just holding on and hoping somehow I could get at least 1 shot with the net. No Dice--after a few more runs he burried into some thick green cabage( which had been loaded with walleye) and pulled the jig out. I could see it was hooked in the soft part on the corner of the mouth--Probably caught it on a cabage stalk and off it came. Would have been my PB( which is 45") and was Very Large. At least I now know that this smaller ( 150 acre) lake holds some nice fish and I have a lake to put forth a little more effort on. Have caught fish out there up to 44 and have heard of a few larger than that so I will hit it hard next year.
Posted 12/5/2008 5:39 PM (#348282 - in reply to #348233) Subject: Re: crying muskie guy
Posts: 2687
Location: Hayward, WI
Musky Brian - 12/5/2008 12:10 PM
Yeah I really don't get the crying thing either....If it gets that emotional for you maybe you are in the wrong sport, the bottom line is that fishing IS supposed to be fun, not a source of years of frustration
I'm really not trying to be overly sensitive in this post, but I'm guessing this guy's tears were from joy or just plain emotion rather than frusteration. All people respond to things in different ways, and I'm not one to decide how different people should respond. I probably won't ever cry over a fish either, but I'm also not going to tell somebody else they can't.
curleytail
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