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| Me and my buddy were out fishing last week and we started talking about our biggest heartbreaks that had to do with musky fishing. Tell your stories!
Mine I was out fishing for the first time last year and took two friends out that never fished before. So I bought a huge frabil net. Because I was sure they couldn't use the cradle I used to have. So I hook into a fish that was around 40-42 and when he went to net it he didn't make sure the yolk was locked into place and when he went to scoop it into the net it collapsed and hit the lure out of the fish's' mouth. Man I was peeed. I still let him hear that till this day and he hasn't been fishing since. |
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Posts: 293
| Pounds or inches? |
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| Inches. Knock on wood I've never lost a fish on the side of the boat. So it sucked. |
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Posts: 152
| Today... when i had to leave the water to go to work. |
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Posts: 1901
Location: MN | Watching my kid lose 3 giants over 3 years, the biggest being in that 56" class. Hooked them out on the cast and played them well, but it weren't meant to be. The biggest one he sat down and was nearly in tears. I convinced him to get back in the saddle after about half an hour and on the second cast a mere 4 footer hit in the 8 and came unpinned after 10 seconds. He said that's it for tonight. |
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Posts: 388
Location: Northern Illinois | I can't imagine a muskie fisherman without a heartbreaking story. We're like country and western songs in that regard. |
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| biggest heart break while musky fishing was a follow by a MONSTER PIKE. a pike that still haunts me to this day. my bigger pike boated is a 45" and biggest musky is 51" and the pike i seen was much bigger or scary big as i say. it swam along my boat no more then 6" under water then slowly turned and went into deeper water. i had a very good look at it for some time. 7 years have passed and i still dream of that fish. |
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Posts: 410
Location: Wakefield, MI | I watched the fish of a lifetime come up from below, take a swipe at my Giant Jackpot, set the hook and nothing there, pulled the lure out of her mouth. Off she went. High 30's maybe 40 pound fish. |
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Posts: 151
Location: IL | I was out fishing the Fox Chain a couple months ago with my brother. It was a warm rainy morning, about 20 minutes in I hook a mid 30's on a top raider. Fight the fish to the boat then "Bink" she comes unpined. Long hartbreak short.. I ended up hooking,fighting and loseing 3 more fish (all on the top raider) in the upper 30's in a 2-3hour period..Oh And had one blow up and never get hooks. |
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| I dropped a 10K fish back into the water during a tournament. BR |
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Posts: 304
Location: Lino Lakes, MN | Biggest heartbreak?
Must have been late October 1996 on Vermilion- First true 50+ fish I had encounterd on the lake.
Fishin a small community spot near my place I had a small follow on a little Rapala super shad- found it washed up on the beach 30 minutes earlier. No sharp hooks, crappy silver hooks,- fish hits 20 feet from the boat and rises up broadside just under the calm surface- I remember details very clear to this day- Massive head shakes- gills flared and mouth wide open with my bait stuck to the side of her face- no hooks in the jaw or mouth. buddy screaming "its enormous" spelling????
I hit freespool and let her run- with light pressure she started to tire- she turned back towards the boat and I got overzealous- she came a ways towards the boat and then put on the brakes. I felt the headshake and then nothing--- My knees buckled, stomach tighened up and I almost puked.
Funny thing trolling 20 minuets later friend gets hung up and I stand up and I have a flashback and my knees buckled again. I am guessing 52.5 with a nice girth
Good Luck
Steve |
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Posts: 16632
Location: The desert | My buddy launching my musky snax bait to the bottom of Mud Bay on Pelican. |
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| Losing a low 40s fish is a heartbreak....c'mon man. No wonder the guy doesn't want to fish if you still go off about it.
BenR that is funny. If you were my partner you would have swam back to the launch. Only a Sally would drop a fish in a tournament. I don't care what that fish is doing, you hang onto it. Maybe Homer can show you how to hang onto a fish.
My two rubles |
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Posts: 8782
| I have lost 8 fish that were close to or over 50"
First one was completely my fault - she ate as I came around the outside of my first oval, arms outstreched, fish caught up to the bait and ate it. All I would have had to do was set the hook. Since I was pulling lure lure forward, and didn't feel anything I just kept going, took the lure right out of her mouth. I couldn't see because of the glare, so it wouldn't be so bad except that they guy in the back of the boat saw the whole thing and yelled "you got her!". That means set the hook you dumb nice try.
#2 came up on a Shumway flasher. Nipped at the bait. As she swam by I could see feathers and tinsel hanging out of her yap. Never got hooks. Nothing I could have done there.
#3 ate out on a cast on a sunny day in 2 feet of water. I set the hook hard enough to turn her sideways, so we all got a good look at her. Came up empty. Hooks were sharp. What are you gonna do?
#4 just nipped at the back of the bait right in front of me. Set the hook. Had the fish on for half a second. Spent the night back at the cabin cutting the hair off the back of all my double 10's. Should have learned that lesson on #2.
#5 was a fish we estimated to be about 54". Had her up 13 different times over several days. Closest I was able to come was her swimming behind a Weagle, bumping it with her mouth closed. For most of a cast. On the last day of the trip, she came roaring in hot. As I went into my first turn we heard this *CLUNK*... felt it in my feet. Not sure if she missed the bait and whacked into the trolling motor, or of she actually tried to eat the trolling motor, but that was it for that fish. Moatsy got a 54" off that spot a few days later. Same fish? Who knows.
#6 was not entirely my fault. This was a jumbo. Wide as my boots. Biggest fish I have ever seen, comin to eat. Charged the bait going into the first turn. Holy crap, she's gonna eat. When Samantha saw the fish in front or her she yelled and pointed at it and started jumping up and down. Literally jumping up and down. I never knew muskies could swim that fast. Nothing left but a cloud of poop in the water. I never thought to tell her that it IS possible to scare the fish away. Biggest fish I have seen on Eagle in 6 years of fishing it. I can't blame her, she didn't know.
#7 ate about 30 feet out. Gave her the berries. #*^@ fish swam right at me shaking her head the whole way. Despite my best efforts at trying to reel like an idiot, I was never able to catch up to her. Lesson: Low gear ratio reels do have drawbacks. We got a good look at her about 1/2 hour later when she rolled on a dawg. Might not have been 50, but it was one of the fattest fish I've ever seen. And tall.
Which brings me to #8... West Arm fish. Came up a few times. We figured 49-51. Ate right underneath me, made a good run. Fought her all the way back to the boat. And the #*^@ fish just laid there, facing away from me, just far enough away to be out of reach with the net. Without being able to see where she was hooked I figured it would be best not to horse the fish, and just try to turn her slowly so we could get a net in front of her. She had just enough left to make one more run, which was enough.
You can't keep 'em all pinned. I deserved to lose the ones I f-ed up. But #6 haunts me, and will until I see a bigger one. |
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Posts: 8782
| BenR - 10/24/2012 10:14 PM
I dropped a 10K fish back into the water during a tournament. BR
We have a winner.... Or should I say loser? None of the fish I lost have ever kept me awake at night, but that sure would!
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Posts: 366
| Thanks a lot for posting a thread like this and making me think about both of them again. Yep, great memories.
Ryan
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Posts: 720
| I can't even talk about it. Let just say The Larry in November with a poor net man. Nothing like getting your butt kicked by a 45 year old asmatic orthodontist with a severe case of gout. And one very large fish.
Edited by Hunter4 10/25/2012 12:31 AM
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| Really - 10/24/2012 10:54 PM
Losing a low 40s fish is a heartbreak....c'mon man. No wonder the guy doesn't want to fish if you still go off about it.
BenR that is funny. If you were my partner you would have swam back to the launch. Only a Sally would drop a fish in a tournament. I don't care what that fish is doing, you hang onto it. Maybe Homer can show you how
My two rubles[/QUOT
Well thanks for your sarcastic comment d-bag. First of I fish highly pressured water and second I only get out once a month if that so ill take anyone I get. And third its joking around with him, he's one.of my best friends. But your a-holeishness is noted.
Edited by toothycritter88 10/25/2012 5:30 AM
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Posts: 1220
| I still get angry over this...but I have learned! My beloved Pewaukee Lake is great water, often a big numbers lake, but when the truth is told...there are 2-4 legit 50's out of there per entire year and that's it. My heartbreak came on a day when NOBODY and I mean NOBODY was catching a fish. Like a lot of my bassin buddies do when that happens, I downsized. Very small 20 lb floro leader and 20 lb floro to single treble on sucker. Then it happened! A savage strike by a giant that was clearly visible well over 50 now totally still in the water in perfect positon for a homerun of a hookset. I took a big swing at her, felt the weight of a fish of a lifetime for Pewaukee, and then the snap on the leader broke cleanly off and almost hit me in the eye. I know the fish was 53 because she was taken the next day in the same spot and verified at Smokey's. I kept the busted snap on my desk for an entire year and cussed at it every morning when I came to work. The good news is that I know that fish was properly released and I will not make the same mistake again! |
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| Hey Martys , What' yer biggest at Pewaukee compared to personal best ? |
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Posts: 1360
Location: Lake "y" cause lake"x" got over fished | Last year on opener I was on a Metro MN lake. Had my brother with and we were going to go to one of my favorite spots.
Get the boat ready and start driving. About 700 Yrds from the spot my motor started smoking a ridiculous amount of white and black smoke. About 200 yrds from the spot the motor completely died and sit dead in the water. Tried everything I could think of to get her started... And nothing. Put the trolling motor in and nothing.. Asked my brother what happened (he took the boat a few days earlier to fish crappie with some of his buddies) He told me, My bad, I forgot to charge the battery. (my old boat would not let it hold a charge). OK, so assessment, dead boat, dead battery.. Yet still on the water. Can still be a good day RIGHT???
At this point I was determined to get to my spot. There were some normal to medium winds i'd say about 15mph or so. I took one paddle and gave my brother the other we started rowing. called one of my buddies to come and tow me off the lake. Said that he would but it was going to be a few hours before he was there, as he was at work. ...OK, no worries I am just going to fish and try to stay calm... After about 45 minutes of rowing we get to the spot and I drop anchor (no trolling motor, no big motor) I put on my lucky bull dawg(first musky lure I ever bought), and start casting. As I was casting I was pretty upset and trying to stay calm, but it wasn't really working. After a short period of casting I completely stopped doing a figure 8.
Still casting and I am starting to get inside of my own head, now I am cussing out loud almost every few seconds or so, Bring the dawg to the boat on a straight retrieve (peed as all heck) and stop the lure (no figure 8) right next to the boat... I look down and sitting there, looking at my lure is the Largest Tiger I have ever seen. Tried to go into the 8 and she swam away. Sent a quick cast right back at her and BOOM! she killed it, faught her for a few minutes and got her to the boat. "this day may not be so bad after all" I thought. As I got her to the boat, brother missed the net and she flew under the boat towards my motor and all of the sudden... SNAP! and I felt nothing, except for my heat stop, then anger set it. Reeled in the slack line to find that she wrapped her self around my prop and all it took was one solid head shake and she was gone. I just put the rod down and started chain smoking cigarettes. My brother and I just looked at each other in despair until my buddy got there to tow us home.
Recap, broken big motor (10K in repairs, of which I still haven't done), no trolling motor, lost favorite lucky bull dawg and the Tiger of a lifetime. Inches? IDK I guess I would say low to mid 40s but FAT!!!
When we got back to the launch my buddy asked If I wanted to go on his boat. I just remember looking at him, and very softly say "I'm done man, I'm going home".
Thank goodness for my little old duck boat which has turned into my musky boat for now until I upgrade and get a new one...
Edited by FAT-SKI 10/25/2012 8:02 AM
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| My first big fish--by my standards--blowing out my knot at the side of the boat near the end of my second season with a boat. A hard lesson to learn; and I expect many have learned it: don't use a basic clinch knot. I had just retied twenty minutes before. When that happens, you sit there stunned and wonder just how powerful these fish are. |
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Posts: 639
Location: Hudson, WI | Boat problems trump all fishing related heartbreak in my book. Three friends and I made a trip to West Battle this year. I was all jacked up since I hadn't made a single cast in over a month. Of course we get the weekend that it blows 40mph constantly...I mean serious wind. Worst sustained wind I've ever seen, in fact, a boat capsized on Winnie and killed two people.
We get on the water and determine immediately that there is no way four guys can cast in these swells. So we decide to troll and not two minutes in my two friends that have no experience at all manage to get their cowgirl and supermodel spun together in a knot that Houdini wouldn't take on. I have my other friend run the tiller while I cut the lines out, trying to keep my calm. Just as I get them freed and start re-tying, one of the rods gets nailed. Jeff was first up, so I told the guy running the boat (my hands were full) to grab the rod out of the holder and hand it to Jeff. Not sure what to do, he lets go of the tiller handle and stands up to do this and the boat spins a complete circle.
Anyway, long story short, every line ends up wrapped around the tiller, fish gets off, and I have to trim up the big now to get the lines out of the prop. It takes no time to realize that we are FLYING towards the shore. I start cutting as fast as possible and lost my race against time...beached the god#*^@ boat sideways in four footers.
Two guys get out and push the back end so I can try to get us backed out. It worked, but I sucked up what I thought was about 6 tons of sand. No water coming out. We decide to head back to the cabin. Of course, I had no earmuffs, they have no air hose at the cabin...no way to flush it out. Put it back in the water on the leeward side of the lake...no water coming out at all. We can't risk running it with a blown water pump or impeller. The entire trip was a bust and we weren't out 30 minutes.
I found out when I got home that there wasn't much sand in there at all. There was one perfectly sized pebble lodged in the "pee" tube. Fixed it in about 18 seconds.
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Posts: 1
| #1: Cold fall day on the Chip and it's snowing side-ways. My brother and I are the only idiots out there. Casting a bumble-bee Suick when the largest fish I had ever seen to that point just rolls right over the top of it. Never touched the lure, didn't follow it up that I could see, and didn't harm a single fin on the suckers we had down either. Just gone. That was 20 years ago and I still think about it all the time.
#2: Staying at a resort on LOTW and my brother has a nice mid-40's fish come up on his favorite black Suick. Goes into the 8 for a few seconds and then just fades away. Back at the resort sharing a few beers with other guests my brother gets to talking to a old-timer who has a map marked over years and years of fishing that area. My brother points out the spot, unmarked on this guys map, and tells the tale. We race back to the spot at dusk and this guy is camped out on it and is fighting a good-sized fish. Shame on us for flapping our gums, but really?! All that water to fish and he has to do that? As we watched the fight his buddy completely blows the net-job and he loses the fish. They have to motor right by us to get out of the area and we might have given him the Bronx cheer on the way out. Lesson learned though, I guess. |
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Location: Hayward WI | I've got a pic of mine.....
My story starts during my introduction into muskie fishing from my now wife. She was born and raised in Hayward, and after a few years of dating, she figured I had the right stuff to be a muskie fisherman. Anyways, it was July of 1994, fishing the Phipps Flowage north of Hayward. I was casting yellow bucktail I picked up on the way to her place, trying not to get another backlash and pretending I knew what I was doing. Beginners luck struck and so did the muskie, somewhere in the upper 40" range. Chaos insued as it was the largest 'ski the wife had seen hooked on "her" river. She grabbed the net and in the excitement took a stab at the fish as it made a pass by the boat, and half the fish was in, but the bucktails hooks were caught in a non-coated net and a good head shake and my first muskie was history.
Here's a cool picture of the fish seconds before the premature release occured. You can see the yellow bucktail just inside the hoop.
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 theonethatgotaway.jpg (190KB - 148 downloads)
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Location: SE Wisconsin | This reminds me all too much of the Bob Mehsikomer GIANT he lost boatside on his jackpot!! That things was beastly!!!
Edited by Sam Ubl 10/25/2012 10:49 AM
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| The wife and I were up at our cabin on Vermilion about 10 years ago prior to the word getting out about the lake. It was blowing pretty good, so she decided to stay at the cabin and I took out an 18' classic Lund with a 25hp tiller to do some musky fishing. I fished for 5-6 hours with nothing to show for my efforts. I was close to getting back to the cabin and decided to make a few casts with the bass rod, so that at least I wouldn't be skunked. Of course you see where this is going, about 4 casts in she hits and immediately comes flying out of the water giving me a good show. I've got 20lb powerpro tied directly to a 4" swimbait, so I immediately come to grips with the fact that there is no way I am landing this fish. As I mentioned it is blowing pretty good and right into the shoreline I am fishing, so I've got this fish hooked, but in addition to trying to get her closer for a better look I am trying like mad to keep the boat off of the rocks. This is a tiller with no trolling motor, so I am standing in the back steering with my leg using my free hand to try and control the speed and FWD/REV and when possible I would get a couple of cranks on the reel. I eventually get her up to the boat and all I see is the line coming out the corner of her mouth. She is pretty played out at this point and at a couple of points she is just laying next to the boat. Of course I forgot the net and I am still trying to keep the boat off of the rocks, so there is no way I am going to be able to let go of the tiller to use both hands to try and hand land her. At this point I am about 10 yards from our dock, so I thought my only play here is to call my wife and have her bring down the net and throw it into the boat so that I can use it to land the fish. As I was going for my phone she made a run and I felt a couple of head shakes and she cut me off. That fish still haunts my dreams. I got a real good look at her as she was laying next to boat and I estimated her at 52" and about 3 weeks later my father-in-law caught a 52 3/4" about 50 yards down the shoreline which I am guessing was the same fish. |
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Posts: 173
Location: Green Bay, Titletown, WI | I hooked what would have been my personal best (high 40's) on a sucker. I had one hook in the skin on the side of the jaw. When my girlfriend extended the net, she didn't get the lock pin into the hole. When she went to scoop the fish, the hoop slid right off the pole, with the fish only half way in the net. I dropped my rod and made a mad grab for the hoop. I ended up with my knees in the boat. My Arms, head, and shoulders underwater. The second hook on the quickset, got caught in the netting, the fish shook free, and slapped me in the face on her way out of the net. I have since replaced the Girlfriend. The new one performed two perfect net jobs, on fish that hit boat side, within an hour of each other. So I'm making her the permanent net girl this November! |
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Posts: 1767
Location: Lake Country, Wisconsin | Ahh, one of my not so favorite stories. More then several years back I caught a giant on a Canada trip in September fishing with someone I had just met...Very quick fight, 10 seconds or so, a fish I estimate at 53"ish, probably 54" with massive fall girth on a lake system known for kicking out giants, 45# caliber fish....
The first gem after I let out a yell..." settle down! haven't you ever caught a Musky before!" ( this coming from a guy who had probably caught 20 in his life with a PB of 44" if he was lucky)
As I looked for the release and measurement tools in a boat that was foreign to me I was prompted to " hurry up! before you kill this fish!" ( yeah..a GREEN fish sitting in the water for 20 seconds in 55 degree fall water is surely ready to croak at any second...)
All of a sudden I hear a few splashes..." the fish is gone"...what?!?! Yeah, guy had done a repair to holes in the net and tied it together with fishing line. Somehow a fish of that size was able to squirm right through. He put up no resistance whatsoever and let it swim away. Upon arrival at camp I was told of the repair job and offered to bring my net instead. " No, I got it all fixed, net is rock solid" So no picture, no memories of a fish I have never topped since and may never top again...
Tough pill to swallow for someone like me who loves looking back at photos of fish caught, but I never said a word and let it go. At least she swam away and was ready to be caught again by someone else when even bigger...All fine and dandy until later in the week when I blew a net job on his 37" little snake of a Musky, which I was then greeted with swears and lectured for an hour about proper net techniques...
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| takes two to mess up a net job - OP if you're not gonna talk about it with your buddy beforehand and give him clear direction when the fish is boatside, it's probably more your fault than his! anything said after a blown netjob is better said before a cast is made, but at least it was a small fish.
was fishing out of a small boat and netted my buddies PB a few years ago 49-50". at one point after unhooking we both leaned over the side at once, hoop dipped down to the surface and fish was gone before we could measure or take a pic. he took it like a champ though, no yelling or berating, just a little bummed.
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