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Posts: 2322
Location: Chisholm, MN | After losing what would have been my first 50 at boatside, I got ran into by another boater (you know who you are). Lost a couple nice ones that day actually so yeah, that was a heart breaker. |
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Posts: 94
| What a great question. I have 3 that are still burned in my memory bank; each would have been the angler's personal best.
1. July 2007 - novice angler joins us on LOTW. The first muskie she ever hooked was the largest muskie I have ever seen on LOTW. It T-boned a 29-inch pike 3 times; never got the hooks but almost got netted. Definitely an upper 50-inch whale.
2. July 2009 - Lac Seul. The only real super-tanker I've ever had smash a bait. Hit my glide bait full speed from the side. My son and I both got a full-length view; may have been bigger than the LOTW whale mentioned above.
3. August 2012 - our last night on LOTW. My son hooked what was probably his PB (probably over 50") right at dark at boatside. We were on a reef and the fish had no place to go but up; exciting show but too short and no photos 
- Kevin |
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Posts: 4343
Location: Smith Creek | Musky Brian - 10/25/2012 2:03 PM
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...
Sounds like an episode of "Simply Fishing" |
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Posts: 128
| Not being able to hit the water with my dad. |
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Posts: 716
| My Top four in no real order...
1. 1996, Lost what would have been my first 50" plus fish...lightly hooked on a Phantom it Made a few "Jaws" like passes down the side of the boat before shaking off. Plenty caught since then but every second of that encounter is burned into my internal hard drive.
2. PMTT on local waters, tough bite maybe ten fish caught for 135 teams on day one, Day two we move a giant (53-54) on a shallow flat and decide to give it a bit of time to re-set before trying her again, I catch a 43.5 on the deep edge while giving her a break....now we are really in the hunt ! We go back on her and she come's out of nowhere to grab the lure as it is coming out of the water after the eight...one hook barely in her beak, her momentum takes her right under the boat doubling over the rod...three seconds and she is off. A 41 and a 50 win the event and about 17K (Troy and Treats) we get $400 for tenth. I kickname the spot "Heartbreak Point". That one still hurts...not so much for the money but the victory lost. The name stuck though.
That one hurt for a while, I moved the fish another 15-20 times that fall but never got a hook in her again.
3. When anyone in the boat loose's any decent fish while filming...the stakes are simply higher and the fish more significant.
4. Any time I have clients in the boat and we fail to connect on fish despite my best efforts... the hardest thing there is about guiding period. |
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| BenR's fish was also a potential IL state record at the time. Double heartbreak. |
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| Guest - 10/25/2012 10:44 PM
BenR's fish was also a potential IL state record at the time. Double heartbreak.
Thanks for the reminder:-) At the time it was unfortunate, but it is just a funny story now. BR |
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| My girlfriend broke up with me via text message and said I musky fish too much! : )
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Posts: 128
| heartbroken - 10/26/2012 7:22 AM
My girlfriend broke up with me via text message and said I musky fish too much! : )
LOL  |
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| I would like to say thank for starting this thread and to everyone sharing there story. I have been in dumps all week over what happened last sunday.
First the other heart breaks:
1.) Had a 52-53 throw a bait 15 feet from the boat
2.) After casting all day and having to listen to my brother-in-law tell me about allof the different muskie theories he has ever read and that I should not have thrown the same bait all day I had a huge fish at the end of the cast. The fiah hit so hard I lost my grip and did not get a good hookset. The next weekend my buddies friend boated a 52.75 on that spot.
3.) Now for sunday. We traveled a long way to sucker fish a lake that dreams come true. I had Scuba Mike ( a fat 20 inch sucker) out 3 feet below a bobber 25 feet behind the boat. He was doing a great job staying out of the weeds when two hours into the day he started going crazy. I said Mike is about to get eaten. A few seconds later there was huge swirl and the bobber went down and took off. We swung the boat around quickly and got close. When all of a sudden the bobber comes up 10 feet from the boat. Under the boober was a true gaint. 55 + inch fish had inhaled Mike. The fish quickly started to head down and to the left. I swang as hard as I could back right and SNAP! The fish bit through BOTH 7 strain wire hook leads. I checked the rig before I put it out and there were no issue wish it. I hope she was able to throw the hooks...
Thanks |
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Posts: 400
Location: North/Central WI | I've got a few....
The biggest fish I have ever hooked and lost was on my first trip to MN. My buddy and I were nearing the end of day 2 of an 8 day trip. I caught a 51 1/2" on a swimbait and while I was releasing it my partner started casting again. On his first cast he raised the largest musky I have ever seen. My fish still hadn't completely swam away so we got to compare the 2...my 51 1/2" looked little. I would guess 54+ with alot of girth. We hit that spot several times a day for the next few days and on the 3rd day she ate the same swimbait. The fish completely inhaled the bait but everytime she came up and headshook I saw the bait swinging around inside her mouth. I told my partner as soon as she got close we were going to take her...she threw the bait and we never got that chance.
The most valuable fish lost was during the 2009 Hodag. My partner caught a 36 for our first fish and shortly after was hooked up again with a nicer fish. It was a 43-44 and really took the mag dawg deep. The fish made the mistake of swimming too close to the boat about 10 seconds after he hooked it and I scooped her. I grabbed my tools and start performing surgery on the fish in the bag...she was really green and only a little of the mag dawg's tail was visible. I start cutting hooks by going in through the gill...I was completely intent on saving the fish and wasn't paying attention to much else. The net hoop started dipping close to the water...I cut the last hook...and the fish thrashed/jumped and was gone. We were both a little shocked but stuff happens so oh well. We fished hard for the rest of the day but didn't hook up again. We knew that several teams had better doubles so we would've needed a great day 2 for the win. Neither of us cared about anything but 1st place and the $20,000 that came with it so we decided we wouldn't get too angry about it unless we ended up catching 2 the next day. So day 2 rolls around and I catch a 34 and 35. We would have taken 1st with the 4 fish and won $20,000. |
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Posts: 209
Location: Big Falls MN | My first heart break was watching what would have been my first 50 swim out the end of the craddle the person i was fishing didnt get the craddle down in the water enough and hung the bait on the side two head shakes and she swam right out the other end. My worst one was casting a spinner bait had the biggest fish i ever seen nailed it 15 feet from the boat i poured the coals to her and the hook snapped clean off all i could do was watch her swim away still haunts me till this day when i fish that spot. |
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Posts: 8775
| heartbroken - 10/26/2012 7:22 AM
My girlfriend broke up with me via text message and said I musky fish too much! : )
Things you should have said:
"You know... I told myself I was gonna dump you the next time you complained about me fishing too much. But I let it go. A bunch of times. But now that you mention it, I think we ought to- Ooop, there's one! I got a fish, can't talk. Nice knowin 'ya!" *click*
Or:
"My other girlfriend doesn't complain about it. Oh crap, she's got a fish. I gotta go!"
Edited by esoxaddict 10/26/2012 10:39 PM
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| About 3 years ago on Vermilion, I lost 3 giant fish all over 50, with the largest being about 55. Ruined my trip! |
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Posts: 1529
| was fishing detroit river early 1960,s. old guy comes down says theres a monster musky in that spot. hour later she hit. can you imagine she spooled me from shore. a closed face spinning reel 10lb test. i watched the line disapearing on the surface slowly sinking.. been trying ever since |
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Posts: 1916
Location: Greenfield, WI | Two nights in a row the biggest muskie that I have ever seen alive, easily in the middle 50" range, came vertical following a prototype Slammer Jerkbait rising at the boat side. I could see the mouth open following the bait up. The mouth slammed shut barely missing the bait which continued to rise as the fish turned and agonizingly slowly returned to the depths. 5 minutes of figure 8's did nothing.
I will see that fish in my mind for the rest of my life!
Edited by Steve Van Lieshout 10/27/2012 8:27 AM
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Posts: 20211
Location: oswego, il | one of my biggest ones came this past august. My 92 year old grandfather hooked into a fish that was about 52". I do his casting for him and he uses bass lures, rod and reel. He hooks up and the fish takes off. I chase it down and the fish makes a run around my outboard and proceeds to goto open water. I unwrapped the line still there and chase itdown again. Never seen a fish fight like this one. Was very windy. If it wanted a rest it would run upwind and surface. If it wanted to fight it would dive and towards my trolling motor. I was constantly trying to keep the line from getting in my prop. When the fish did get near the boat it never gave me its head. Once I tried to scoop tail first it shot like a rocket. Finally I was facing down wind and it made yet another run at my motor. Again shut it off but the line wrapped on the shaft and immediately made a long run upwind. When I grabbed the line it made another burst and the line broke. 20 minute battle. I felt horrible and was emotionally spent. My grandfather asked if he did anything wrong and he did not. I was just sick. We went in after that. Luckily the fish was not hooked in a bad way.
Edited by ToddM 10/27/2012 9:37 AM
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| A buddy of mine and I spent a summer camping and fishing the summer of 1984. Living on hot dogs beans and Old Style beer. We camped on Darrows island Chippewa Flowage. We had camped for two weeks, near the end of our trip to return home get our unemployment checks and try it again. Early in our trip I lost a nice fish on Popple islad ,drag too loose. Tighten it down . At dusk on the evening of August 30th casting a hawg wobbler , 3 feet of water a absolute behemoth of a fish crushes my lure 10 feet from the boat. I was using a pool cue Ugly stick rod, 30 lb mono , seconds and a few unintelligable words later as a supertanker has my lure sideways buried in his maw thrashing sideways out of the water. Later i found my rod tip broken and bruises on my fingers. Bill shirriff landed a 30 lber that night if my memory serves correct. |
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Posts: 909
| heartbroken - 10/26/2012 8:22 AM
My girlfriend broke up with me via text message and said I musky fish too much! : )
She was only holding you back! LOL Slime time baby!  |
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Posts: 865
| My biggest Heart break:
I set the alarm a little earlier than normal one Saturday Morning I usually leave the house at 4 AM sharp, but I had to make sure I had all my heavier foul weather gear with me and not left behind in my Garage. It was a Cold Nasty morning. I got all my gear poured my coffee and filled my thermos and left to get my fishing partner Bob who only lives 5 minutes away. I picked him up and we drove to the lake and on the way it was pouring all the way with very high winds and a lot of flooded roads on the way. Well on one of the detour side road I was forced to take I got a #*^@ flat. After a half hour of rain and mud all over me I finally got my spare tire on the truck but we were soaked,and it was getting colder and raining even harder. We looked at each other and we both agreed let's go home this is just not worth it. I dropped bob off and went home, I was cold and soaked, took off all my wet clothes, got cleaned and dried off and hopped back into bed. I leaned over and kissed my wife's neck and whispered its like a freaking Hurricane out there. And she mumbled would you believe my stupid ass husband is fishing in this weather? That was a real heartbreak of a trip.......... Mike Sr. |
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Posts: 567
| mine is a family heartbreak story from approx 1988 . My uncle had an above 50 pound fish in the net and the aluminum handle folded and broke when they attempted to lift the fish in the boat . a 48 pounder was caught the same day and our crew ( my brother was with my uncle ) said this fish was far far above that fish in girth . and maybe longer.... that fish could have been a top twenty ever type fish .
Edited by ManitouDan 10/28/2012 12:32 PM
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Posts: 567
| personally I lost a fall fattie on the Manitou that I'd guess 52-53 inches , hit on the 8 , solid hook set , but after 1-2 head shakes she was free , with the girth of manitou fish in the fall I'm sure it was 40 pounder ... 5 min later boated a 50 on the same lure on the 8 . But man i wish I had nailed the first one . |
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Posts: 313
Location: Bemidji, Lake Vermilion | Wow, now thats a #*#*ty day for sure! Did you obviously get a divorce Cast4Musky?
Edited by thrax_johnson 10/28/2012 12:56 PM
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Posts: 4266
| The day I cast one of my 10" Perkas into an inside weed turn while my boat sat in 30' of water. Twitch-Twitch-Pause.....Twitch-Twitch-Pause.................Twitch, and the lure makes a long glide and hangs in the water column quivering when a mid-50" fish comes straight up like a missile launched from a sub and inhales the lure side-ways. I set the hook so hard that my feet left the deck, NOT normal for me, but in doing so, the line which was all the way to the side of the spool, buried itself all the way to the metal! No line coming in, and no line going out. She wallowed on the surface and then made like a Tarpon wallowing along the surface right at the boat. I got on my knees and was leaning over the side of the boat as she spent the next 15 seconds fighting right at the corner of the transome. Had I had a partner, the story would be over, but alas. She did an about face and went into a power diver while I feverishly tried to get the line "unburied", but it was fruitless. I just hung on, afraid the rod,line or lure would snap. As I watched her shaking her head with her huge mouth wide open, I saw my 10" lure planted sideways inside her gaping mouth. First one hook ripped free, then another, then as if nothing had ever happened, she swam slowly toward the boat and the final hook came free. Unhooked, she shook violently one more time and swam away slowly. I knelt there watching her, still unable to reel in any line or let any line out. I stayed in that position for 15 minutes or so, shaking my head in awe. I finally cut the line, pulled my lure in by hand and threw the whole rig on the bottom of the boat and headed in. Once at the dock, I took the reel off of the rod and cut the line at the leader tie. A 10" lure with deep cuts across the sides and at the head and tail, and I sat and tried to take the line off of the reel. No luck. I had to cut it off all the way to the spool. Had I not seen a fish of such magnitude eat my lure as it sat still, I wouldn't have set the hook like a WWF super star, but I guess when the line is wet and slippery, and is at the end of the spool on it's pass, it's bound to slip in there a bit, but not all the way to the base of the spool! All of my equipment for a netman at the stern that day, here in The Twilight Zone. |
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Posts: 4266
| Cast4musky....I just peeeed myself. 8D
I'd have to say one of my biggest heartbreaks was not looping the anchor rope around my exes neck the last March that I lobbed it into The Mighty Mississippi River!!!
Edited by Beaver 10/28/2012 10:05 PM
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Posts: 1185
Location: Iowa | Watching a 50 pounder shake my cisco pounder after seeing the fish on the same spot for 3 days, finally getting it to eat, fought it almost to the boat, then watching it come up in slow motion and shake that pounder...cried that day...
Or
Watching my dad loose a mid 50's in the figure 8 within sight of camp because his drag locked up...almost cried that day... |
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Posts: 1360
Location: Lake "y" cause lake"x" got over fished | cast4musky - yep that story just took the cake! don't leave us hangin man... What happened next? |
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| FAT-SKI - 10/30/2012 3:53 PM
cast4musky - yep that story just took the cake! don't leave us hangin man... What happened next?
He waited for people to get the joke....
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| cast4muskie is lookin' for a new woman with a boat - please send pic of boat... |
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| My home-body-of-water is in NW Illinois. Stocked with tigers. For years the state record was 26 lbs and change. More recently, it was pushed over 30. My friends and I have always talked about catching the state record and have made it our goal to catch that fish. I've caught 5 or 6 fish on this lake between 22-25 lbs (keep in mind, they're tigers). Biggest I've landed being a 45.5" tiger with some nice girth.
About 2 weeks after I caught that tiger referenced above, my friends and I were bass fishing and saw a monster showing it's dorsal on top of the water. We scooted over to the site and threw some lures it's way. I was casting a bucktail that needed it's hooks sharpened. Took about 10 casts and each time I retrieved the lure, I would watch the gold blade come back to the boat, just under the surface. On that 11th or so cast, about 3-5 ft from the boat, I was about to pull the bait outta the water when a monster came up in slow motion with it's mouth completely open and inhaled my bucktail. The fish made a huge splash with it's tail and just shot down under the boat.
Didn't have a leader, was fishing with a pole not meant for muskies, and had 10 or 12 lb test on. Fought that fish for about 3 minutes or so and had it go by the boat two different times. One particularly was close enough to get the fish in the net but my buddy just missed it (he still talks about it today). Then, all-of-the-sudden my line went limp. Reeled the bucktail in and nothing was on it.
I'm 28 now, had this fish on when I was probably 15. I worked construction for years growing up as a summer job and have always been pretty good at estimating length. I would say this fish was between 48-51 inches and very girthy. My buddy that missed the fish w/ the net (who's also caught a handful of nice tigers on this lake ) guarantees it was the state record fish.
Those 3 to 4 minutes have been permanently etched into my memory bank. Trying harder than ever to land the state record to this day.
Good fishing,
Bret |
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