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Posts: 2024
| Two nights ago I was fortunate enough to get some muskie fishing in during my stay in eastern Ontario. A buddy took me to some of his favorite river places for both 'skis and 'eyes. Nothing in the AM and afternoon. A quick break (i.e. BBQ) and a few beers later we decided to go back out and try the evening and night bite. He was going to throw for walleye and I was going to toss muskie stuff.
We walk down to the spot which happened to be a hole in front of a culvert. I'm ahead of him and creep up to the culvert just in case something (i.e. a muskie) were right in front of it. I peer over the culvert and notice a couple logs. Looking closer, one of the logs had a nice sized EYEBALL. I quickly realized I was looking at an upper 40" muskie. I back off, toss a JMac in front and right of the fish, bring it right in front of her snout, and she takes off. So I start fan casting the area. 10 minutes later she ROCKS the bait and proceeds to toss it. Then she teases us by hanging around, following once more while gaping behind the bait. We get another 40" to come in and that was it.
Some time goes by and I'm starting to lose interest. By now it's about 1 hour after our brief period of action. Being a little sick as it is I decide to sit down on the culvert and cast mindlessly. I feel a little extra weight on one of my casts and set the hook (sitting down). The fish starts head shaking and I'm thinking "Holy (smokes) I got one!" It's not putting up much of a fight so it's got to be a small muskie, and I catch one glimpse of the fish (at this point it's nearly dark) as it flashes gold in the tannin stained water. I get the fish to the bottom of the culvert and look closely and realize it's a BIG walleye. My buddy grabs it and is in shock.
Herein lies the crux of the matter. I did not feel the same emotions that he did. It was sort of a bittersweet moment. Sure it was a big walleye (29" and 8.25 pounds), but I was after that 46-47" that I lost earlier (or any muskie for that matter). It was sort of like, "That was cool, BUT..."
Has anyone ever felt this before? For example, you catch a 7+ pound bass or a 40+ inch pike and don't even flinch?
Here's a pic of the 'eye.
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Posts: 484
Location: St. Louis, MO., Marco Is., FL, Nestor Falls, ON | I know what you mean. Understand that I am a MUSKY fisherman. However, I had a house full of company and we needed to do some fishing with 4 people in a boat. So we decided to go Lake Trout fishing. We are jigging in 110 feet of water. I let my jig free spool to the bottom, snap the rod up and wham! It's a big, heavy fish. The fight is on. Other boats gather around to watch the battle for what I am sure is a 25 lb. Lake Trout. But there is something funny. No air bubbles. When I can finally see the fish it turns out to be a 25 lb. muskie. I love muskies, but I was disappointed that it wasn't a large trout. It would have been my largest Lake Trout ever. So, yes, I understand how you felt. But you will feel a little differently when you look back on the experience in years to come. Nice walleye! |
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Location: The Yahara Chain | This was recently discussed in great detail.
http://muskie.outdoorsfirst.com/board/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=35... |
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Posts: 2024
| lol! Consider it this an extension of that thread
Sounds like I'm not alone...
Edited by esox50 6/23/2007 1:35 PM
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| No you are not alone, it happens to all of us |
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| For me it is whatever I am targeting at the time... If I am fishing crappies in the spring and catch an 18"er, I am going to get excited, if I am fishing Walleyes and get a big girl I am going to get excited.. If I am fishing muskies and catch a 20" crappie or a 34" walleye, probably won't get too excited, as I was looking for a musky... It is fun to catch crappies and walleyes on crappie and walleye tackle, not so much fun to catch a crappie or walleye on musky tackle, kinda like hunting for deer with a M60 full automatic weapon, not much of a sport involved.. |
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Posts: 111
Location: Big Lake, MN | I feel the same way. I'm a muskie fisherman through and through since my Grandfather brought me muskie fishing years ago. I still treat the fish with great respect but am still disappointed when the fish I catch is not what I expect.
Nice walleye by the way. |
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Posts: 468
Location: Not where I wanna be! | Welcome to the club.....  |
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Posts: 785
| I hear ya man! There was one day in Iowa though that I lost about a 32" walleye that hit at the side of the boat on a 7" crane bait and came off. Later I landed a 38" musky. It was the 1st of April and even though I was pleased with the musky.... I can catch a 38" musky anytime (you know what I mean), but a 32" walleye full of eggs!? Thats something I may never again get a chance at.
However I'd take a 47"er over that scronny little eye' any day!!!! LOL |
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| I had been ten days on the lake without a muskie when I got a strike. Good fight. Turned out to be a six pound bass. Only time in my life when I was disappointed in a bass that size.
On the same lake a fellow muskie fisherman caught 7 bass in one day ranging from 5-8 pounds. He was a die hard muskie fisherman and was frustrated in not catching a muskie.
All depends on level of expectation. |
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Posts: 90
Location: Florence, Wisconsin | Yeah, I feel that way right now. Check out the message I posted about losing my biggest ever. Time one the water, more exciting experiences are sure to come and we'll catch the ones that are haunting us right now.
Bo |
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Posts: 13688
Location: minocqua, wi. | last friday night i'm fishing deep trout water and we had a decent fish blow and miss a topwater with the full-body out of the water experience so we feel great about where we are ... later that night around 11pm. or so we are on a deep break shoreline, my partner (agrimm) is throwing a bulldawg and i'm throwing a depth raider ... i grind it deep and the start ripping and twitching and felt a hammer ... "i got one!" ... waiting for the headshake ... none ... bring the fish up hoping wondering "what do i have?" ... i see it's a big walleye ... and the next feeling of hope is that a big musky might grab it! ... so, no net comes out, i unhook it all the while wishing a musky was eating the bait in the same location and all i came out with was a stupid walleye ... we are a sick group ... |
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Posts: 8781
| It's a stupid feeling!
I've caught fish musky fishing that would have made my day if I had been bass fishing, walleye fishing, pike fishing, etc.
But if I'm targeting __________, that's what I want to catch.... I can go to a lake that doesn't have any muskies in it, fish with musky gear, catch bass, or pike, and have a blast at it. But if I were musky fishing? Those same fish would be a nuisance.
Like I said -- stoooopid! |
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Posts: 32886
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | Muskie anglers do not have normal feelings. Ever. |
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