50"
Musky
June 21, 2011 - Lower Manitou Lake, Adams Bay
Just
before dinner my brother and I decided to venture into a small
bay and fish for northern pike on Lower Manitou Lake. I was
casting a Mepps
#5 Aglia over submerged cabbage when the musky hit my spinner
so hard the water boiled around it. I set the hook and connected.
I could feel my heart pulse racing. The fish swam and stayed
deep for a good couple minutes. I glanced over at our small
bass net and thought my goodness there was no way we could land
this beast. After about a three minute battle and some big runs
underneath that had me circling the boat the fish slowly came
to boatside. An got to the edge, reached over and with his arms
cradled the monster into the boat. We laughed in joy and I was
almost in tears. The fish measured 50 inches! I released the
fish after a few quick photos. It was a memorable day!
Two
Big Muskies - One Weekend
May
2006 - Rowan Lake, Miner's Bay
Upon venturing into a small bay
that connected to the main lake through a narrow channel, the
sun that day was high and the weather was hot and humid. A slight
wind coming from the west we focused on the shoreline that was
furthest to the east. The wind was blowing into the shoreline
and the pike bite was awesome! After some pike action, we moved
the boat to an inside turn that was between shallow and deep
water. My brother was throwing his favorite red #3
Mepps Aglia spinner. As he reeled his spinner in a
huge musky slowly followed his spinner out of from the shallows.
The fish wasn't active but after my brother casted his spinner
in the direction of where she had gone the fish followed the
spinner again back to boatside. At the time I was twitching
a 4" pearl-colored Banjo
Minnow about half way back to the boat. The musky was
in proximity of the lure. I twitched it once and she turned.
I let the Banjo Minnow deadfall when all of a sudden
the musky opened her mouth and inhaled the minnow. The water
was so clear and I could see the entire episode unfolding before
my very own eyes. She slowly turned away and swam with it...
Moment of truth. I reeled in the slack line all the
while I could hear my heart beat louder and louder... I set
the hook and the fight was on! The fish ran from one side of
the boat to the other and at one point had wrapped the line
around a tree stump. Maneuvering the boat and keeping a tight
line the fish unwrapped herself and after a brief battle my
brother netted the fish. I will never forget the look on his
face as he saw the fish thrashing in the net! He said it looked
like an alligator! After a quick measurement and a couple photos
the fish was released unharmed.
The crazy thing about this musky
tale was the fact that I was using only 8 lb. test (Trilene
XL) and a short 4" leader!
This second monster I encountered
was literally a couple days later in the same bay as the one
above. My brother and I ventured into the same bay only out
in slighter deeper water along a patch of reeds that extended
between two points. I grabbed my rod already rigged with a 5"
pearl-colored Banjo
Minnow and made my first cast into the reeds. I twitched
it twice, and without warning the water blew up as the minnow
broke the surface! Just like a torpedo the musky came out of
the water and exploded on the lure! Unbelievable! My knees knocking...I
set the hook and connected. The fish took off and went deep.
For a minute the fish didn't seem to want to come to the surface.
My legs were trembling and after about 3 minutes I got the fish
to the boat and my brother again netted my trophy fish! A quick
photo and we put her back to grow bigger. A weekend I will
never forget...
Monster
Musky at Boatside
October
2001 - French Lake
The sun had just went down and the dusk started to settle in...
It was a cool evening and my friend Jim and I were out for a
little musky fishing. We hadn't see any fish all afternoon.
And then it happened... Around 8:30 p.m. I casted out
a black topwater lure called the Hi-Fin
Twin Teasertail over cabbage weeds in 7 feet of water.
As I cranked a couple of turns on my baitcast reel, a large
wake appeared behind my lure that seem to follow with each turn
of my reel handle... It followed and followed for about 7 turns
of my reel handle. The wake suddenly disappeared. Did it
leave? I made a couple more cranks and as the lure approached
the boat I made a quick L-turn with my rod changing the direction
of the Teasertail and out of nowhere a giant musky did a big
arc out of the water and slammed the lure missing it by a couple
inches! KABOOOSH! Gone! Like an atomic bomb
just went off. In a split second... My body was shaking
and my heart pulse racing. Although it's hard to say I really
believe the musky I missed at boatside that evening would probably
have been my biggest musky to date.
My
Trophy Musky
August
2000 - French Lake
48.5" Musky
On
Saturday morning of August 2000, my friend Jim and I got to
the lake about 6 a.m. I spotted several surface disturbances
immediately. The fish seemed to roll over on the surface, sun-bathing
or something. Some of those fish had to be in the upper-30s
to mid-40 inch class range. We casted around the structure where
we saw the disturbances hoping the topwater lures would at least
trigger one to strike. Nothing happened until 7:30 a.m. My partner
cranked a bucktail over submerged weedbed and had a follow by
a 40+ inch fish. He tried a figure-eight at the boat, but no
luck. About 8 a.m., I also had a follow by a nice fish only
to turn away at the last minute at the boat. About 8:40 a.m.,
I threw a hot orange-black Mepps
Magnum Musky Killer bucktail again right over top of
the submerged weedbed and hooked what could be the largest fish
in my life... I yelled out to my fishing partner Jim "It's
a big fish!" I don't yell that very often, so I knew what
I had at the end of my line was very special. Seconds went by...
And the fish seemed to get stronger. All I wanted from this
fight was to see how big this fish was. Each time I brought
the fish up to the surface she would dive back down to the depths.
The fish seemed to nose dive from one side of the boat to the
other. After four minutes or so, I got her up to the surface
and a quick flash of her wide back and Jim gasped "Oh man..."
I followed the fish and kept the pressure until the fish got
somewhat tired. Jim was excited about the fish as much as I
was. He finally put his net down into the water and netted a...48.5-inch
trophy musky! It was a dream of a lifetime for me! Thanks to
Jim and the Mepps spinner!
