2013 Pike/Musky pictures!

OUCH

That smells like heart break to me

That must have been a freakin monster to pull a split ring straight

Any estimate on the size?

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OUCH

That smells like heart break to me

That must have been a freakin monster to pull a split ring straight

Any estimate on the size?

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Only a guess – Had her up to the side of the boat and was prepping to land her. I think I screwed up and tighten the drag instead of loosening it. Anyways, after I had the boat cleared, the moment I touched the water with the net, she had a burst and my line went limp. Truly a WTF moment. Still feel sick about it. Maybe low to mid 50s” class fish. My PB is 42# and this one looked like it could have been easily in that upper 30# class. I’ll never know….

BTW – the solder on that ring just popped off. I had the perception that the rings on the leaders that I had bought were more “heavy duty”. Needless to say, I have a few leaders that went right into a garbage can.

Wow, thats crazy. Hopefully you know where her layer is, so you can return again to claim victory

That’s a fish..almost monster..
Go back and get her Rocky

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woulda, coulda, shoulda…. Had the largest ski on that I have stuck since I got my PB 30 years ago…. Pretty hard to get a measurement on this one

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Not sure if you were targeting muskie or not, but if you were, do yourself a favor and buy quality leaders. I only use stealth tackle leaders…never had a failure. Never skimp on the important stuff guys: line, leaders, release tools. etc.

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woulda, coulda, shoulda…. Had the largest ski on that I have stuck since I got my PB 30 years ago…. Pretty hard to get a measurement on this one

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do yourself a favor and buy quality leaders. I only use stealth tackle leaders…never had a failure. Never skimp on the important stuff guys

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If you would have read the post all the way down, you have picked up on the specific point that I had the perception of the money I spent bought quality. I bought these leaders specifically because they not only had heavy duty ball bearing barrels, they had soldered split rings. Forgive me sir for not taking them to a lab and having them magnafluxed and x-ray in advance. This was just a brutal reminder that no matter how much money you spend, mechanical failures can/and will happen.
Ok, back to the pics….

Randy- MOST people don’t understand that if you fish muskies enough you will have equipment failure sooner or later no matter what kind of gear you are using. OR if you fish muskies enough you WILL end up killing 1 or2 accidentally…..it just happens! Good luck with the next monster you tie into and hope you can land her and post up some pics of the new PB!

here are a few pictures from the past week or so on lake vermilion! enjoy everybody!! measurements in order are 50.5,47,50.5,52,42,44

Sorry for your loss Randy! I hate that feeling. I hate it so much that even when I have a better than average fish on, all I think about in the back of my mind is losing the fish. That sort of confidence or lack there of cannot help me and my catch rate.

Hopefully she survives to bite your hook again!

Not sure how long it takes or if/when the hooks will dislodge from her jaw. A beast of that magnitude in my opinion is a creature worthy of respect. God only knows how many years it takes to grow a fish that size, and there sure aren’t many per acre in the few musky lakes I enjoy fishing. I still feel disgusted about it, but it its completely beyond my control. Regardless if its me or someone else, I would like to believe that fish is surviving and someone will get to see the incredible aerial show she put on for me. Never had a musky jump so much and put up that intense of a fight.

Sometimes….. the fish most remembered, is the one that got away.

I’ve been the victim of equipment failure myself…… and it really stinks when it happens. I feel for ya….. really do.

Sometimes I wonder, as you mentioned though, if I were the cause of the failure. In my experiences and quickly followed aftermath ponderings….. I have found myself on occasion over playing a fish with gear too strong or putting too much muscle into the fish. Over and over again I find myself trying to remind myself to just relax. Many a fish have gotten in the net when they shouldn’t have because of simply relaxing and playing the situation correctly. Granted, it’s easier said than done if you don’t have a monster on your line 10 times a day, every day you go hunting the mighty muskie! Lighter drag settings, better thumb play, or even sometimes….. a more forgiving rod action. All these things have led to more captures than losses, with multiple species.

So far, it’s my humble opinion, that I caused my equipment failures by trying too hard, almost forcing the fish to “play my way”.

Here’s a few more from Iowa, anywhere from 35-42″ caught on rapala glass raps and green or black 3″ twisters, all from the month of July. Bad thing though the water got too hot and hard to get them revived..

Nice fish buddy

Thanks joe, you’ll have to come down. Catching a few… Per day. I lost 6 today and landed 3 with biggest and 41.25″!!!

You got it

When I get back from vacation, I’ll plan on making the trip

Like shooting fish in a barrel below the dam there at Brushy, fished it 2 times for a total of 3 hours got 6 lost 4…

Yeah, it might be. Just like going to South Dakota to fulfill the itch to catch a bunch of 20″ walleyes. That’s shooting fish in a barrel.

Sure is fun any way you look at it. I’m just glad i don’t have to drive for 2-8 hours to catch a ski.

Joe, I’ll let you know if I can catch that 54″ that roams the bathtub today!

You do that

Good luck bud

Nice skis jjondal

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Our season opend May 21, got out once so far but was rewarded nicely…..

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How long was that ski shaley? Nice one

48″, bested that Sunday night by 1/2″

Here are a couple of beauties from my rescent vacation.

45″ & 47″

37in and a 38in Pike. Im not much of a pike guy so these are my Personal Bests. Despite of the blood on the pike from the surgical hook removal, it was revived and released for another day.

42″
42.5″

Nice fish guys!!! Way to go on getting some action there Joe! Nothing like taking a vacation and nailing a nice catch!

Caught the my pb musk Sunday.
Weather was perfect for it. Saw alot of fish in the 4 hours I was out. Using top water which I never had faith in before. I have a brand new respect for top water now. Watching the fish blast up on it was almost as awesome as getting one in the boat!

Nice. How big was it?

46″ going to try to get a new PB pic Saturday.

Note to self, set timer on camera when taking photos alone…

2nd try worked out better