First Muskie!!

Or….Don’t wet your pants with a rain suit on!

I was lucky enough to be invited along with SteveO on a guided Muskie trip to an undisclosed lake in WI.

With Tuesday being such a beautiful day, I was thinking if we didn’t get into one fish of 10,000 cast, it would be a great day in the sunshine on the lake.

Our day on the water was Wednesday and of course the weather changed …slightly. I was told this was good for Muskie fishing. Cold, windy and raining ….I thought I was going duck hunting!

We boated to our first spot around 2 pm. There was only one other boat on the lake. Eric Genson, our guide for the day, gave me some safety rules about casting (like I needed that! ) and other do’s and don’ts of what I would call “close quarter” casting with 2×4’s and bricks with plastic tails. When I told Eric I brought my 9 inch fillet knife along for the 50 incher, without a beat he responded with…Sure fillet them up and throw them on the grill…good eat’en”. I knew we were going to have a good time.

After a whole 15 – 20 minutes, we had this babe in the boat. Guest-E-weight of 25 pounds. Eric impressed me with his careful hook extraction (he cut off the barb of a $15. lure, explaining her health was worth more than the hook). I held her for a few pictures and quickly got her into the water for a few release shots.

I can see why so many fisherman get “Muskie Fever”! To have a fish this size SMASH a comparatively small 8 inch lure next to the boat is something that warms a person up… In fact, kinda forgot that it was raining…windy…and cold.

As we were working on the rest of our 9950 casts for the next fish, Eric and I spent the time talking about silly golfers in their shorts and bassholes…you know, where bass like to hang out…
SteveO just had a funny grin on his face during this conversation…

Later that day, we had a sucker bite. SteveO did an expert job of slowly reeled the fish closer to the boat to see how she was holding the sucker in her mouth…and had to wait a bit to until she re-adjusted. Seconds seemed like hours…Steve gave her all he had in setting the hooks…With water flying all over the place…the fight was on. (Wish I had my video recorder). Ten seconds later the fight was over…the hooks didn’t bite in…and that fight ended up with Mrs. Muskie leaving in a flash.

All in all, it was a great day on the water. Good friend, good guide and good fishing.

If you want to try for Mr. Toothy, give Eric a call. It’s a very short drive from the metro area…better hurry…the season for the brutes is coming to an end very soon!

Nice fish Brian! You’ve had a pretty darn good second half of the season!

How big was the fish SteveO had on the sucker at the side of the boat?

Ya know…SteveO is going to have to answer that. I heard the clicker go and thought we had a Flathead, but the cork wasn’t moveing. On a closer look, you could see the suckers belly in the water. Eric thought the wire was wrapped around the sucker…and I don’t think they believed me when I said there was a dorsal fin sticking out of the water 4 feet away from the bait. (Too many Jaws movies I guess) When we realized it was a fish, I manned the camera and never got a good look at it…the pics didn’t turn out to good either…but I tried to get some “action” shots.

To be honest, I think I got a little “buck fever” when the rain was coming from the tail of the muskie! Dang those fish can make a ruckus!

Dang………now we got another guy hooked on these fish………More pressure!!!!!!!

Nice fish Brian! Very nice fish!!!

By the way……….what was the name of the lake???

CONGRATS ON THE 1ST LUNGE …NICE FISH

Brian,what a great fish!!! I’m happy for you dude.
Ryan Hale

Way to go I think almost anyone would agree there is nothing like catching a BIG Musky. I am taking a muskie trip on the last weekend of october. Hope I have the same fortune u had. Last years trip i got a 23″ but my dad did get a 43″ Not sure on the weight prob aroun 22#. Can anyone tell me how to get a pic of some of my fish by my name.

To get a profile pic next to your name just send us any pic you’d like used to [email protected] and we’ll get it taken care of for you.

Hey Brian,

Great fish, congrats! That’s a pretty fish. Now the million dollar question: How does the fight of a Muskie compare to a Flathead?

Rootski

Rootski…that’s a good question and I had to think about it for a while…

But it’s like compairing apples to oranges.

The (my) muskie was a top water bite with water flying all over the place. A short line because it hit’s next to the boat then it’s in the net after some rod bending..

With a flat of the same size, not only don’t you see the strike (this on a muskie will stop you in your tracks) but it’s (normally) 40 to 60 feet out. You have a longer fight because it’s further away.

I’m sure not all ski’s strike at the boat, so I can’t say for sure….HOWEVER, I’ll pick up a 40 lbs flathead in the mouth without a glove…and after getting a baits eye veiw of the teeth on this one…I wouldn’t put my hand in a two pound ski!
The teeth I spyed were over 1/4 in long!

Little better picture of the fish…and the hat….

I’ve had them hit right when the lure splashed down. My personal best fish (49 inches) hit a Reef Hawg as soon as it hit the water. I had a 36 inch fish come out of the water and hit a jerkbait I had in the air already too. That was exciting, 36 inches of green fish on 36 inches of line. Frantic reaching for the free-spool button! And everywhere in between. I’ve had them go nuts the whole fight and I’ve seen them come in to the boat like a well trained dog. They’re goofy fish, for sure.

One of the guys I used to fish with spent a lot of time on Lake Michigan. I asked him to compare Muskies and King Salmon. His comment was the same; it’s two different experinces.

BTW, Mona saw your picture and said “Oh, cool!”

Rootski

‘least you got a real hat on in that pic
Nice ski, some day I’ll get my first.

Well thats gittin r done!!! My first Musky was less than a foot long I like how ya line up the lures on the inside of the boat. Nice fish!

Brian:

How long was that fish??? Eric is a very good guide, I have not met him personally, but have seen him on some of the Wisconsin Winter Sports TV shows. I would love to fish with him sometime. At 25#’s, it is conceivable that it was in the 44-46″ range. That is a beauty!!! I had my first big fish of the year show the other night right at dark. I got it to make two turns after the bait and then it just disappeared. I never could really see the length, but it was probably four of five inches across the back!!! That was Tuesday. Fished Thursday and it was the first day I have had to put the coveralls back on!!! We had one fish at the boat that day. Going tomorrow and they are calling for snow up here!!! Hope that means a big one for someone in the boat.

Mark

James,
It wasn’t as big as Brian’s fish. Maybe in the 38″ range. Pretty fish. Sometimes they stick and soemtimes they don’t!
We didn’t put a stick on the boated one but Eric estimated 44″ to 46″. It was a NASTY day but to boat one and move another in a 5 hr span was not too bad.
Thanks for joining me Brian. Sure is fun watching someone catch their first ‘ski

The weather was nasty?

Didn’t really notice….

Thanks for the invite Steve…next time your going to be looking at 46 inches with wiskers at on end!

Way to go Brian. Nice fish and a good story to go along with it.

Briank…….. ma man! Dude! Like………… it’s about time you messed with some real teeth! Pike and muskies are my favorite fish for this very reason……. with almost any other fish, the adventure ends when you get the fish to the boat. With the big toothy critters, half the adventure is surviving the catch! I’ve lost blood over the release of these phantom like fish and it just excites me all the more! You don’t see them every day….. they get really big and heavy…….. and it’s not “over” until you’ve released the fish and mended any wounds. I’d say I’m a 95% wound free guy, but that other 5% is going keep the respect in me!

Congrats on a new experience and hopefully you and SteveO and I can share one similar to that in the future!

So you got your first too this year, She is a beaut. Congrats there trouble maker