MN Deer Opener- Muskie Report Big V Style

Our annual muskie trip to Vermilion over deer opener was a blast. We had a group of 8 this year and we rented a cabin on the lake for the 4 days. The group this year was very diverse in fishing methods, we had die hard trollers and a group of huckers, a good mix of great people. Cale started off with a new PB @ 51 inches the first day, a great way to kick things off and also a good test of Tim’s netting ability, which he was spot on, nice work guys!! Cale’s fish came trolling over deep water adjecent to a major rock complex, also known as the cisco’s bedroom–more on that later!

Day two Cale again had the hot stick. He boated a big fat 46.5 trolling, again over deep water. The trollers had a pattern that was paying off big dividends, leaving the casters second guessing our approach. We were moving fish on the cast but not many. Most of our follows were low and slow and showed very little interest at boat side, however we did see some MONSTER fish. Max and I decided to run a few trolling passes and Max scored twice. First was a good pike that came over 34 feet of water and the second was a 34 inch muskie that ate a 13-Dunwright Crank over 28 feet of water. We thought we had a good run going but that soon changed gears for us as we trolled for 4 hours with not a single strike. Back to hucking we went when the trollers continued on. Day 3 we all struggled and never managed to boat any fish, but we did get to see a few more on the cast, leaving us hopeful that our last day would bring sucess. The sunset on Saturday was AWAZING over the big lake and we all had very similar photos to share over dinner.

Sunday when we woke the lake was like glass and the sun was out, it was going to be a beautiful day on the water. We gave a nod to the muskie gods and hit the water. Max and I had plans to fish until noon and then get on the road. At 11:58am I started to pack up some of my equiptment and Max said he was going to make a few more casts on the stones. Would you know it, he pulls up a 48-49 incher on blades coming lightning hot at the boat. The first turn into the 8 I watched with high hopes as I fully expect to see this fish eat. The second time around, now moving even faster on Max’s bait, I was positive this fish was going to eat on the outside turn. The 3rd time around I was standing behind Max with the net, just waiting. Needless to say this fish went around 10-12 times and never did hit, however this was just the sign we needed from the muskie god’s, remember I was ready to leave! About another 20 yards down the reef Max pulled up a FAT 45-46 that went around the 8 a few times. I looked at Max and we said the same thing at about the same time, “One more pass”. We fired up the big motor and got to the top of the reef. My second cast I got drilled and boated a beefcake 43-inch fish that was full of cisco’s, which she left on my leg and my boat. We moved about another 15 yards down and I got rocked again, this time the fish came off right at the side of the boat, we both got to see it, but it did not stay pinned long enough to get at the net. Once again-“One more pass”..We got back to the top of the reef and Max had an absolute TANK come in on his second or third cast. We parked on that fish with high hopes this would be our big girl we had been waiting all trip for. 5 minutes passed after she show up at boat side and I got drilled again, I was yelling at Max to grab the net. His bomb cast had just landed out about 100 yards away when I set the hook. This fish hit like a freight train and headed for deep water. When it surfaced we both could tell it was not the super-tanker we had follow, but a good fish to put in the bag. It bumped at 45 inches and again was loaded full of cisco’s, which again left a deposit on me and my boat. After releasing this fish we once again decided to make just one last pass. We did see one more fish in this location but decided it best to get on the road, afterall we were now 4-hours later then what we told our gals we would be. Thanks for talking me into staying Max!!!

Back to the cisco’s bedroom-
Each and every year I make an attempt to hit the fall spawn on the rocks, some years it’s hit, most it’s miss. This year our timing was spot on. When we were out trolling we would hook into them on big crank’s, hucking the shallow rocks we were hooking them on plastic’s. These tasty little things were everywhen we went. This is a fun time of year when you hit the nail on the head, on the flip side with all this bait fish on the rocks it makes it hard at times to get those big fish moving, frustrating! Keeping a positive attitude and knowing that the next cast just my be the big one makes a major difference in how things shake out. This was a great trip from all perspectives. We could not have asked for better weather and our timing was great based on the amount of fish on the reefs. Most of all I could not have asked to share this trip with a better group of guys, thanks a lot boys!

Happy Hucking!!!