I looked at the wind this morning and decided to take a chance, given that it was supposed to take a more southerly turn at some point during the day. It didn't, but it didn't get too wild out there. I trolled the same areas where I've had some success for pike the last few outings +/- 20 fow and 3.4 to 3.8 mph (by GPS) and using the same bait : Berkeley Hit Sticks (15) in rainbow trout and yellow perch patterns. I got a late start and did not get rods in until around 11:00 a.m. I went. 6 for 6 on the pike hunt today but none were over 30 inches.
I left the bar around 4:30 p.m. and decided with the waves being a little larger than ideal, I figured I would just troll back to the shelter of the Pottahawk before pulling the lines. Funny thing though, as I was just passing by Sawmill Creek in 21 FOW doing about 3.7 mph, I had something big hit the yellow perch lure and start peeling off line with the clicker (sorry Stomp) making a racket. By the time I got the rod out of the holder the line counter showed 180 feet, it was set at 142. Once I started winding I could tell it was a heavy fish. I was thinking monster pike. As I started to reel in some line, this one felt different. It made a couple of runs and peeled off more line a couple of times and it kept going deep. After about 10 minutes of tug-o-war, I finally got a good look at the fish and it was too pale in colour to be a pike. About this time, it dove and made another line grab and I came to the realization that this was a Muskie and I nearly filled my drawers. A bit of touch and go single-handed with the net, but I managed to boat it.
I measured it as well as I could and then weighed it and took a quick pic before putting her back in the water. 44 inches give or take and my poor little digital scale was maxed out so I could not get an accurate weight but it reads up to 20 pounds - funny that has never been a problem before this moment. I think I took longer to recover than the fish - mostly the shock of getting a Muskie in this location, but also a forearm workout. It is my first Muskie and the
biggest fish I have caught in my life... a "two-fer".
Sorry for the less than ideal photo. She was not very cooperative and my arm was not long enough to get her all in the photo.
.
I left the bar around 4:30 p.m. and decided with the waves being a little larger than ideal, I figured I would just troll back to the shelter of the Pottahawk before pulling the lines. Funny thing though, as I was just passing by Sawmill Creek in 21 FOW doing about 3.7 mph, I had something big hit the yellow perch lure and start peeling off line with the clicker (sorry Stomp) making a racket. By the time I got the rod out of the holder the line counter showed 180 feet, it was set at 142. Once I started winding I could tell it was a heavy fish. I was thinking monster pike. As I started to reel in some line, this one felt different. It made a couple of runs and peeled off more line a couple of times and it kept going deep. After about 10 minutes of tug-o-war, I finally got a good look at the fish and it was too pale in colour to be a pike. About this time, it dove and made another line grab and I came to the realization that this was a Muskie and I nearly filled my drawers. A bit of touch and go single-handed with the net, but I managed to boat it.
I measured it as well as I could and then weighed it and took a quick pic before putting her back in the water. 44 inches give or take and my poor little digital scale was maxed out so I could not get an accurate weight but it reads up to 20 pounds - funny that has never been a problem before this moment. I think I took longer to recover than the fish - mostly the shock of getting a Muskie in this location, but also a forearm workout. It is my first Muskie and the
biggest fish I have caught in my life... a "two-fer".
Sorry for the less than ideal photo. She was not very cooperative and my arm was not long enough to get her all in the photo.
.
- 9 at the moment. I might have to eat a sheep head to get the silly grin off my face 
. But then again, I wouldn't have enough beer in the house to get the 
taste ou of my mouth!
well done
. I hope that also falls into the category of "appropriate applications" as well. You and E.V. would have been proud yesterday. Even in all of the excitement of the line peeling off the reel I remembered to deactivate it before the retrieve. I'm sure just from sheer repetition. Also, I have been calling that spot on the spit "Sawmill Creek" for as long as I can remember, including in a recent fishing report and it wasn't until looking at the spot on Google Maps that I realized it was actually "Sawlog Creek". Sorry if it confused any one about where I actually was. It seemed any unlikely place for a muskie encounter, what with its relatively featureless bottom, but sometimes it just pays to keep the lines out as long as you can I guess. I was just hoping to get something bigger than a hammer handle that was the trend for the rest of the day.
for my truck that's a significant gut punch if you're bearing the cost alone. It may be a few and far between treat for me since it's about the same time as shallow perch season in LPB and perching actually puts food on the table. I have to confess though that even a bucket full of jumbos does not provide quite the same thrill. It is nice to mix it up a bit though. It is the first season for me targeting pike on Erie, so maybe it will happen again when I least expect it. If not, it's not likely that I will tire of fighting 30 plus inch pike anytime soon either.
