I spend most of my non working time on the water fishing, but rarely target muskie exclusively. I have prob 80-90 muskie under my belt in the last 20 years but prob half have been what i considered incidentals. I have had good years and bad years with very little consistency but have managed to get a 48" in the boat. This fish was caught like 15 mins into our first fishing "date" together. I always wanted a day with a pro to hasten the learning curve, but would never put my own money up for it. This is why i thought this was the perfect birthday present.
Fast forward to last Friday, the day was finnaly here. My girl and I met John at the launch and headed out onto the water. I arrived in shorts, but quickly put on pants and hoodie due to a really chilly north wind. The water was brown, the waves were crashing, man the muskie gods love to mess with me!!! After a quick intro and chit chat while cruising we got to our first spot. Almost right away we started with a few follows and i missed a mid 40's boat side on a figure 8. With my knees still shaking, the old lady sets the hook into something solid! To this point a 38" pike was her biggest fish and we got it only a few days prior, her first chance to fight a fish of decent size. Well i guess that was all the practice she needed. With very little coaching from John and I, She owned this fish, it tried so hard to get off boat side with dives, runs and rolls. 2-3 mins after the hit, a beautiful 48" muskie in the net. Oh my god, she just tied my biggest fish ever about an hour into our session, in her third year of serious fishing
After that she casually caught and released a healthy 43". A fish that would have surely got us more excited had we not just seen a 48" a few mins earlier. As the sun started to go down we went back to where we had seen the most action during the afternoon. This was my chance i thought, the night time fish. Sure enough i see a flash behind my lure, one turn of the figure 8 and she's on. I set the hook and this damn thing pokes her head out of the water, opens her mouth and spits my lure out, what an empty feeling. I felt like i had just lost a best friend, like i had been dumped. I only had about 30 seconds to mourn and i see her haul back and set the hook....on another..oh this one looked big. After a short fight, she was in the net. 50.25 inches!!! She had caught three( mabye two?) muskie up until this day, this was her third of the day! Pure beast fish.
This was an experience of a life time for me, i have never been more determined to break that 50" mark and have been given the confidence that it will be done. John was such a great teacher, not only about the fishing aspect of it, but the great care and respect he shows these fish. He really made us feel like we owe it to these fish to take the best care possible of them once they are boat side, so much so that I wont go muskie fishing until i get a real muskie net, not just a big net like i already have. Hats off to you John, you truely are a master of your trade.
To throw a little salt on the wounds, the muskie gods gave me a lil 30 incher the next day while bass fishing!
