DrPhil

I posted a photo of Howard with his 53 pounder awhile back. Here is his most recent catch a fine Pa. fish. We do have some big musky in Pa. This fish was also released as are all of Howards musky.

For humor Patrick McManus has several. A Fine and Pleasent Misery is probably the best. You will be laughing out loud. For fish behavior Mark Sosin's Through the Fish's Eye will be a real eye opener.

Mattyk rods are a very personal thing. The guys are steering you in the right direction, there are different rods for different applications. Fast tapers are all the thing right now. Personally, they don't work well for me, I prefer a more progressive taper. My latest casting rod, I do jerkbaits %90 of the time, is an 8 footer sold by Pete Maina"s outfit. It is best jerkbait rod I have ever used. Most jerkbaiters use a vertical motion, I use a horizontal retrieve for which the longer more progressive rod is ideal. Before investing a large sum in an unknown I would suggest you try some of your fellow musky fishermen rods and see which one fits you best. Another advantage of the long rod is figure 8ing. I have seen Dr. Gene Smith from Ky bury his rod up to the reel working a fish on a figure 8. He worked the fish for about 2 min before it hit--one of the most exciting hits I have ever seen.

I would like to say it was a Muskie Magnet but it wasn't. Howard is stopping by to pick up our new short line trolling prototypes for testing I'll ask him when I see him and post it for all to see.

This fish was taken by Howard Wagner recently from the upper Niagara River. It weighed in at 53 1/2 lbs and had a girth of 28 inches. Howard is one of Pennsylvania's top musky men and released the fish.