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9 years on OFC, wow... time truly flies. Just would like to say thanks to all the great people I have met and fished with on this site, many have become good friends. As many of you know, muskie fishing is my passion. I started muskie fishing in 2003, and have evolved quite a bit from an Ugly Stik Lite, 8lb Fireline and Mepps #5 kinda guy. So, to make this 1000th post a special one, here's a collection of some of my babies from the past 10 years. The first - a 35 incher - being a perch, bass and walleye guy, this fish seemed like an absolute monster to me. It sure fought like crazy on that 7' Ugly Stik Lite, and hit a blue fox #4 if memory serves. This is the fish that hooked me on these creatures! 45 incher - September 2003. That 35 incher that started it all was dwarfed by this beast. I was fishing for walleye, and had already caught a bunch that day on a Mepps #4. Guess she wanted an after dinner mint and ate my offering... I had a replica of her made at Advanced Taxidermy thinking this was the biggest I would ever catch... well it did stand as my personal best for a few years but not any more! The. second pic, which is my avatar, remains as one of my favourite pictures. 43.5 incher - glass calm day, great battle A couple nice ones from a six fish day 43.5" that had amazing colours Fished Sturgeon Lake for the first time - launched the boat around noon, and started trolling towards the first area we had picked on a map to fish - rod starts screaming! This 44" that gave me the worst cut I have ever had from a bite. Bled like a tap for a very long time. I took the picture below without incident, and was showing my brother how to hold a muskie by the gill plate when she thrashed and got me. I actually had to stop fishing and drive the boat to the cottage my brother was staying at and patch myself up.Turned out to be a crazy day for numbers as my brother and I went on to land 8 - but the second biggest was only a 37". Golden beauty - 43.5" - and the nice pic was taken by my son who was only 9 or 10 at the time! What happens when you skip watching the Leaf home opener and go for a solo evening trip? You catch a personal best and get a crappy pic of her on the floor of the boat. I was pretty ticked off. She taped out at 47" and was heavy too. Really crazy hit too... my lure just stopped dead - thought I had snagged a log on bottom. Nothing but weight for a good 5 seconds until I set the hook a second time - then the fun began. Ever used a cradle solo on a 47" missile? Good thing she was hooked well... Still a wee bit bitter about the lousy pics of my PB a few days before, I hit the same lake and pulled out another 47"! Not nearly the same girth however. Caught on one of OFC's own luremaker's creations - one of Clive's Rockstar inline spinners! Flawless 40" November fish with girth Heavy, heavy 46" that fought like a freight train Beautiful 45.5" - the fish that started a pattern for me in 2010 that would lead to a 109 muskie season Nice 42" that took the sting out of four hooked and lost fish that day First tiger continued