Long Weekend Report

[Andy]

I thought I'd share my long weekend results and thoughts.

Went to a Kawartha Lake I hadn't fished before. I've had trouble getting into musky again this year, still learning the hard way, spending lots of time casting, with not a lot to show for the effort. So many lures, so few fish.

Start casting a Suick Friday afternoon (Sept. 4, full moon) a little after 3 p.m. and have a follow in the first five minutes. Soon have a small musky on, but it throws the bait once it's goes airborne. Cool! I've seen two fish in no time at all!

I switch to a bucktail, and soon have another small musky throw the bait. What am I doing wrong?

I clamp down the drag even tighter (one of those lessons learned the hard way) and soon land my first musky, 32".

In the next hour and a half, I land four more musky measuring 32", 35.5", 43", and 39.5 ". My biggest to date had been 34", so a new personal best! I've never experienced that kind of action while musky fishing before, and it could be a long time before it happens again. Around 5:30 pm, the bite turned off, and I didn't see another musky that day. I fished Saturday and didn't see a musky all day. Caught a smaller musky on Sunday, and had a few follows Monday.

Tons of boat traffic Saturday and Sunday, so many inconsiderate boaters and reckless jetskiers, it's amazing no one got hurt. Seeing coffee cups and cigarette butts floating in the water was maddening.

Lessons learned...

1) I still believe time on the water will put fish on the boat, but I'll be trying to get out on the full moon if I can.

2) The large Stowmaster net I have was some of the best money I've ever spent. It allows you to basically corral the fish while you catch your breath and figure out what you are doing next.

3) When you think you have the drag clamped down tight enough, tighten it some more.

4) I like going barbless. Of the five musky I landed, the lure came free from four of them when the fish was swimming in the net. The other one came out with no trouble at all, and all fish swam away almost immediately on release. You just have to really keep the pressure on when fighting the fish.

5) Even though you may think you have too many lures, and that you only really use a couple of them routinely, you never know which lure may be the hot lure of the trip. I had never caught a fish on the bucktail I was throwing, and it's (for now) my new favorite.

Hope the picture of the 43"er comes up OK. I'm 6' 4" tall, btw. Thx for reading.

[mistaredone]

Great stuff Andy!! To stop the skis from jumping and spitting out your lure keep your rod tip down and when the fish comes close to the surface put your rod strait down into the water right up to your reel. Jumps are great fun with the small guys but when you have that monster on dont take the chance. btw you should get some more sun your face is looking a little pail lol!

[Leecher]

Sounds like you hit the jackpot on Sept 4th.... got to love it when you get steady action

Congratulations Andy on your PB A real beauty!!!

and thanks for sharing your adventure with us

Leechman

[MCTFisher9120]

Great job sir!

 

Thanks for the report,

MTBF

[NAW]

Thanks for the report Andy, and conrets on the new PB.

 

Maybe the next full moon, you'll get a new PB!

[Andy]

It turns out I left one of my nets at the place I was staying, so darn it all, I guess I'll have to go back to that lake soon. I have a little time of work soon, and I noticed the new moon falls on the 18th, hhmmmmm. I did try for pickeral in the evening and picked up a couple, but need more time to figure them out as well. Lots of smallies and rock bass on worm harnesses.

I will make a point of trying to keep the rod tip down, I hadn't thought of plunging the rod itself into the water to fight the fish. I did find it a little tricky trying to bring in a nice fish and handle the big net at the same time, I was by myself at the time. I hope to get more practice at that soon.

[johnnyb]

sounds like a great outing, Andy...thanks for sharing! But blocking out the face??? Dare I ask why?

[Andy]

sounds like a great outing, Andy...thanks for sharing! But blocking out the face??? Dare I ask why?

 

It's my _._. impression. I'm wearing a glove on one hand, too.

Just shy, I guess.

[ehg]

Have been fishing for a long time and caught many decent fish over the years. One day i checked out moon phase calendars and was surprised to notice that most PB's and exceptional fishing days coincided with the full moon phases. Made me a believer I will go fishing any time i can anyways.

 

Looks like you had a real good day! It is tough to fish for muskies by yourself, have done it but will try to never do it again.

Great report!