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Just another musky trip...


Fisherpete

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Still a bit upset that I didn't get a great picture of last Thursday's PB 47" on my solo trip, I called up Albert and we headed out for a quick afternoon fish. His son Marco tagged along as well. We were on the water around 2pm or so.

 

Weather was overcast with low winds (<10km). Water temps were the same as last week, 53F.

 

We started out by fishing the area where I caught the 47" last week, and found a beautiful bed of green cabbage in 8-10 feet of water. An hour casting there yielded no results, so we trolled over to some shallower weed & reed beds where I caught the pair of 33's last Thursday. Out came my box of Rockstar (Clive/Mepps) inline spinners. The clouds finally cleared away for a few moments, so I switched my chartreuse inline spinner to one with a big silver blade to create some flash. First cast with the silver one and I was on. And it was big! A nice fight and soon she was in the cradle, which this time was handled like a PRO by Albert ;). Once in the cradle, I realized that this was another really long fish - and the tape measure proved me right, another 47"! Not nearly as fat as last weeks, but a beauty nonetheless. And this time I had a photographer present! She had not behaved very well while in the cradle, rolling and thrashing and wrapping the hooks up in the mesh, so it took a while to get her unhooked, but she revived well and swam away strong.

 

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Albert and Marco immediately dove into my box of Rockstars and clipped them on. I had not even picked up my rod yet after my release when Albert, on his first cast, shouted out "There's one... there's one... right behind my lure...SHE'S ON!!!". She had followed him in and then nailed it right at boatside! She fought hard, and kept trying to dive under the boat or head towards the motor, but soon she was cradled, and Albert had smashed his old PB of 36", with a 42"! While helping unhook her, she got me good with her gill rakers, but I hardly noticed at the time. Some first aid would have to be administered soon after so I didn't bleed all over Albert's boat carpet! A few pics of the happy camper with his prize catch, and she released well.

 

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At that point, the clouds returned, and the action stopped! Marco got a good follow a half hour later, but that was it. We fished until 6pm or so and then headed in before the rain started. Next round : Thursday! Bring on the 50"!

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Just a word of advise Pete......you should get rid of the cradle. They can be quite damaging to the fish and you tend to have to spend an hour afterwards trying to get your hooks out of them. Go to a large sized Beckman style net....you will wish you had a long time ago....

 

:)

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I am not sold on the Beckman nets, or any of the big nets in that style. The advantages I see are that they can act as a "holding pen" in the water, and that they would be easier to use on solo trips. But as proven by my solo trip last week, cradles work too. My boat sits quite low in the water, so using the cradle is quite easy from it. I can see having issues with boats that have high sides. I just HATE seeing musky and pike fins get split and destroyed by normal mesh nets, which happens even with the bigger ones. The netting is often spaced so far apart that split fins can and do happen. Those splits never heal, and that fish will forever have a disadvantage being a top predator. I have had zero muskie casualties since switching to cradles, and if you look at the pics of my muskies, they go back in far better condition than many that others catch and release. To my knowledge, I have not split a single fin on any of my esox! My newest cradles have rubberized mesh, so getting the hooks out afterwards has not been an issue at all. (I have two, a 48" Lucky Strike one, and a 60" Frabill one) Only when the fish rolls is there ANY problems - and this happens with the Beckman style nets as well (as seen on shows like the Musky Hunter and Bob Mehsikomers show). There is a reason why many guides choose the cradles despite nets being easier to use - overall, the fish are released healthier.

 

Check out the fins on these:

 

43.5"

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34"

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43"

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47"

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Edited by Fisherpete
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OK, after doing some more research, there is a Beckman pen-style net that I would like to have. Who wants to pick it up for me as a Christmas gift! It has the tangle free, smaller "fin-saver" mesh which makes the cradles so effective. It can be had for only around $200 U.S.! Seriously though, I may consider it for next year.

 

http://www.lindyfishingtackle.com/productd...npenfinsavernet

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OK, after doing some more research, there is a Beckman pen-style net that I would like to have. Who wants to pick it up for me as a Christmas gift! It has the tangle free, smaller "fin-saver" mesh which makes the cradles so effective. It can be had for only around $200 U.S.! Seriously though, I may consider it for next year.

 

http://www.lindyfishingtackle.com/productd...npenfinsavernet

 

 

Don't worry about the net vs. cradle thing Pete! Some Musky guy's think their way is best and everyone else should be like them! <_<:rolleyes:

 

Excellent report, pics and fish Pete!!! :Gonefishing::canadian::thumbsup_anim:

 

I couldn't help but notice in the first 2 pics, it looks like Mr. Musky got a little nip in for good measure! ;)

Edited by GCD
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Oh, he got me good with his gill rakers. Nice cuts on three fingers to be exact...

 

As far as the net/cradle thing goes, the most important thing to me is releasing the fish as healthy as possible, so just in case, I will look into the net. And a part-time job on the side to pay for it LOL!

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I'm not a big cradle fan as I'm not crazy about getting my head that close to a big lure with tension on it! After last week I'm not a big net fan either. I caught a 40 inch fish (approx) last week that my partner managed to knock the suick out of its mouth with the net. Next fish (approx 43) he netted ok, but when I went to get the camera after unhooking the fish he tells me the fish is gone! Had created a rip in the mesh and swam right through it! Was a good day, but no photographic proof!

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Guest gbfisher

A craddle is for letting fish go when you want to measure the thing. Other than that it's a net all the way. I never used a net for any type of fish. That's until l learned what hooks can do to your digits... :huh: .. No, the little ones don't go in the net. They get shaken off at the side of the boat....

It's always the little ones that hurt ya..... :)

Edited by gbfisher
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yeah you should try the beckman finsaver pen style net. I have had one for 3 years now with no issues. Have landed fish that I would have lost trying to get into a cradle also. some disadvantages are that it takes up a lot of room on your boat, but I think it's a more than fair trade off.

Edited by Daryl Cameron
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