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Posted (edited)

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!

 

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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.

 

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43.5 incher - glass calm day, great battle

 

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A couple nice ones from a six fish day

 

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43.5" that had amazing colours

 

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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".

 

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Golden beauty - 43.5" - and the nice pic was taken by my son who was only 9 or 10 at the time!

 

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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...

 

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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!

 

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Flawless 40" November fish with girth

 

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Heavy, heavy 46" that fought like a freight train

 

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Beautiful 45.5" - the fish that started a pattern for me in 2010 that would lead to a 109 muskie season

 

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Nice 42" that took the sting out of four hooked and lost fish that day

 

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First tiger

 

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continued

Edited by Fisherpete
Posted (edited)

Part 2

 

NIce looking average fish, just like the pic again taken by my son

 

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42" from 2013 caught at sunset

 

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Speed trolling worked on this one

 

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43.5" from 2013

 

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PB tiger @ 41". Such beautiful fish!

 

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Wacky worming a dock for bass... lift the worm out of the water, muskie comes flying at the worm and misses - heard the jaws snapping open and closed in mid air!!! Throw back a spinnerbait and she eats it.

 

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46" October beauty trolling deep water

 

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Nice tiger with the craziest set of teeth ever

 

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Reward for fishing a tough fall day

 

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End of day beauty

 

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Fat October 43.5"

 

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Pair of nice clean fish - 2 in 10 minutes

 

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Nice 42" from a 4 fish day

 

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Who says you have to go to St. Clair to catch a spotties?

 

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Clean 39"

 

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42" right before a thunderstorm smacked us

 

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Edited by Fisherpete
Posted (edited)

Part 3

 

My first LOTW muskie - 42"

 

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Heavy 44" that gave me one of my best fights to date

 

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46" beauty from Sept 2013

 

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Personal best falls again - September 2010 - made a bomb cast along a weedline, and watched the lure coming up towards the boat when this fish rocketed up from the depths and almost ripped the rod right out of my hands at boatside. Insane boatside battle followed. This fish was MEAN and I mean MEAN. Even looks mean. Love it. 48 inches of gnarly.

 

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Personal best falls again - November 28th, 2012. Solo trip in a blizzard - could only troll on this day the waves were so bad. It was so cold out the camera (which is supposed to be a 'tough' water/shock/freezeproof) would not turn on. Managed a few pics and a video clip on my crappy phone - but once again, nobody in the boat to capture my moment for me. Water temps were 38F and this fish hit hard - then came in without too much drama. Good thing too, because my Stowmaster net would not open properly - but I somehow managed to get her to swim in the foot wide opening in the V. Lip hooked by one prong of one treble... everything was against me but got her in the boat somehow. Was this finally my 50"? Nope - 49.5" with a tail pinch. And the quest continues...

 

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Release video

 

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And finally my heaviest muskie to date - from my LOTW 2013 trip - 48" and thick from head to tail. I actually had a pretty hard time holding this fish up for pictures. Thought for sure she was a 50 in the net but was not even disappointed when she was not - just in a total different class than any muskie I have caught before.

 

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Tight lines all - and may 2014 be the year of the 50" :D

Edited by Fisherpete
Posted

Great 1000 th post Pete. I was trying to do something memorable for my 10,000 th, but it just didn't end up that way. Also, I kinda felt like maybe I spend too much time on here :whistling::whistling:

Posted

LOL Joey... it's a great place to be when not on the water!

 

A few weeks ago John (cowanjo) mentioned that he wanted to see more fishy posts... so I had it in the back of my head since then to do this post!

Posted (edited)

the title is misleading the 1000 post was great I also like the 1001 1002 they are all great. thanks for taking the time to post all the pics and take us down memory lane

Edited by Mike P.
Posted

That's a great 1,000th post! Maybe the best anniversary thread posted here. Thanks for sharing. I'm not a betting man but I'm sure the 50+ will grace your boat in 2014.

Posted

That's exactly it Mike... in LOTW both times I saw numerous 50+ fish - had a bunch of them chasing on figure 8's... just no takers yet. I lost one fish here in the Kawarthas that I suspect may have made that magical mark as well. I do find that in the past few seasons as the size of my lures has increased that I am seeing bigger fish more frequently as well. They are here in my home waters, just few and far in between. I'm planning some time on LSC for the summer, that should give me a shot... maybe another trip or two to the Larry as well (hint hint LOL)!

Posted

That's exactly it Mike... in LOTW both times I saw numerous 50+ fish - had a bunch of them chasing on figure 8's... just no takers yet. I lost one fish here in the Kawarthas that I suspect may have made that magical mark as well. I do find that in the past few seasons as the size of my lures has increased that I am seeing bigger fish more frequently as well. They are here in my home waters, just few and far in between. I'm planning some time on LSC for the summer, that should give me a shot... maybe another trip or two to the Larry as well (hint hint LOL)!

I'm sure I can find a day again... Maybe Andrew will come this time too...

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