Caught my PB muskie on the St. Lawrence!

[Fisherpete]

Earlier this year, as part of the Fishing for Tyler charity auction Mike Rousseau was kind enough to offer up a guided day of muskie fishing on the St. Lawrence river. Andrew was lucky enough to end up with the trip, and chose me as his lucky sidekick to join! Having fished a tough closing day there with Mike a few years ago, I was pumped to give the Larry another shot.

 

As many of you know, a few weeks ago Andrew and I had a great three day adventure to LOTW, and together landed nine muskies on that trip. Three were beasts, a 48.5", 49.5" and my first fifty incher ever - a tank of a 51". I had been hunting for that first fifty for ten years... my hopes were high that the St. Lawrence might cough up my second! Andrew is also hunting for his second, although his first was a 55" from LOTW that will likely be a very tough PB to beat... for a while anyway...

 

48.5"

 

49.5"

 

51"

 

Day One

 

Mike was fishing in a walleye tourney on the Saturday, and invited us up to join him afterwards at the weigh in. It was a tough bite, but Mike and his brother placed second in the tournament - congrats were in order! We arrived just as things were wrapping up, dropped off our gear at his cottage and headed out for a few hours of bonus evening fishing. The plan was to cover lots of water and troll for the majority of the time. I chose the rod on the left, Andrew had the one on the right for first bite. It didn't take too long before my rod went off - a decent little pike to break the ice.

 

 

We continued on trolling until dusk, and just before heading in Mike arrived at a spot that he knew might be good for casting. On my third cast my rod buckled, and I set the hooks into a fish. I knew immediately that it was a really big one. She stayed down deep, and battled me with massive headshakes followed by line peeling runs. I eventually got a glimpse of her quite a ways out, as she thrashed down deep. Huge flashes of gold let me know that this was a monster. "It's a fifty boys!!!" I grunted as the battle continued. As I fought her closer to the boat, and got my first real look at her, the adrenaline flowed even faster. I yelled "Holy... she might go 55"!!!" This was surely the longest muskie I had ever had at the end of my line. She finally tired just enough that Mike got the net under her and the battle was won. Some whooping and hollering ensued, and I could not believe what had just happened. Third cast. Just ridiculous. One of if not the best fight I have ever experienced. I hauled her out of the net, and Andrew began snapping pictures.

 

 

 

 

She taped out at 53.5" long with a 22" girth. My LOTW beauty was heavier, but she was my new PB for length. Reviving her took a bit which was not surprising after that lengthy battle, but she swam away strong. She tailed along the surface for quite a while, and we stayed with her for a good half hour until she powered down to the depths.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We resumed casting for the remaining shreds of daylight without any further action, then headed in for some well deserved celebratory refreshments.

 

Day Two

 

After a good sleep in Mike's cabin, and our bellies full of Timmies, we headed out on Sunday morning. We primarily trolled again, stopping occasionally to cast high percentage spots. At the same area where I got the big girl the night before, Andrew raised a good fish which roared towards the boat chasing his lure, her large snout only inches behind. He swung smoothly into a figure 8, and on the first turn she smashed it - but was just skin hooked, and the hooks immediately popped free on the first headshake. She was a mid 40's fish and pretty thick too. Excited at seeing a good fish already, we carried on and not long afterwards, one of the trolling rods loaded up and peeled drag. Mike popped it out of the Salty, handed it to Andrew and the battle was on. Very similar to my fish, this one stayed deep, and fought very hard. Andrew played her perfectly, and she made it into the net. It was another nice fish, 46" and solid, and also happened to be tagged. We took pics, recorded the numbers from the tag and released her - I managed to take a cool underwater video of the release and took a few stills out of it. At Mike's request, the very obvious background has been covered to protect this area.

 

Battle shot

 

In the net

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mike raised one more fish casting, but that was it for the day. Our mission had been accomplished - Andrew and I had each hoped to land a fish from the Larry, and I was lucky enough to land a giant and set a new PB. 53.5" is going to be a challenge to top, but I am certainly up for it! The St. Lawrence is a great fishery, and Mike is a knowledgeable and very personable guide who goes that extra mile to put you on big fish. Every time out is a genuine chance at the fish of a lifetime. Andrew and I will be heading back there in the not too distant future to hunt for more giants! Thanks again to Mike for his generosity in putting up this trip, and to Andrew for bringing me along.

 

Thanks for reading!

 

Pete & Andrew

Edited August 29, 2014 by Fisherpete

[spincast]

sweet. Mike sure puts everyone onto their target species. Good karma comes back to you Pete for putting Simon and company onto their pb cats.

[BillsTheBassMan]

Beautiful stuff Pete. At the rate I'm going I'll be posting similar stuff soon. Congrats on what is shaping up to be an amazing year my friend. You've really turned into a guru.

[Jds63]

amazing fish, congrats on landing that monster !!!

[Rich Clemens]

That was one whale of a trip and a bunch of beautiful Muslims. Congrats.

[Roy]

You guys did famously with Mike. Congrats to all three of you. Great pictures as well. Thanks for sharing.

[leaf4]

That was one whale of a trip and a bunch of beautiful Muslims. Congrats.

They were pretty beautiful Muslims thanks for pointing that out! hahaha kidding, hilarious auto correct!

 

Beauty fish and good on you guys for getting some big'uns, picked up some tackle from mike a couple weeks ago and will finally get to use it in 2 weeks or so, looking forward to it!

[Moosebunk]

Not sure which I like better Mike, the fatty 51 or your lengthy 53. Either way, you're on fire traveling this summer and, posting some of the best muskie I've seen anywhere. Quality stuff. Congrats again.

[Pikeslayer]

Well done men!!! As hosts, I can't think of anything more rewarding than putting 'paying' guests on new PB's . Anxious planning & second guessings are so worthy of the smiles, pix and stories, especially when contributions to our OFC fund raisers are at stake.

Congrats Mike, Pete & Andrew on a great day and everyone who participated in both the Tyler event & Fishing For A Cure. Looks like the $$$ bar is going to be raised for next year

 

Note to Mike;

I'm available weekend of Sept 27 or anytime after October 20th. Never caught a Muskie, so a PB is easily attainable

[Gnote]

Awesome work guys. A couple of very nice fish!

[Terry]

great stuff there

 

note to self, fish the larry

[Rod Caster]

3rd cast?!!!

[grizzlybri]

Congrats on the PB Pete, and great report. Glad to see all the great stories from the Fishing for Tyler auction

[Fisherpete]

Seriously, 3rd cast. Had to laugh. Mike couldn't believe it either, he is mainly a troller... well he was before taking us out anyways LOL!

[captpierre]

I spent a week on the Larry around Brockville a few years back with poor results.

 

What general area were you fishing?

[mike rousseau]

In all honesty that was probable the funniest 2 days fishing I had all year... You 2 were a gas and a pleasure to fish with... And drink with... Lol... The line "do you have a shack" will be sticking for a while... Lol

 

And PM sent Simon...

[Freshtrax]

Beauty fish guys! One of these days I'm gonna give these musky a try.

[fishindevil]

Awsome fish guys !!!! Some real giants for sure !!!! The Larry is a big fish making factory for sure !!!! Rivers rule man !!!! Cheers & congrats

[MCTFisher9120]

Unreal Musky report, what a PB Pete congrads man love the pictures!

[jimmer]

WOW, why do we fish for anything else???

[Sinker]

Those fish are awesome! Congrats!

 

S.

[Lunkerhunter]

Thanks mike for being an amazing host and guide! it really was a fun weekend and I cant wait to do it again. hahaha im also still afraid to go near a poutine again after that lunch on the sunday. I should have listened and stuck with the steak and cheese only. lmao

 

it sure has been one heck of a year for Pete and I and we still have lots left in us! pretty incredible that petes last 3 muskie caught were 48.5, 51 and 53.5. overall the amount of 40+ inch fish that have seen the boat for us this year is much higher than usual. lets just hope the rest of the season continues on this pattern.

 

ps. I love those release shots, in that clear water they turned out amazing.

 

on a side note anyone know where to report the tag number for a tagged muskie? do we just email MNR?

[Tom McCutcheon]

Andrew; you need to get the information to the MNR Biologist for the district you were fishing.

[mepps]

Amazing stuff Pete, congrats!

[darsky]

I would email the tag # to Roy. There are 2 0r 3 people tagging out there