My Musky Evolution and new PB

[mike rousseau]

Good morning

 

With fishing a lot of us get stuck on a certain species... certain technique... certain routine and often we can basically stick with our routines for a long time

 

This is how it has been for me and musky... kinda

 

When I first started musky fishing I didn't even know there were lures or rods for it... we drifted sucker minnows on basically bass gear... and this I did for several years... I was even under the impression you could only catch them in the fall... we used a gaff and payed em on the floor of the boat

 

Then my grandfather gave me his musky box of lures and an 8" swim wizz changed my musky world the first day trying it... we hooked up 3 musky in a few hours

 

I shifted into my second phase of musky fishing... troll upriver... stop... drift minnows downriver

 

That was a few more years...

 

Then some buddies showed me musky casting... at first I thought it was totally stupid cause it was A LOT of work and I was catching more using suckers and trolling than they were casting... but I tried a bit here and there

 

Well a few years back I had an eye opener when someone in my boat got a big fish casting way up into a weedbed where my lines could never get drifting or trolling... so I started to cast a bit more here and there

 

Still for a few years casting only put a few fish in my boat compared to trolling

 

The last 3 years I started pushing to learn more about casting my spots as it was way more fun to hookup on the cast... I put the time in... learnt the "spot on the spot" on my milk runs... learnt more timing (used to fish mid day all the time lol)...

 

The first year was exhausting with little to show

 

Last year was far more fruitful and I got hooked on casting... but no giants ever seamed to hit the net casting

 

I set a goal this year to push for my first ever 50"+ musky casting

 

This year I can hardly get a bite trolling and all my fish are casting... that being said I cast more than I troll now...

 

I had what I consider a lot of musky in my boat this year considering I'm on a low numbers big size fishery... but still no 50" ever on the cast...

 

I booked off the week after labour day as there was a full moon in there... had some family time... then had a buddy out bass fishing... then it was musky time starting Wednesday

 

Pulled into my first spot... I put on a double 10 blade as I wanted to fish really aggressive so my buddy in the back would catch on a bulldawg as that is what's been working lately

 

Well I think the fishing gods saw that I was trying to help someone else catch a musky and graced me with a fish that I have been hunting hard

 

Literally 5 minutes in (still a bit dark so couldn't see follows) as I went to turn into my figure 8 what looked to be a 5 gallon bucket ate my bait with only about 3' of line out

 

A minute or 2 of pure chaos... death rolls... line peeling... jumping... and coaching my rookie buddy on how to net her and then we had her in the bag

 

I knew it was my first 50" casting musky but it's hard to estimate exact length

 

We get her unhooked and let her rest in the night while I waited for my hands to stop shaking

 

Took a quick pic and put her on the bump board

 

55.5"

 

Not only had I got my first 50" casting musky but I beat my personal best intentional musky of 53.5" (I got a 56" fishing walleye)

 

Very special fish for my that'll be hard to for me to ever beat

 

She was literally the ugliest fish I've ever seen but to me she was beautiful

 

 

 

[lew]

Beauty fish Mike and congrats on another milestone.

 

Nothing more fun than a biggun hammering your baits right beside the boat.

[adam lancia]

Congrats!! That would have scared the hell outta me so badly I very well might have thrown the rod and reel into the lake LOL.

[PUMP KNOWS]

Congrats on the new PB! And great story too

[manitoubass2]

Great report Mike! Congrats on the PB(casting) too!

 

Some of those Biggins are just beat up. Both my PBs for walleye and bass were ugly as heck too. Real beat up looking fish

[Dutch01]

That's an insanely huge fish to me. Congrats!

 

My PB musky (while fishing walleye I don't target them) was a fat 42 incher, and I thought that fish was hard to handle. Need Hulk mode for your fish!

Edited September 16, 2017 by Dutch01

[captpierre]

Beauti fish!

Better than sex at that size ?

[Old Ironmaker]

Shoot em' Cleetus, get da gun, shoot em' boy. That thing is Gator size. Congrats.

[mike rousseau]

Thanks everyone

 

I like the bump board pic now with really big fish to shut up any haters if I decide to share my catch online... I'm 6'4" pushing 300lbs so I make fish look small unfortunately

 

 

 

One of the best parts... lotsa local products involved with this fish

 

**not affiliated with any of them***

 

Handlebarz bump board... boy was I glad to have it that day

 

Kelly Kustom heavyweight from Scott Kelly... he has made me several fully custom baits at no extra charge do I was able to mix and match blades to get the exact look I wanted

 

Husky Musky leaders... used to make my own but his stuff is nice and not too pricey so I gave up making them

 

Great to see such quality products within our province

[lew]

 

Husky Musky leaders...

 

I spent a day chasing muskies with the owner of Husky Musky, he's a good guy and does indeed make quality leaders.

[Gnote]

Thats a giant buddy, congrats! Gotta love when they crush it boatside!

[bigcreekdad]

Helluva fish!! Where were you?

[Dontcryformejanhrdina]

Nothing ugly about that fish! Congrats Mike! Has to be quite the adrenaline rush getting a girl that huge to hit boatside like that.

[Rizzo]

Man that is one big butt ugly fish. Heck of a catch!

[landry]

Wow. Nice fish. Big!!!!!!!!! Great job.

[Sinker]

Wow....that is an ugly fish....lol....but what a beast!

 

I am opposite of you. I catch all my big ones casting, and cant get big ones trolling. I catch fish trolling, just never the big ones.

 

Congrats!

 

S.

[Moosebunk]

Quite a cool read Mike! Love the Larry for tuning into the precision troll game as the river is suited well for that. Big fish to be had trolling too. But this is great to read and great for you man, because it is an awesome fish, it is your evolution and it kinda inspires me personally to expand and experiment more on the Larry as well. Congrats on that biggun!

[Fisherpete]

Been a while since I was on here - what's up everyone!

 

Congrats on the giant Mike - 55 is a magical mark. She may be ugly but I would kiss her!!!

 

Mike also put Andrew (Lunkerhunter) and I on a few beauties of our own a few days after this beast... will post soon!

 

Pete

Edited September 18, 2017 by Fisherpete

[BlueEye]

Awesome fish Mike - congrats on the new PB!

[bigcreekdad]

Mike. I'll likely never fish there, but I had always thought that system was primarily trolling. Did you scope out areas for casting on your own, or is this pretty common there.

 

That fish may have been ugly, but it would not have taken me a six pack for me to fall in love with her.

[Dontcryformejanhrdina]

Mike put me on my previous PB that took nearly 5 years to beat and I got it casting. Great guy to fish with and very knowledgeable.

[misfish]

Thats a big one for sure Mike.

 

Ugly is in the eye of the beholder. LOL

 

Grats to you on a beasty.

[mike rousseau]

Mike. I'll likely never fish there, but I had always thought that system was primarily trolling. Did you scope out areas for casting on your own, or is this pretty common there.

 

That's what I thought too lol

 

i think the better way to say it is that you can come here and just troll all day and still do well

 

But casting has helped me learn more... even if you're not catching you usually see follows to tell you they're there for later on the day or another lure or next day out

[bigcreekdad]

This is a bit off topic, but my muskie fishing hero was Len Hartman, who used to fish those waters and catch fish of that caliber for years (albeit, it appears he may have bent the truth a bit). He wrote a book,"Before I Forget", about his muskie fishing life. Great book.

 

In any case, I was fishing the Pickerel River about 25 years ago near where it meets the French when I pass a boat slowly trolling in the opposite direction. After I passed it, it dawned on me that the troller was using a heavy spinning rod...which is a tad unusual for muskie. In fact, I had only heard of one guy who fished for muskie like this. I turned around and caught up with the troller. I waved at him to slow down, motored over and, sure enough, it was Len Hartman. I felt like a ND football fan who has just met Knute Rockne. I was thrilled. I tried to explain all this to my friend riding with me....he had no clue and thought I was nuts.

 

Sorry to deviate from Mike's monster, but this is what I thought of after thinking of the Larry.

[Musky Plug]

Whata beast! Congrats!