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My Musky Evolution and new PB


mike rousseau

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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

 

202DCAB3-EFAA-4122-AD7E-F4B4B85808EC.jpg

 

45560C46-99CF-495B-8C17-72EDAC117C53.jpg

 

3AC0CBF8-9359-413F-BB19-ACB44E2E8A6E.jpg

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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

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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!

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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 by Fisherpete
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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

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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.

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