Lake M Musky!

Primary reasons for taking on the second job at the store were to meet some new fishing friends, to learn from them, and to get exposed to some new-to-me fishing experiences.  Ironically, my fishing has suffered from the job; I've simply been too busy to spend much time on the water.  Similarly, my co-workers aren't on the water very much, but we have shared some stories, past and present.  A couple of the guys I get along with best have serious Muskellunge Leanings; and one of them has made his living pretty much as a Musky Pro.  He was excited to relocate here from Eastern Minnesota ("Musky Heaven?") for this store, and he's openly shared his optimism about local musky fisheries, such as Lake M, with me.  Moreover, he's been out a couple of times and has seen many muskies in the shallows and has caught at least a few of them.  I've pretty much discounted the local musky scene based on our crowded lakes, my lack of experience and proper gear, and never hearing much of any good about these fisheries.  But, buoyed by his enthusiasm, and with a couple of lures he confirmed as good choices and a workable game plan, I targeted muskies for the first time this past Sunday.

I arrived at Lake M before 6 AM and was quickly on the water.  Conditions were clear and quiet, and I knew if I kept my Bucher Shallow Raider or Rapala Gliding Rap above emerging weeds in the shallows, I'd have a shot of at least raising a musky, or at perhaps encountering a big bass or pike as a consolation.  And so I enjoyed the first couple of hours exploring the lake, casting, and sharing the morning with a nice assortment of herons, cranes, waterfowl, song birds, turtles and mosquitoes.

Lake M has some undeveloped shoreline and was a pleasure to fish early in the morning.

Lake M is only 20 miles from home, but I've actively avoided it for the past 20+ years.  It's simply too developed and there's too much boat traffic for my taste.  But early on a Sunday morning, early in the season...conditions were pleasantly fine.

After a couple of hours of casting and a few re-locations without a hint of a fish, my confidence and hope were fading to a faithful reliance on luck when, unexpectedly (and bordering on unbelievably), I clearly sighted a nice muskellunge lying in a weedy bed in about 4 or 5 feet of water.  She was in water I'd already fished through with the Shallow Raider, and so I quietly turned off the electric trolling motor and glided past her.  I lost sight of her when I reached down for a rod equipped with a pitch bait; unable to find her, I threw my wacky-rigged Senko in what I hoped was her vicinity.  As I lost sight of my sinking Senko, I twitched it back up, and she re-appeared.  All lit up, she confidently inhaled my bait.  A lucky hook-set secured the small hook in the corner of her mouth, and after a nice struggle on my 8-pound test, she was boat-side and docile.

Now, my landing net is for harvesting fish, and I tend not to use it on fish I intend to release.  At an estimated 40 inches, she was too broad for me to grab by the shoulders, and she was still too green to gill her.  It was simply easiest, safest, and best for her to conduct a simple boat-side recovery and release.

Data - from the web!

She was clearly Numenon's biggest Esocid ever, and the above chart indicates a weight of about 18 pounds.  Just to have seen her was enough to make my day.  For my luck to hold through the subsequent, unlikely sequence of events (right lure, right cast, right reaction, lucky placement of the hookset and my thin, leaderless mono holding through the fight) indicates that she was clearly meant to be caught on this day.   I'm glad I was involved, and it was my pleasure to release her and watch her swim away.  The only things that could have made this better would have been to get a nice picture of her, or to have shared this experience with somebody else in my boat.  Oh well, these shortcomings can be addressed in future outings; and no picture would do justice to my ingrained memory of her visible strike.

This day's offerings; the wacky-rigged Senko was irresistible to a musky and a couple of bass.

I should probably consider retiring from musky fishing to preserve my 1.000 batting average.  They are, of course, The Fish of 10,000 Casts, and so I'm probably due for a very long slump.  I'm probably also not smart enough to recognize my advantage and avoid the process of things averaging themselves out.  So I'll probably be out there again, and I can certainly say that "Early Season Sight Fishing for Muskies" is now definitely on my Annual Fishing Calendar.

Back at the store on Sunday evening, I got to brag a little bit (which is always fun), but mostly I expressed my thanks to my co-workers for providing the motivation, confidence and advice to get me to try this new-to-me fishery.  My Musky Guru expressed his pride in me; when I reminded him that it was just a fish, he reminded me that it wasn't the fish he was proud of; it was in my effort.  We both agreed that the success (if catching a sub-legal fish can really be considered a success) is just a bonus.