Last Chance

The open water fishing season is winding down and I knew that Saturday's quick trip would probably be my last one with the boat for 2015.  Since my only success on Friday on M Lake had been spotting a couple of lethargic followers, and because it's a bit closer and so would afford a bit more fishing time, I chose to go to C Lake.

I had perhaps three hours of fishing time available, and so I focused on known fish spots and presentations that were successful at the end of last year.  I threw plenty of jerk- and twitch baits over the musk grass, and I probed the deeper water near my best spots with the Bulldawg that had attracted the previous day's fish.  I apparently moved nothing.  With only a half hour of light left and my Muskie Season on the line, I was confronted with a choice.  I could choose to do more of the same and rely on past experience with perhaps a little luck; or perhaps make some luck by doing something different.

I decided to cover some slightly new water as quickly as possible by trolling.  I chose to concentrate on the same familiar weedbeds, but on their very outer edge.  I ran one plug short and up high (for weed-free simplicity) while the other (a Bucher Depth Raider) was chosen to run just above the scruffy weeds in 10 to 12 feet of water or so.  With two plugs swimming weed-free at 4.2 mph or so, I could cover a lot more water in my remaining time than I could by casting.

Ten minutes later, the drag on my deep rod voiced its distress, and the bucking rod confirmed it was Fish On!   It was a smallish muskie, probably less than ten pounds, but it was the targeted species, and it came in the last few minutes of my season.

I think I made the right call to switch tactics!  It's never as exciting to catch them trolling as it is to cast and experience the strike, but occasionally catching one is important, too.  Especially when it is probably your last chance for the season!

  

Not the biggest 'llunge, but it is the first one that I've been able to capture in a self-portrait! The intersection of these fish with available cameras and charged batteries is pretty darn low; but I'm getter at all these things!