Just curious of what people's biggest muskie is. Mine is nearly 44 inches.. I would like to really change that, but it will happen in time. I know that Ivan has the biggest caught in league, 49 incher on Island Lake South. That's a nice fish. I have had several 50's or nearly fifty follow or roll on my baits, but I haven't had one hooked. When they are just a couple feet away and you have just caught 20-30 muskies, mostly 20-34 inches and a few in the low forties, you get a pretty good idea at that distance. We were in Canada on Cliff's Lake and fishing muskies all week. We could get one under 40 pretty easy, but they were in different areas then the big boys. The big boys seemed to be much closer to or right at really deep water. We even tried trolling, but when we stopped and my lure floated to the surface a big boy rolled over it. That was exciting but he was not on the hook. I have caught a tiger muskie upto 40 inches, not bad for a tiger, but I really want a 50.. one that tops 40 pounds.
So what's your biggest fish and the story with it. Muskies rule!!!
Do they have medication for Muskie-itis? Yeah, right, like I'ld take it any way...
My biggest came this year on 9-20-05 at 0720 am. from 4 foot of water right from the inside turn of an emergent reed point on a bucher slopmaster buzzbait. She stretched the tape at 52" with approxiamtely a 24-26 inch girth I was so excited that I forgot to measure the girth before I let her go. But after experimentation I came to the conclusion her girth was about 24-26 inches. That was any awesome day.
There wasn't breath of wind the water was about 77-80 degrees slight hazy not a cloud in the sky. I got the landing at around 0630 and there were already 5 other rigs there so i had to wait to launch the boat. I got to my first spot at about 0650 and started beating the emergent vegitation with that buzzer. Within the first 20 minutes I caught 4 largemouths between 3-5 pounds and then at 0720 the big girl hit. It was unbelievible she came up and all I saw was a huge swirl and then there was weight. I set the hook and she came unglued. After pulling my 17 boat about 30 feet and jumping out of the water 4 times I had her in the landing net. Now I truly saw how big she was a let out a WOOHOO!!!THAT"S A 50!!!UUH F%#^IN RIGHT DOGGIE!!!!
So I kept her in the net in the water and put the measuring stick on her, after unhooking her of course. The first measurment put her at 52.5 I thought that can't be right so I put it back on her and that time it measured 52 even then I thought ok on more time I put the stick back on here and this time it came out 52.5 again. I'm all by myself mind you. After getting how big she was and doing my little victory dance I looked around the lake for another boat to come over and get a picture for me and of course there wasn't one in sight. So now I was thinking ok what the heck do I do now. I sw she was doing great int eh net so I wedged the net in one of my boat cleats and set my digital camera on the seat in the bow of the boat. I set the timer and hit the button, I ran back picked the fish out of the water, with about 1 second to spare, the picture snapped so I let her back in the net and did the same thing. I got 2 great shots!!!!! Before I took her out of the net and let her go I put the measuring stick on her one more time and this time the measurement came out to 52 1/4 so I just say 52 even now. I then let her go and she swam off so strong and pretty it was beautiful, after having a victory cigar and a cup of coffee I went back to fishing.
After this big beast I missed 3 other muskies using the same technique and caught 2 more largmouths before leaving the water at about 1130. So in about 4.5 hours of fishing I boated 6 largmouths 1 52" muskie and missed three other muskies in the high 30's to low 40's inch range all hooked but of course my hook was sharp enough to penetrate and hold. I learned a valuable lesson that day SHARPEN SHARPEN SHARPEN YOUR HOOKS!!!!!!! I could've easily had a 4 muskie morning with a sharp hook. So there it is enjoy and I'll try to get a photo or two up if I can figure it out.
Wow, that's a great day. Sounds like you were having a great day and you know that's when there is no one else around. Yeah a picture would be awesome. You can add it by clicking on the on the bar above and uploading it. If you make a small copy 100 x 100, you can add it to you signature like the widowmaker has. That's very cool.
We have several muskie guys out here, so maybe we can learn a bunch about them and at least have fun talking about muskies. I bet the beast was a blast in the weeds. Hey how good is the slopmaster at keeping the weeds off it? I bought a couple this year and had a couple explosions on it, but no hook ups. I think I will have to do a little more hook sharpening too.
It is great to hear about your fish and it is a great story. We would love to see the big girl. That's what we are all about ... fish.. and BIG FISH are what dreams are made of. Congratulations.. 52" is a great muskie..
It won't let me upload the images so I'll try posting the URL'as instead. The first is one fo the pics of the 52, the 2nd one is my second biggest a 47 out of DL, and the last three are pics of a muskie I caught on film doing that thing they do when they swim with their heads out of the water for a while then go back down and do this for 5-20 minutes at a time. I wish I knew why they did that. Really cool to see.
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b84/jlb66/52.jpg
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b84/jlb66/47b4d732b3127cce9922ee62ab3700000016108Aas3DJy4cNp.jpg
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b84/jlb66/47b4d732b3127cce9922ee612a0400000016108Aas3DJy4cNp.jpg
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b84/jlb66/47b4d732b3127cce9922ee60ab3500000016108Aas3DJy4cNp.jpg
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b84/jlb66/47b4d732b3127cce9922ee6cab3900000016108Aas3DJy4cNp.jpg
Thanks, very nice fish.. I don't know what lake is DL, but that's a great muskie too. You have me on both fish. Oh well, there is still time.
I too have seen muskies swimming their their nose out of the water, I wonder why, maybe someone else knows why, or an idea. Nice photos.
I bet you get out fishing for muskies a lot. I am on the water a lot, but don't go for muskies all the time. I know that the widowmaker fishes for muskies, like it's a religion, as well as a few other teams around here. I don't know why they are so silent lately. But then we are a little new. Just let the cabin fever set in.. Then the fishing talk will happen.
Hey have you read the muskie articles we have on here? They were put together by someone that guides and fishs for muskies all the time. A musky addict. Just curious if muskies around your area act the same ways. I love to fish, but learning about fish, how they behave and what makes them change is addicting to me.
Welcome abroad and great muskies.