I haven't posted here
in a while, primarily because my research efforts have been redirected away
from muskies. However, I felt an urge to post here about a recent hard-fought
success my buddy had.
In a nutshell, we had
excellent fishing weather: breezy, cloudy, bit of rain, stable lake levels
(though post-draw down). Fish should have been concentrated in a few areas, but
apparently they didn't get the memo. Fished a solid 6-7 hours with nothing; no
follows, strikes, or boils. I was ready to call it quits around 4:30 and grab
dinner. Brandyn usually keeps us motivated during times of doubt and I didn't
mention leaving again (call me somewhat fair-weather, or impatient during
fall). We brainstormed about how to spend the remainder of our day and decided
on a funnel area. Brandyn let me take the boat and I pointed the bow toward
deep water where I was fishing a Bulldawg. Brandyn pitched a 10" Jake
tight to shore along a lay-down. Suddenly I hear Brandyn chirp up about a
"figure 8!!!!" (said emphatically and with a chuckle at the end).
Thinking he was joking around I non-chalantly turned around and nearly had to
push my eyeballs back into their sockets when I saw his rod doubled over and a
fish headshaking like a helicopter about 2' down. The fish fought well, taking
Brandyn from one corner of the boat, up and around the bow, and to the other
corner where I scooped the fish into the bag. Sweet victory. Made the 4 hour
drive (for me living in Chicago) somewhat bearable... ;)
OK, I guess that was
the nutshell + the nut. Enjoy the photos. (I left the sky photo full-size to be
used for whatever you wish. It might become my desktop picture! Gotta thank
Brandyn for pointing out the lighting.)
