Hiatus From Fishing

Motor is in the shop for repairs: prop and drive shafts bent, and clutch dog stripped (gear shifting mechanism). Almost 2K to fix. Also needing to return to Illinois for a bit. Will resume fishing at the end of August/early September.

Mystery Fish... Found

For the past 167 hours we have not been able to find fish #23. This was a fish that inhaled a Curly Sue and was bleeding a little. It hung around for about 30-45 mins before heading to deeper water where we tracked it in 15' at the 1-hour mark. After that, she vanished.

Today, however, we heard her again. Our transmitters cannot be heard if a fish is swimming in water 30'+ deep. She was in about 28' of water today!

So, despite being hooked badly and even bleeding a bit... fish #23 is still alive.

Big Figure-8 Fish... T-Minus Nine

With true summer weather upon us (high 80s/low 90s, lots of humidity) we've been trying to beat the heat and the flotillas of pleasure boaters by fishing the early morning bite. The last several fish have come in the morning before noon.

Yesterday we caught a 42.5" on a bucktail around 9AM and saw one other from the same spot (I botched it in the figure-8). So today we returned to the same spot.

At roughly 6:55AM casting over weeds in 5-6' of water, I watch as a big, gold torpedo shoots up and swipes at my bait... but misses. I continued reeling and the fish turned around and followed in. I lost sight of it for a second as I brought the bait across the bow of the boat from right to left. When I made a turn on the left side of the boat, the fish rolled up and continued following. I again lost sight of the fish as I proceeded across the bow from left to right. I was trying to get into position on the right side of the boat to make big, sweeping turns for the figure-8. As I tried moving the bait through a straightaway (still can't see anything), I suddenly couldn't move the bait forward anymore. Recognizing something was "wrong" my instinct was to SET THE HOOK. As I did, 51.5 inches of angry muskie started headshaking at my feet! The fish was in the net in 15 seconds.

She relinquished good blood and makes #21 with a transmitter, and the third 50"+ for the study. Oh, and shortly after releasing her I lost one at least the same size if not larger... You win some, you lose some.

I'd also like to take the time to mention and thank one of the project's sponsors. Okuma has provided us (reduced cost) with a few reels and (at the moment... hopefully more to come) one of their new EVX Musky rods. This big girl was caught using Okuma's new 9'3"H, telescoping rod. I've been more than impressed with the product. Excellent action, not too heavy for such a long rod, and a long butt section make this a great stick! These retail for $120-130 and come with a LIFETIME warranty. Pretty tough to beat!

Double Recap!

Just received an email from an Ottawa Chapter member that he caught fish #1236 which was previously recaptured by Larry Lambourne et al. Struck the same type of lure all three times!

Boatside Bruiser

Tyler Duncan and Hedrik helped me today with PNB. Tyler is a member of the Canadian Forces and leaves Sunday to continue training as a platoon leader. Last time the three of us were out we moved lots of fish and had a few strikes, but couldn't boat any.

Today we had one follow... and one MASSIVE strike at the boat from a thick 48" female that inhaled a Curly Sue. I bought a Hook Pick last year and today was the first time I've had to use it on a muskie. Boy am I ever glad I purchased it! The lure was 8" inside the fish's mouth and too deep for hook cutters and pliers.

Two Hours of Fishing = Two Fish

Matt Clay and I fished yesterday 8/9 under some of the best fishing conditions I've ever been in: clouds ALL day, slight breeze, warm, fronts moving around us, excellent water clarity. In fact, it was so cloudy all day that at 6:30PM it felt like 6:30AM. We had the same light levels from start to finish.

Enough of the weather talk... To make a long story short, we had action on just about every spot we fished. Ten to eleven fish contacted with all but three strikes. Had a dandy hammer a large plastic bait, but it never felt hooks. Lots of action on topwater, too!

I woke today unsure of what the day would bring. Conditions could only go downhill from yesterday, but the front isn't supposed to move through until tonight (8/10) so we were still in prefrontal conditions. I met up with Hedrik and we hit the river to give it a shot.

Our game-plan was to hit spots we hadn't previously fished. Lots of our go-to spots are getting hit hard and it's time to find newer fish. Not to mention try to get data from fish in different areas.

Our first spot was a massive weed flat with a very defined weed-edge. The clarity looked excellent as it did the day before, so I clipped on the same big plastic bait that enticed a few fish into either following or striking yesterday. I made a comment to Hedrik that I thought today was going to be the day I would finally stick a fish on a big plastic bait.

Shortly after saying that I felt a tap and whipped around just in time to see what was now causing my rod to vibrate like the line was attached to the rotor of a helicopter. I look out to see a giant blender for a mouth churning the tanin stained waters to a white froth. The headshakes were so violent I could feel them in my gut. Thirty-five seconds later I was staring down at a 47" that inhaled my bait. In fact, it was bleeding a bit so we cut the hooks as most muskie anglers would had they seen the slight pulsatile blood flow.

After a while the bleeding stopped (while we were sampling her). She swam away strong and descended after a short bit on the surface. We released her into 1.9m where she stayed for at least 30 mins, but at the 1-hour mark she was elsewhere... out in 5m of water. When we tried to come back at the 2-hour mark she was nowhere to be found. We searched and combed the nearby waters for a few hours to no avail. I am presuming she retreated to the extreme deep water nearby (30+m/100+ft). We will return tomorrow to try and find her.

Oh, and about an hour after releasing the 47" we got another smaller one (~36")! We only fished for about 2-hours total today (maybe 2-3), so I'm glad we made the most of it! Who knows what would have happened had we found the 47" at the 2-hour mark... Maybe we could have had a hat trick!

Correction... D'OH

We have 16 fish with transmitters. The 52" made #14. Apparently I can't add correctly!

End of the Day J... and Fish #17

Fished the morning and early afternoon with Charles Weiss and J Carroll. We flogged the water mercilessly to no avail. Water clarity was poor which I attribute to our lack of success (hey, all fishermen have to have excuses right?). The company was great though as Charles and J are both quite the characters!

J has been called "End of the Day J" by his buddies... and he lived up to it today. On our way back to the ramp - trolling with his bare hands - J caught this massive white and black buoy! Nice catch J! :)

Hedrik joined me for the late afternoon shift and to do a bit of tracking. We were only able to get about one hour of fishing in, but Hedrik made it count and added a 36" well-marked male to the study!

Artist Charles Weiss!

Famous wildlife and fish artist, Charles Weiss, joined Hedrik and me today for a day of fishing. It was one of the most enjoyable days on the water I've had in a long time. Constant laughter, stories, jokes. Great time to say the least.

Not only was the chit-chat good, but fishing was too! We moved seven total, including two caught: 28" by Hedrik and 43" by me. The 43" makes #16. It was caught in a classic river location where a smaller river meets a larger one. And (no surprise) the big male fell to a double 10 (Dinnerbell)!

Charles will join me (along with J Carroll of the Ottawa Chapter) again tomorrow on the Rideau. Hopefully Charles (and J) can get at least one tomorrow!

[The above sketch is by Charles. The oval shape and two muskies represent the capture and return, a completion of the "cycle", of the noble beast.]

We've Got a Runner!

I went back today to track the below 52" at the 24 hour mark. All fish were staying in the same area that they were originally caught from. So, I figured this one would be an easy track!

We pulled up to the weedbed that said 52" came from. I turned on the receiver expecting to hear the familar PING, but instead got nothing. Just static. After a 360 degree scan we went on a "hunt".

Let me rewind by saying that the day began fishing a very small spot weedbed/rock point that took about 20 minutes to fish. It's a spot we pass by all the time, but fished it today simply to kill time before tracking the fish at 0900.

So, we proceeded downstream from the catch location and towards the ramp. The further downstream we got, the more concerned I became that we would not hear the fish. Just when I thought it was going to be a lost cause, I heard that sweet lullaby PING! Where were we? 50 yards in front of the spot we began the day at!

The fish made a 2.25km/1.4mi treck downstream in a 24 hour period!

We're Half Way There [Livin' on a Prayer]

I'm not a huge Bon Jovi fan, but this song came to mind today as we reached the half-way mark in a BIG way. Fish #15 was 52 inches and my personal best!

Hedrik and I arrived at the ramp to a flat-calm river, warm, humid air, and a light drizzle. PERFECT fishing conditions! Yesterday we did a bit of trolling and found a small bay with superb tobacco cabbage. This was a spot we had not fished and since we have begun to hit our other spots fairly hard, we decided it would be a good idea to fish here.

My first pass went too shallow and on the inside of the thickest part of the tobacco cabbage. I circled the end of the weedbed and made a pass on the outside edge. Hedrik was casting toward deep water (milfoil patches) while I casted toward shore (cabbage).

I was using a bucktail for a while, but these conditions SCREAMED topwater and my Top Raider seemed too loud for the occasion. I picked up my Pacemaker (for those not familiar, it has a metail propeller that spins and hits the center hook to make a high pitched "clicking" sound) for a slightly more subtle presentation (versus the deep pitched "PLOP" of the Top Raider).

As the bait approached the boat maybe 20 feet out a dinosaur head appeared from the murky waters and T-boned the Pacemaker. This big muskie did not jump nor dive deep; it simply stayed on top and wallowed back and forth. The Pacemaker looked like a tiny toothpick lodged cross-ways in its mouth.

The fight was a short 40 seconds. The entire sampling process went very smoothly for an extremely large fish (she gave us excellent blood). I'm looking forward to tracking her and seeing where she goes!

Sampling/Processing

I've been getting questions recently about what exactly I mean by "sampling" and "processing". These are terms that encompass what data we take and what we "do" to the fish: blood sample, insert Floy tag, attach transmitter. After the previous three things are completed, we take the blood and do three field based tests to obtain instant data on 1) glucose, 2) lactate, and 3) hematocrit values.

1) Cortisol, a stress hormone, triggers the production of energy reserves to help organisms (including fish as well as humans) cope with stressors. This energy comes in the form of glycogen. Glucose results from the breakdown of glycogen (glycogenolysis). So, glucose gives us a proxy for the amount of stress (in this case) muskies undergo during the C&R process.

2) Lactate is created by the breakdown of lactic acid as an organism undergoes exhaustive exercise. Again, measuring lactate gives us a proxy for determining the relative amount of exhaustive exercise a fish has gone through after being angled.

3) Hematocrit is a ratio of red blood cells (RBCs) to whole blood (RBCs + plasma) volume. It gives a general indication of overall body condition and can indicate things such as severe blood loss, malnutrition, or anemia.

Transmitter attachment. See pictures...

"OK, Let's Go"

[Long sigh after eight hours of fruitless casting under near bluebird skies and near 80F temps]

Sean: "I'm not sure how much longer I can last."
Hedrik: "OK, let's go. We can troll back."

Hedrik, Rick Collins, and I snap on spinnerbaits for a weedline troll back to the dock.

Hedrik fires his spinnerbait a short distance from the boat. I engage the motor and.... WHAMMO!

Hedrik: "There's one!"

After chuckling for a few seconds at how clutch Hedrik was, the scrappy 38" male was scooped up and processed. Once again, very little movement (essentially took refuge in nearby weeds) post-release.

14th fish with a transmitter; one more until we're half way there!