Prairie Home Companions

My weekends throughout high school and college usually involved fishing somewhere with friends and/or Dad. This weekend, after a nail-biter week, was no different. At 5AM, Dad and I hooked up the boat and headed out through the vast expanse of corn and soybean fields, now barren after the fall harvest, and scattered with glinting eyes of coyotes.

Shortly after sun-up we swung by my friend Ryan Jozwiak's house. I met Ryan in my first year of college, where both of us were members of the Fighting Illini Bass Club. We shared a passion for muskies and had the opportunity to fish a few times together. Since he's begun chasing these toothy critters, Ryan's angling prowess has grown tremendously. He now quietly boats big Illinois muskies every year, though he's too humble to tell many people. When I told him I was coming home we made plans to fish together, which brings us to today's shenanigans.

The day began with quite a bit of wind. We needed to figure out how the fish were behaving so the plan was to throw a variety of baits. Ryan had a small follow early on an erratic bait accentuated by many pauses. As we continued casting throughout the day, I began drawing from some of the information gleaned in my studies, particularly the use of vegetation by muskies no matter what time of year and regardless of forage base. OK, so not ground breaking, but when faced with coves full of great looking timber it was a necessary move. Sometime midday as we drifted down a shoreline, my bait was thumped hard and I was fast into a scrappy little muskie. A quick de-hooking and photo process led to a speedy release. The day yielded little action after that, save for a few follows here and there.

We left the lake as the sun blazed its twilight glory - a dazzling light show of purples, oranges, and reds. Watching the sun set over the prairies of Illinois brought back a flood of memories and I felt fortunate to be reminiscing in the company of friends and family.