The Beast

Truly if ever I had wished to have had a camera on a fishing trip this would have been the day, although wrestling with this beast while simultaneously trying to take its picture may have proven futile. I was wading in front of the dam, as I have done hundreds of times before, fishing primarily for smallmouth and pan fish. I was using one of my black elite spinners tied to imitate a bait fish or leech. I had only been at it about 10 minutes working the lure along the outside of a weed bed when I felt a strong pull at the line. The strike was firm but not overly aggressive, which proved to be very deceptive as to what was on the end of the line. At first I thought that I had hooked a carp. Being that this was a bigger fish I was sure to set the hook quite hard. That's when it really started to fight. It had the weight of a large carp or catfish and bulldogged its way downstream the way a carp or catfish often does, but something was different. It began to fight violently and aggressively almost like a bass. I saw a quick flash of it and immediately thought monster bass, but the body was too long. This was a Musky, and a BIG one at that. I would estimate that approximately 98% of the fish I catch weigh 3 pounds or less. Fighting these fish usually involves little more than just reeling them in. This fish; however, was truly a fight. Different tactics were required. I fought with it for several minutes letting it take line as it ran pumping the rod and reeling in line as it tired. I couldn't help feeling under equipped. I had a medium light fishing rod, no steel leader, no net, no boat, and no real means of landing this brute. As he finally tired I was able to reel him in next to me and get a rough measurement against marks I have on my fishing rod. This guy was in the 40 inch class, somewhere between 40 and 42 inches as measured by the markings on my rod. I've never really been intimidated by a fish, but this one had me a little more than concerned. He was still pissed off and thrashing about, snapping at me as I reached for him. The prospect of grabbing a hold of roughly 3 and a half feet of teeth and bad attitude had me a little hesitate as to how to handle him. I initially considered grabbing him up under the gill plate but reconsidered as he snapped and thrashed about. I then went to grab him behind the head. I grabbed the leader and positioned myself next to him, my hand literary inches from his head when he snapped and shook his head violently one last time severing the fishing line in the process. I don’t consider this a defeat though. The fish was fooled into thinking this lure was prey and took it. I hooked this brute fair in the mouth, no foul hooking was involved. It was a text book fight and I did all the right things to wear him out, get my hand on the leader, position him next to me, and get a rough measurement. I was going to release him anyway this just prevented injury to the fish and myself. I had caught a musky each of the last 3 years in April on lures that I have made. I was beginning to think that the streak was going to end this year, but on the last day of April I got another one. Coincidentally each year the musky keeps getting bigger so I’m really looking forward to what I catch next year!

Shanklin's Ferry

Spring has finally arrived and fishing is starting to heat up. Austin and I decided to take my boat and fish Shanklin's Ferry. I have wanted to fish there for a long time, but never had the opportunity. It was a day of firsts for me. It was the first time I had ever fished Shanklin's Ferry, it was the first time I had tried my new boat motor in the river, I caught my first fish on my new St. Croix Mojo Bass rod, and most importantly it was my first Smallmouth citation. I have been after one of these for a while, and while I've caught thousands of bass over the years I have yet to catch a Smallmouth that qualifies as a trophy, until now. I caught this 4lb, 20 inch stud using a skirt jig with plastic crawdad trailer. The bass was in a text book spot in a current

break on the bottom edge of an island. This gave the bass easy access to deeper water, which was converging from both sides of the island. Ausin took the role of river guide, as he had fished Shanklin's Ferry most of his life, and like any good river guide he put us on the right spots to catch fish. Austin himself ended up catching some really nice bass and we have vowed to return for a couple more trips before the end of May when the water levels drop due to Claytor Lake holding back water and before the Holiday/Summer crowds invade.