Leisure Outdoor Adventures: Leech Lake Area Muskies

If anyone has ever told you that musky fishing is easy they would be telling you a lie. Sore arms, wrists, back and/or body is what it's all about. I love it! The endless hours of casting is all about the trill of seeing the mouth of a monster eat your buck-tail boatside or having a fish push a wall of water behind your topwater bait and crushing it out of the water. But, and a big but, you have to be prepared for the long haul. There are days when musky fishing can be easy but those days are not too common. With many hours and long days on the water I always believe we have a chance to catch one...ALWAYS. The past few guide trips have been just that, long days with some heartbreaks but a reward at the end!

Guide Trip #1

I set sail with Chris and Todd in search of the elusive musky the other day. The first spots we had follows right away but no takers. We pushed on casting away through the day. I kept telling the guys keep at we will get these guys to bite! We pulled up to a new area and out of the depths Chris had a fish crush the bait but didn't get hooks. Bummer! Opportunity #1 was there and gone. I just looked at Chris and said, "That's musky fishing!" and told them to keep casting. This game of musky fishing can mess with your head as the boys had been working so hard all morning to get a bite. So we pushed on. It was getting late in the day and I was praying for a good feeding window to open up and it did. We pulled up to an new area and the fish started coming out of the wood work. It was Todd's turn as he had a fish push that all to exciting wake behind the topwater. BOOM! She nailed it but no hooks again. Holy Buckets! Todd looked at me and asked, "What did I do wrong?" A question I have asked myself so many times. I replied, "Nothing...That's musky fishing". The boys still pushed on and soon after Chris sets the hook and lands a small, but fun. Slime in the boat and we were on the board. Soon after I had a small fish eat at the boat and off to the next spot we went. Chris again sets the hook and nothing! "Keeping reeling!", I exclaimed and he did and as the Blue Fox Musky Buck neared the boat the fish that just hit decided he wanted another shot and it was fish on. Chris did battle and landed a nice fish! What a day of musky hunting! The boys stuck with it and we ended up putting some nice fish in the boat.

Here is Chris with one.

Guide Trip #2

A few days later I had the pleasure of fishing with Father and Son team of Steve and Jared. The boys were primed and ready to put a hurt bag on the ol' spotted fish! The forecast called for rainy condition, just perfect weather, after a long hot streak, but that all changed in the morning. It was flat calm and sunny. Crap! I was little worried but I knew we would get a chance! With sharp hooks and fresh arms it was game on. We started the milk run and fished five of my money spots with not a sniff. By this time the sun was up and it was starting to get hot! Nervous? A little! I made a move and started fishing some deeper secondary structure and we had two follows. One was a big one! Spirits were lifted and the casts kept flying. Then nothing for the next few spots. "Boys keep at it!" I said as things were looking down. As mentioned above Musky Fishing is not easy most days, and this was one of those days, but we were bound and determined to get our hands slimy! We pulled up to a spot we had been seeing some nice fish with the previous guide trip. Jared was throwing one of my favorite topwater lures called a Pacemaker made by Sennett Tackle and out of the depths the water erupted. "You got her!" I kinda yelled, but not too loud, but that wasn't the case. She didn't get hooks! The boys had again been working so hard. Jared asked the same question, "What did I do wrong?" I replied with the same answer, "Nothing...That's musky fishing!" Bummed about missing a pretty good musky the boys were still pumped knowing they had a chance. We fished on in the heat with sweat dripping down our backs, sore arms and hands but knowing we had another chance! I looked at the weather on my phone and it said there was rain moving in towards the evening and thought here we go. We fished throughout the day with little to speak about until the winds from the south arose and the clouds from the west covered the bright blue sky. The muskies noticed and once again the Blue Fox Musky Buck got chowed at the end of the cast! Steve did battle and landed his largest musky to date and not too long later another one found the bottom of the net. Both Steve and Jared didn't miss a beat even in the tough conditions and they were rewarded for their efforts.

(Steve doing battle and Jared ready with the net)