There Is No Justice In Musky Fishing
by Spence Petros
Sometimes it seems like it doesn't do much good to purposely try to catch a trophy musky. I'm not talking about a 20-pound class fish, but those super wary, battle-scarred brutes tipping the scales at 30 to 40 pounds or more.
Just about the time you've convinced yourself that a certain "known" fish is smarter than most, someone catches her by accident on a nightcrawler or crappie minnow. Or, if you believe 20-pound-test or heavier lines are needed to set the hook properly and play out these hard-fighting fish, you hear of a youngster catching a 40-pounder on 6-pound-test.
While I'm constantly on the lookout for super-thin, strong, hard-to-kink wire material (because we all know a vicious musky can cut monofilament line with ease), a bass angler catches a big musky on a small spinner used without a wire leader.
In a recent conversation, Al Linder said he believed at least 90 percent of all big muskies captured were flukes.
Most of the big muskies caught seem to fall into one of these categories:
Paying Your Dues Category
This is when a person puts in a lot of time musky fishing long and hard. In many cases the angler is skilled in various forms of lure presentation, knows how to read waters, has the finest tackle he can afford, and fishes waters with trophy potential. Trophy catches within this category are rare.
Good Fisherman Doing Something Else Category
This category includes the angler with at least some experience who latches onto a good one wile fishing for another species. If the angler is an experienced musky fisherman, then it's deserved any way it happens. Or, if the angler uses a deadly musky presentation for another species in a lake where muskies are present--say, a jig-and-minnow fishing for walleyes in early spring or late fall or speed-trolling for pike in warmer. Catching a big musky on a cricket while bluegill fishing or on a chunk of liver while after catfish doesn't belong in this heading.
Beginner or Novice Category
Here lies the real danger to a big musky, especially if the angler is a youngster or has never caught a "lunge" before. Veteran musky hunter and tackle company representative Ted Capra says, "the rank beginners catch so many big fish because they fish 'weird.' Who else would use a surface lure over 30 feet of water during midday, or hand a dead minnow under a beach-ball-size bobber. Maybe all the good fishermen have bombarded these weed edges, sunken islands, and other good spots so much the real 'horses' avoid them."
You must be careful not to drum yourself out of this category. If you start thinking muskies and begin to change your old line, sharpen your hooks, use stiffer rods, and try to use logic, your chances will nose-dive sharply.
Occasionally some justice occurs to people in this grouping who catch a trophy. They become bitten by the "musky bug" and begin to avidly pursue them. That first big fish will generally be the only trophy they'll ever catch. Years of endless frustration will follow with little or nothing to show for their efforts...a sort of poetic justice.
The Absurd Category
You earn a place in this group with catches which are totally unbelievable. They often overlap with the beginner grouping but not necessarily.
The Mighty Mississippi River has produced its share of accidental lunkers. In 1977 several giant fish were captured from its waters. On a late fall outing, Field Editor Al Linder, Mort Bank, and Bill Olmstead were fishing for walleyes below the dam at Brainerd, Minnesota. For about an hour every cast produced a walleye.
Then Mort hooked into what was first believed to be a snag. After a few jerks with the rod tip the snag began to slowly move. Al and Bill kept right on fishing, continuing to catch walleyes all around Mort's stretched six-pound-test line because they thought he had hooked a big buffalo (a carplike rough fish).
When the fish slowly headed downstream, Al didn't want to pick up the anchor and leave the walleye hot spot, so he told Mort to break the fish off. Mort wanted to at least see the fish before it was set free, so Al begrudgingly hoisted up the anchor and followed the brute, all the while still casting and catching walleyes.
Forty-five minutes later, the monster finally surfaced and a large pike-type tail was spotted. Lines were pulled in and the trio began to get serious about landing the fish. Since there was nothing suitable in the boat to land or subdue the lunker, Bill Olmstead jumped out of the boat as it neared the bank and went into town to get the biggest net he could find. Meanwhile the fish was identified as a large musky...at least 40 pounds worth!
It was shortly after nightfall when Bill had secured a net. He hurried back tot he riverbank , only to find the fish and the boat were now on the far side of the river. While he was trying to sweet-talk a paper mill guard into letting him cross the river by way of the dam, Al and Mort were having fun trying to keep the fish away from some log jams. Finally about an hour and a half after it started, with the aid of a flashlight and several more adventures, the net was slipped under a big old female weighing 44 pounds 1 ounce and measuring 54 inches in length. Luckily Mort was a skilled angler who had caught a lot of big fish and knew how to play them.
The biggest musky ever recorded in Minnesota that same year was another gem. A gentleman dropped his wife off to do a little shopping in Grand Rapids, Minnesota. To kill some time, he wandered down to the Mississippi River, which runs through town, to do a little casting below a small dam. I'm sure he didn't expect a giant musky to grab his bass-sized spinner as he cast from shore. But one did...a monster over 46 pounds!
Rick Becker of Minnesota also knows what it's like to catch a monster musky out of the Mighty Mississippi. In 1977 while fishing for walleyes with six-pound-test and a 1/4-ounce Ric Jig, Rick hooked, battled, and finally landed a 42-1/2 pound musky. Judging by a photo I saw, Rick looked to be in his early teens at the time.
My favorite story in the absurd category doesn't involve a giant fish, but it's still worth mentioning. A pair of avid Aurora, Illinois anglers, Owen Tighe and LaVern Richardson, were fishing Big Lake in northern Wisconsin. They were searching for an underwater rock pile that Richardson had found in the past to be a good spot for big smallmouth bass.
Not having a depth finder, they had lowered a four-pound window weight to the bottom on a 3/8-inch nylon cord to sound for the rock pile. The line grew extra taut and a feeling of additional weight made Richardson think he'd become snagged on a log. As the log was slowly pulled to the surface, the men were astounded to see their "log" was really a musky. The 42-inch fish had struck the four-pound hookless lure and, in the process, the weight had passed out through the fish's gills, preventing it from escaping.
Many of the big musky reports I get seem to come to my attention right after I've just completed an unsuccessful assault on a 30-pound or larger fish. It seems like the fist day back to office after a trip finds a reader's report of a trophy musky catch on my desk. Sometimes I think the staff saves the photos just to greet me with them on my return.
For example, Curtis Hanson sent in a photo of a beautiful 39-pound, 51-inch trophy he caught out of Eagle Lake, Ontario, in late June. Curtis was fishing with a lightweight spinning rod and a closed-face reel spooled with 10-pound-test line. The magic lure...a small 1/4-ounce marabou jig. Curtis was fishing alone when the bruiser hit and he skillfully battled it for 45 minutes. Near the end of the battle, Mike Wright hopped from his boat into Curtis' (with a big net) and scooped up the trophy. It was the first musky Curtis ever caught and his largest fish to date.
I don't want to give the impression that all outstanding catches are accidents, there are plenty of beauties caught each year by hard-working anglers who pay their dues fishing for these brutes. Still, it might not hurt to dull our hooks, kink our leaders, replace the new line with old, and most important forget about trying for a record. That's just when the magic fish will appear.
