Pete Stoltman
09-28-2010, 12:28 AM
This past Saturday was a special day on the water. I had the pleasure of guiding brothers in law Brandon Kelly and Eric Habermaas. Both these guys were a lot of fun and picked up the hang of musky fishing pretty quickly. Brandon is an avid fisherman and was casting baits with the musky gear in no time at all. Eric doesn't fish much and was getting instructions and practice with the baitcaster the day before from father in law Scott Peterson who arranged the trip for the guys. We had a couple follows but no hits until Eric connected with a nice pike. Shortly after another decent pike was also on the end of Eric's line. Moving down the lake Brandon had a musky take a swipe at his bait and miss. The fish swung around and missed a second time. We made a short run back up the shoreline to give the fish (and the guys) a little breather. On the next pass the same fish took another run at Brandon's lure with the same result. I decided to continue down the shoreline and come back later. When we made our next turn to this fish it took yet another swing and miss at Brandon's bait. Within seconds Eric had the same fish lunge at his bait and this time the darn thing connected. We got the fish in the net and after a few photos it was quickly returned to the water. A little later Brandon was able to connect on a pike too but it was obvious that Eric had the "hot hand" that day. Eric is a former Marine and recently returned Iraq war vet who served with the same unit my son had been in. Quite a coincidence and by the way Eric, Tom said to return your greeting "YATYAS". Good outing with two great guys and a nice musky to boot. It doesn't get too much better than that. Thanks guys and good job to both of you.