August 1st -3rd report

[Ty Sennett]

We've boated four fish in the last three days. It's been tough but the fish we are seeing are usually eating. We've had six or seven others hit that we missed. Almost every fish has been on Bulldawgs but we have had a couple on bucktails and one on a Pacemaker. Most of the fish have been good sized ones. The four we caught were 38, 42, 42 1/2 and 46 1/2 inches. I lost one in the 48 inch range. The highlight was Pat O'mally catching his first muskie. He's a 19 year old Iowa student. I didn't hold that against him but let him know that he could still be a Wisconsin football fan if he wanted. He and his brother fished hard for two straight days. That was thier first time muskie fishing and not to sound corny but those were two of the most enjoyable days I've had. Normally I'm the one up and casting first when the boat stops. Dan O'mally didn't wait for the boat to come off plane a couple times before he was on the front deck waiting for the go ahead to cast. You just gotta like that as a guide. The fish have been shallow, deep, and everywhere in between. Basically, cover some water and you'll find fish. There aren't any real "hot spots" so don't get married to one area. The west side has been just as good as the east side. We helped a guy let go a big fish on the west side yesterday. They didn't really know how to hold the fish but were really good about keeping the fish in the water and not stressing the fish out. We had that fish back swimming away in no time. The water temps aren't dangerously high so don't be affraid to take a picture of the fish but I wouldn't hold the fish out of the water for more than five to eight seconds. That's a good rule of thumb in the summer. Make sure to have thier head underwater as much as possible when unhooking them in the net also. Just make sure all your cameras are ready before you even go to grab the fish. I guess I can stop with my release rant now.

Water temps were 76 to 80 degrees.

Good luck,

[sdiehn]

Ty carry on with the rant we watched a boat on the 3rd by chimpmunk release a 46 by just plopping it in the water they did not have it out long but did not revive it and 5 minutes latter it was floating belly up they did go over by the fish but I cant say they ever got her going

[JWalkBeloit]

If people dont know the proper way to release a Muskie, then they shouldnt fish them....I understand sometimes the fish shakes free, but then try and get her and do everything to make sure she swims off...SMH...

[Ty Sennett]

That fish by Chipmunk was already dead when they plopped it in. The guys that caught that fish are friends of mine. They tried to revive it for more than an hour. The fish tore a gill on the hookset and didn't have a chance. Those guys knew what they were doing but the fish just had a hook the wrong way in it's gills. They even tried to put it in the livewell at the end but it didn't matter. No matter how we try sometimes the fish is just going to get hooked bad sometimes and not make it. That's the nature of throwing baits with hooks. Keeping a fish out of the water for too long is one thing but to just have a fish bleed out you can't control. That's just part of fishing.

[Nitroboats]

That fish by Chipmunk was already dead when they plopped it in. The guys that caught that fish are friends of mine. They tried to revive it for more than an hour. The fish tore a gill on the hookset and didn't have a chance. Those guys knew what they were doing but the fish just had a hook the wrong way in it's gills. They even tried to put it in the livewell at the end but it didn't matter. No matter how we try sometimes the fish is just going to get hooked bad sometimes and not make it. That's the nature of throwing baits with hooks. Keeping a fish out of the water for too long is one thing but to just have a fish bleed out you can't control. That's just part of fishing.

One of the tips I read said to pour a citric acid drink like 7up on a gill that was bleeding. I think it was something about the citric acid help constrict the blood veins to help stop bleeding. Never put it to a test and if one of the gills had been torn it wouldn't have helped. Ty if you want to test it sometime and let me know if it works that would be great. Don't think it would hurt.

[Ty Sennett]

I've had a few fish pass on to the little lake in the sky from bleeding from the gills. Usually if I see the fish bleeding I'll just hold it in the water as steady as I can and just let the fish clot up and push it off slow. I don't push the fish back and forth when I see blood coming out from it's gills.

The more fish you catch the more chances you'll have that one is going to die. That's just the nature of the beast.

[skunked]

We've boated four fish in the last three days. It's been tough but the fish we are seeing are usually eating. We've had six or seven others hit that we missed. Almost every fish has been on Bulldawgs but we have had a couple on bucktails and one on a Pacemaker. Most of the fish have been good sized ones. The four we caught were 38, 42, 42 1/2 and 46 1/2 inches. I lost one in the 48 inch range. The highlight was Pat O'mally catching his first muskie. He's a 19 year old Iowa student. I didn't hold that against him but let him know that he could still be a Wisconsin football fan if he wanted. He and his brother fished hard for two straight days. That was thier first time muskie fishing and not to sound corny but those were two of the most enjoyable days I've had. Normally I'm the one up and casting first when the boat stops. Dan O'mally didn't wait for the boat to come off plane a couple times before he was on the front deck waiting for the go ahead to cast. You just gotta like that as a guide. The fish have been shallow, deep, and everywhere in between. Basically, cover some water and you'll find fish. There aren't any real "hot spots" so don't get married to one area. The west side has been just as good as the east side. We helped a guy let go a big fish on the west side yesterday. They didn't really know how to hold the fish but were really good about keeping the fish in the water and not stressing the fish out. We had that fish back swimming away in no time. The water temps aren't dangerously high so don't be affraid to take a picture of the fish but I wouldn't hold the fish out of the water for more than five to eight seconds. That's a good rule of thumb in the summer. Make sure to have thier head underwater as much as possible when unhooking them in the net also. Just make sure all your cameras are ready before you even go to grab the fish. I guess I can stop with my release rant now.

Water temps were 76 to 80 degrees.

Good luck,

Ty , The boys had a great time and I'm sure one they will not soon forget. They are already talking about next year. I will be back up 16th p.m.-19th with the guys. If anything opens up on 17 or 18 please keep me in mind. Thanks Again Pat

[stopher]

Me and a buddy were up friday morning till sunday. Don't know if it was the same fish, but we watched three guys boat one by chipmunk. Looked like all were throwing bull dawgs. That fish was out of the water for a solid three minutes between checking length on board and pictures. Standing up front holding for pictures he dropped the fish to the deck of the boat when it did a little thrash. Things happen, but both of us turned away and hung our heads... That fish was caught at 655. We were able to raise a decent one about 40 minutes before that on a glider. Was out sat morning by myself and raised another on a glider. Nothin the rest of the afternoon. At 905pm on sat my buddy had a boat side hit on a globe that was hooked for maybe 5 seconds, looked like another decent fish. That was his first boat side hit. Wished we had gotten it in the boat. Decent weekend over all. Be back for a labor day and again in October. Cant wait for some fall fishing.. Good luck till then!

[Ty Sennett]

If that fish died because it was out of the water too long then it was as much your fault as it was the boat that caught it. Now don't take that sentence as me coming down on you. It's not that at all. It's my way of saying that if you know how to release a fish and you see someone releasing a fish wrong and don't say anything then it doesn't make it right for you to say something without going over and helping another boat out by showing them how to do it the right way. In the last week I've helped two boats release fish that they may or may not have known how to. It's not an ego thing, it's just caring about the resource. If you ever see someone catch a fish just go over and ask them if they need help. Sometimes they really need help. It sounds like the boat you saw needed help. If you care about the fish then hurry over and help them out.

Again, don't take this harshly. The next time you see something like that just go over and help them out though. We can't say someone's doing it wrong without showing them how to do it the right way.

[deantre]

Well spoken Ty, I fish alone on the flowage quite a bit and sure would not mind anyone coming over to assist and also celebrate the catch, would be nice to be musky brothers instead of competitors and the bottom line of protecting the resource is right on.

[stopher]

We have offered and helped net/photo fish multiple times. No harshness taken at all as I agree with your post. A boat did cruise up as soon as the fish was netted "which drew our attention in the first place" and chatted for a moment. Then motored off 30 or so yards and drifted back towards them. I know the word assumption often has the same meaning as regret, but seeing a boat cruise up to 3 guys all throwing big baits from a rig like that, we "assumed" between the two boats, they would have the situation under control. Maybe our offering could of made a differnece.... Good luck out out there fellas!

[shorts]

Last weekend I fished on Sand. Did pretty well I got a 34, 38, 42. My wife and I were fishing a shoreline and a guy came flyinging in and beached his boat right in front of us and proceded to grab a really nice fish from the bottom of his boat and throw it on the bank and run up to his house. Not really knowing what the guy was doing I took a chance of getting beat up and went and grabbed this fish and put it in my net and kept it in the water to try and keep it alive. The guy came back down with a scale to weigh the fish and he did thank us for the help. Trying not to be an ass about this I kept persuading him to get this fish going as to not do any more damage to it than what had already been done. I think he wanted to keep it. Finally after convincing this guy to let me release the fish we got her to go. She layed on top for quite a while before going down. I sure hope it lives but there was a lot of stress put on the fish. This was a prime example of someone not knowing the proper way to handle and release fish. We actually showed the guy all the tools we had and kind of told him this was meant to be done out on the water. I think he thought we were kinda dick heads but oh well maybe it will save another fish or two some day. Just thought I would share this as some people really do need help taking care of fish. By the way the fish was 48.5 inches and right around 30 lbs.

[Ty Sennett]

That's cool of you to help. That fish didn't have a chance without you. Maybe someday you'll catch that fish whenit's 50 inches.

[Mark Benson]

Read this sent to a friend:

"Hi Andrew, I've been fishing muskies for years in WI before moving to MA. A few weeks ago, returned to Iron County and caught a few muskies on a shimino 4000 FJ spinning reel loaded with 50# Cortland Master... yep, I've been reading your articles on line etc. Anyway, like I was taught, I netted my muskies, hauled them into the boat where they bashed all over the place, until I could get 'em settled to remove the lure, take a snap, and release them... one of them took about ten minutes of nursing in the water till he stayed upright on his own and finned into the depths.... left me thinking, has to be a better way to protect them after netting them. I looked at your galleries, and noticed how you keep the Frabill net over the boat's gunnel and control the fish with your left hand wearing a mesh glove and using a pliers with your right hand to remove the lure while the fish is in the net still draped into the lake water... has to be easier on the fish. It would be really useful to shoot a video on your quick netting-lure removal-fish lift for pix, and release process... it would really promote protecting muskies from being mishandled and injured before release.Just an idea to consider. Thanks, Bill M."

Not sure I know what to think about the above, some one yanking a chain or for real... Amazing thoughts...

Mark