Musky Hunt 4/6 and 4/7

[Red Childress]

We had a very good day of action on Saturday but wished the hook-up ratio was a little better as we went 2 for 9. It was one of those days where the muskies were just plain missing our baits multiple times in a row. 8 of the 9 fish appeared to range between 40 and 48 or so. Nate netted a 40.5 and I was lucky enough to pop a 48 after 2 other baits had just landed in the same area on 8-10 different casts. Weird.


After waking up to some serious optimism on Sunday morning, we fished hard but only had 2 follows between 8:45 and 10am. No more sightings for the next 6.5 hours.


Here is a pic of the 48.


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[ttabaleulb]

Man, you guys are gettin into some nice fish!! 2 for 9 on Saturday!! Thats awesome to see that much action. Sure sounds like you have a bead on the early season stuff.

[Red Childress]

It has been a surprisingly good Spring thus far but we haven't really been doing anything different. A little luck and some good timing has been on our side for sure and hopefully it continues for another 8 months!

[ttabaleulb]

Thats interesting to hear. I was gonna ask if you had been trying anything different. As we all know, timing can make a world of difference. Hope it continues for ya and some of that action makes its way down into this neck of the woods.

[ppalko]

Water conditions and weather have to be helping. Last year was terrible as it rained so much. River levels were all over the place. Much more stable this year (for now). We caught a very fat 43 incher and hooked a 50+ on the lower allegheny on a multispecies outing. River and weather conditions were about as good as they could get.

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[Red Childress]

Nice going fellas!

Just wondering if the water was a little muddy when you guys caught that fish?

[ppalko]

Just a little off color but much lower flows than typical this time of year. The lower river gained some color thanks to a few tribs that had been unloading some flood control reservoirs at the time we fished but I'd describe conditions as pretty amazing considering what we usually face. The bigger fish which we didn't land was hooked on a small jig and 6 lb test and was within 10 yards of this one. It might have been the biggest fish I've ever seen. Should have seen the looks on our faces when she blew out of the water next to the boat.

[Red Childress]

It must be the little glare coming off that fish which makes it look a little bleached out. Hence, the water clarity question.

I have never hooked a beast musky on very light line before like you guys did but several fish under 45. I bet you guys were pumped and depressed within seconds of each other!

If you were forced to assign a length to that pig, would you say 50, well over 50?

[ppalko]

Not sure if she was well over 50, I was just totally impressed with the girth. Big prespawn female for sure. I was trying to problem solve how we were going to get her in the net considering the light line. My dad was the one who hooked it and actually had her on for awhile. Two laps around the boat, one jump, a run or two and the jig just popped out. The musky in the picture was impressively fat, this one was a tank. Biggest ever in my net was 47 inches and this fish was much bigger.

[Red Childress]

For me, things get a little distorted sometimes when I am trying to estimate the length of a super fat fish. Sounds like your dad had a real stud!