Fishing 12/13, 14

[Red Childress]

Hitting the river with two seasoned musky fisherman from West Virginia this weekend. Hopefully the water levels will cooperate after this massive snow pack melt-off.

[b.bent66]

the outflow is also on the rise

[Red Childress]

Yea, I have been watching like a hawk. The rise will fine as long as debris is not a problem but I hate fishing on the drop, especially for trout.

[Red Childress]

Looks like we are going to have some VERY different conditions for river fishing this weekend!!

[b.bent66]

fullmoon tonight, 8200cfs. should make things interesting, cant wait to get out on the river myself.

[RapRunR]

Been looking at the hydro reports very often last couple days too. The rise in Oil Creek made my bait runs very successful. Never caught such big shiners before in the traps. Easy 50 count with 2 dozen in the 5 to 7" range. Don't know how a few even squeezed into the trap, lol. Very happy and looking forward to the warm up sunday. I'll make a day of it for sure. With the moon phase, water levels and the nice bait hoping to tear em up tomorrow. Don't know if i can get out today or not. Good luck this weekend everyone.

[Red Childress]

Day 1 went much better than I anticipated since the water levels were on a serious drop today. Stuart had a nice follow on his first cast this morning, had another BIG follow 90 minutes later, lost another very nice musky 4 hours after that but fixed his broken heart an hour later with a BIG musky. Bobby (Stuart's brother) managed a nice pike and had bigger pike follow later in the day.

Stuart's musky was special because after 30 years of musky fishing, this one was his biggest yet.

I might have officially become a strong believer in the lunar calendar. :)



Stay tuned...........

[Red Childress]

Day 2 was a tough one.........river levels fell about 15 inches Sunday and we did not raise a fish all day. The muskies seemed to shut off after the big feed on Saturday.

Water North of Warren is very clear with a temp of 40 degrees.

[Red Childress]

We did not post any measurements of the fish yet because we wanted to see/hear if anyone felt like guessing the length and girth of the fish.

For comparison, the guy holding the fish is 8'7" and 525 pounds.....no really, he is 6'3" and about 260lbs.

Toothyfishman, you cannot participate as you were told yesterday!! :)

[Polish_Pike]

Hey, that's a beauty...how about....?

48" x 21.5"

lure: Hellhound...Northern Pike pattern

awesome fish

[R Findlan]

Great fish, couldn't look healthier.
I'll guess 49 x 22

[cband]

Nice Fish, both the pike and muskie are pretty good fish! Seems like a pretty nice feeding window on Saturday.

[b.bent66]

i also had a good night on the river chasing the walleyes Saturday. you could see the water dropping which was neat never been out when the water was that high figured it wasn't any good fishing. i seen your post for the day around 730pm and said what the heck glad i went out. as for the muskie I'm going to say 47" which brings me to a question how do you get a girth measurement?

[RapRunR]

48.5 x 20.5

Shore anglers and boaters in Tionesta were hitting some eyes with this warm up and rain the last 2 days. Not a lot and no hogs but some good eaters from 18 to 23". Just the right size for me. Got enough for a big dinner now :-) Probably shut down with the cold front until it settles in. We'll see tomorrow.

On another note i went and left my net at the river side by the boat ramp and sure enough like i thought it was gone next morning. Asked around and found out who launched first figuring he would be the one who found it. He came in at dusk and talked to him explaining i forgot it and describing it. He said yepper i found it and gave it back. Nice to see honest people out there !!!!!

[Red Childress]

When we girthed that fish, we did it horizontally while Stuart held the fish. I just could not put her on the non-carpeted, freezing floor. I am sure the measurement was not exact but within a half inch. The reason we took tried to get accurate measurements is my client's wife is going to have a replica made for a Christmas present.

As for proper girthing, I have only girthed a few fish because of the extra time it takes. Most of the time, it is the client who wants the girth so then we do it. The safest way (and recommended way according to the musky gods) is to do it while the fish is still in the water but when the water is 40 degrees and air temps are 25, it will take a very special fish for me to endure the pain. That procedure is a 2-man operation to get an accurate measurement.

Most guys lay the fish on a bump board (and hope the fish cooperates), find the fattest part of the body and get a "soft-tape" measurement.

[Red Childress]

The answer is...........48.5 x 23/24.

The first time we girthed it was 23 but then we did it again (in a slightly different spot) and got 24. THOSE MEASUREMENTS WERE WITH STUART HOLDING THE FISH HORIZONTALLY. After those measurements, we put her back in the net for a few minutes and then pulled her for photos. Fish was out of the water for a total of less than 1 minute both times.