Joel DeBoer
06-01-2009, 04:15 PM
I love helping people catch muskies, especially their first! Beginning musky fishing requires patience, a positive attitude, and the willingness to learn. When Jon Richardson called me to ask about setting up a couple of days of musky fishing for him and his son Spencer, he informed me that neither he nor Spencer had ever musky fished; in fact, they really had never used baitcasting equipment. I sensed his enthusiasm though, and he booked the trip for this past weekend. We made arrangements for me to pick them up at their hotel at 5:00 a.m., and proceeded to local water in pursuit of ol' esox. We were greeted with windy, cool conditions and water temps that had dropped considerably from last weekend. Lesson one of the day was to get some casting practice in - both of these guys were naturals and were soon casting pretty good as well as executing figure-eights.
Both Jon and Spencer stuck with it, casting an array of lures, waiting for that first strike. Finally we were greeted with a powerful hit - but it was a spunky pike in the upper twenty inch range, not exactly what we were looking for. 10 minutes later, another strike, this time a healthy musky, Spencer's first. We proceeded to catch 2 more muskies - one by Jon, and the final one of the day by Spencer. 3 muskies in their first day of musky fishing - not too bad! Day two started with a bang as we boated 6 nice pike into the upper thirty inch range, saw a few more fish strike short, and Spencer got to experience first hand the magic of the figure-eight as a stocky fish smashed his Slopmaster boatside, only to swim away after a few violent headshakes. The wind switched directions and the fish seemed to go into a funk as we had only 2 more short strikes on Slopmasters and a fish smash a Shallowraider, only to get off after a few headshakes. A good trip filled with some good memories - I look forward to fishing with Jon and Spencer again, thanks guys!
Tight lines,
Both Jon and Spencer stuck with it, casting an array of lures, waiting for that first strike. Finally we were greeted with a powerful hit - but it was a spunky pike in the upper twenty inch range, not exactly what we were looking for. 10 minutes later, another strike, this time a healthy musky, Spencer's first. We proceeded to catch 2 more muskies - one by Jon, and the final one of the day by Spencer. 3 muskies in their first day of musky fishing - not too bad! Day two started with a bang as we boated 6 nice pike into the upper thirty inch range, saw a few more fish strike short, and Spencer got to experience first hand the magic of the figure-eight as a stocky fish smashed his Slopmaster boatside, only to swim away after a few violent headshakes. The wind switched directions and the fish seemed to go into a funk as we had only 2 more short strikes on Slopmasters and a fish smash a Shallowraider, only to get off after a few headshakes. A good trip filled with some good memories - I look forward to fishing with Jon and Spencer again, thanks guys!
Tight lines,