Muskie Mania!!

The rod doubles over and it is that split second where your heart stops…Is it bottom or will you feel the head shake of a fish that hits so hard the drag starts screaming.  Fortunately for me, there have been head shakes a fair number of times this summer.  The summer started right after spawning with some smaller fish in the mid 30 inch range.  Fun to catch, they weren't quite the 40"fish we were attempting to connect with, but they were soon to come!  The best day we had started early one morning as we took off from the launch, we wasted little time on hooking onto our first fish.  I hooked it on a bass lure with no leader and the 40 inch class fish was only one for 30 seconds before severing the line with its' teeth.  Excited, we continued our quest and a few minutes later we were rewarded with a 38" fish which was a beauty and I already considered the day a success.  Sliding the speckle bellied, finned beauty back into the water we readied our rods again.  A short time later I felt the lure stop solid and with a yank I felt the unmistakable head shake of another fish.  As this one came under the boat I could tell we were close to our magic 40" number.  Sure enough after a brief battle we slipped it into the cradle and confirmed the tail was just past the 42" mark!  Ecstatic we took several pictures and measurements in case we decided on a fiberglass reproduction to remember this fish by.  With a nod of approval and a grin on my face, I released my grip on the its' thick tail and the revived fish disappeared into the current with a few flicks of its' tail.  Almost ready to pack it up thinking we couldn't catch more fish we decided to keep fishing anyway.  A few minutes later I shook my head in disbelief as my forearm tensed to control the flexing rod with another fish.  This one, once boated, measured in at 41". Then as we turned to head back I couldn't resist fishing on our way back and yet one more time the rod came to life and I landed a 40" fish.  That was the best day of fishing I personnaly have ever had for muskies, landing 4 muskies in one morning with 3 fish over 40 inches.  We have caught more fish before, but not of that size class.  Brent was a phenomenal net man and as painful as it was for him to watch me catch those, he has had a pretty good run of big fish, it just wasn't his day!