Bass and Muskie Weekend

Memorial Day weekend allowed me to get on the water two days this past weekend and both days produced nice fish.  Saturday Heather and I went out to enjoy the weather and find spawning bass on their beds.  This time of year, under the right weather conditions, you can easily employ sight fishing techniques for these spawning smallmouths.  This provides for a very unique and exciting fishing experience.  The highlight of the day was when Heather hooked into a nice 3 pound smallmouth and when she pulled it towards the shallow water, a dark cloud appeared behind the fish which were quickly distinguished as 12-15 smallmouths in the 2.5-3 pound range.  That was a phenomenon I had never seen previously.  I have seen large schools of smaller fish and smaller groups of the large fish, but never that many, that size.  I quickly cast to the perimeter and we were rewarded with our second double of the day.  The day produced around a dozen fish that went over 2.5 pounds, which is a success in my book.  The biggest was around the four pound mark and was heavy enough to break the line right at the boat.  Again I encourage catch and release of the fish while they are spawning.

Nice Smallmouth off a Spawn Bed

Brent with a Bass

Monday was the day for muskie and Brent and I went out to try our luck.  We were rewarded with several strikes, and I finally connected with my personal best fish of 37”.  Based on the girth, I am estimating the fish to be around 12-13 pounds.  This fish fought very well and was a lot of fun.  Brent also hooked onto a fish which unfortunately gave a final headshake at the side of the canoe and managed to get away before the photo opportunity.  This was his first muskie hookup, which will hopefully be followed up by another chance where we can snap a picture.  I would estimate that fish to be in the 30-32” range.  

37" Maine Muskie

Enjoy the pictures and I am attempting to upload some video footage to go with it so stay tuned!