Monster Muskie

Brent and I pushed off from shore in our typical fashion and wasted no time putting the lures to their intended use.  We had just settled in when Brent's rod struck with such force we were sure it was on bottom, until "bottom" started moving.  The fish rolled on the surface with a distinctly unique sound I had only heard a couple of times before, and I knew it signaled a good fish.  Brent did a nice job playing the fish and we quickly got her into the net.  We then went to shore so it would be easier to handle the monster, which we could now clearly tell was huge!  As we lifted the fish it quickly became apparent that this fish was heavy!  As we stretched the tape our jaws dropped as it surpassed the 44" mark.  This was Brent's largest ever muskie and the largest one to ever come to my canoe.  We slipped the tape under her belly to show a 20" girth and then snapped a couple of photos before lowering the behemoth back into the water for the slow revival process.

After a couple of worried minutes she started to regain her spark and once I felt confident in her swimming abilities I released my grip.  She swam off on the surface for a ways before submerging back into the depths.  It is a good feeling to see a fish of that size swim off and know she is there to catch again.  Exchanging high fives, we jumped back into the canoe and immediately started fishing again.  On Brent's first cast, I heard the familiar hum of a drag slipping and looked up to see a smile plastered on his face.  I couldn't believe it Brent had a two fish night.  This fish was also very nice and taped in at 35.5" with a thick girth.  This one was also released to be caught again.  Enjoy the pictures and videos of these two beauties caught by Brent.