Flambeau musky

Matt, Pete, Brian and I hit the Flambeau River east of Winter off Hwy 70 Saturday and Sunday.  We had planned on flyfishing most of the time but the wind came up and I wimped out after banging a 6/0 sailfish fly off my head a few times.  For the most part weather was good and as usual I should have taken more pictures.  We did manage some nice fish - and the motorbike worked great.

We had been fishing for a few hours not seeing a thing Saturday.  Matt and I switched over to gear as we came up to a big deep hole.  On about my 10th cast I had a good hit on a jerk bait but it was on the "jerk" part of the motion and I couldn't get tight for a good hook set.  We continued to fish for a while - getting more frustrated (I'm not that good of a musky fisherman yet).  I launched a cast into the trees and pissed off I reeled back in as fast I could.  Bang, this 33 incher comes out of no where and slams the Jimmy.  We got some nice pics but Pete thought it was better watching me still shaking from a great take.

Ten minutes later this 36 incher comes in and slams the Jimmy.  It got airborne and had a few good head shakes.  Right away we thought it was a bigger fish but it was still fun.  Notice the lack of pectoral fins?

Sunday we fished a stretch just up river.  The first half by Nine Mile Creek looks great and it was good to float different water.  The fish were right where we expected them to be but a little more cautious.  Pete had a really good follow and I missed a nice fish on the same "jerk" portion but after Pete inspected the hooks we later determined that cheap hooks hitting rocks for 2 days can really dull a lure.

Brian did manage a nice pike on the fly (which we are lobbying for Pete Jr. to be named).  Too bad I didn't mange a better picture.





Overall we managed 3 muskies in the boat, 2 missed takes and saw another 3.  I have fished this stretch of river 4 times and managed a musky every time.  It was a great weekend and a good getaway for all of us - a fantastic way to finish up the year.

Catfish dreams

Well I finally made it out with my good buddy Pete to fish the Minnesota last Thursday.  He bought a G3 jet a few years ago and has really figured out how to catch channel and flathead catfish.  Pete has chased many big fish which still includes spending summers guiding in Alaska east of Bristol Bay.

The bite had been slower than normal with the temperature, high water, and moon phase working against us but we had it scheduled so we had to go.  We hopped around to a few places tying off to tree limbs looking for sharp breaks and hungry fish.  Flathead rods had 4"-8" bullheads hooked through the back and channel cats had deadbait.

It was slow to start as expected but it was a nice night, the grill was going and the beer was cold.

Finally we got a few bites and action was fast for about a 1/2 hour.  Now I grew up set-line fishing on the lower Wolf River.  There were many a summer morning when we would take the 76 Lund out and be pumped to have 3 10lbers on the line.  But that wasn't fighting them in the dark, with head-lamps, by brush with fish pulling drag out.

The first nice one was about 17lbs.

The second big boy was my biggest flathead ever - 41 inches and 30lbs. 

He still had lots of fight when we let him go and Pete got a little wet.

We got off the water around midnight

We made it home late but mainly because we were waiting in the McDonald's drive-thru for the shake machine to fire back up (did get 4 free meals passes, 2 of which are on a hand-written piece of cardboard).  It was a blast and something anyone who likes to fish would enjoy.  Pete's in "Cat-Leauge" and he knows the river and has a lot of guide experience - you won't be disappointed.