Muskie Opener

[mrklean]

How many of you are planning to make it out this weekend for opener, anyone care to share where they are heading??  I plan to finally get the boat out of storage hit up a local lake and test out some new gear

[Deet]

Pumped beyond words. Opener is always good on every lake I've ever fished. Seems like they have finally forgotten about all the harassment they suffered the previous summer and fall. It's a day for lots of follows and working the kinks out.

[RK]

Believe it or not... I'll be in South Dakota fishing smallies this weekend. Annual trip with some old friends, and this was the only weekend we could make it work. Probably hit a local lake sometime next week though.

 

Deet, there is definitely something to forgetting the pestering. I've always though early season it's a lot easier to make a big fish make an unlikely mistake...

[Nick Kuhn]

I'll be out in Wisconsin this weekend. The first trip out there was a complete bust Memorial Day weekend (unless you enjoy catching pike while muskie fishing). May flies were already hatching then though, and the fish weren't on the usual early haunts. Casting through the schools of small fish on the bug hatch wasn't working either. Hoping for more success this weekend.

[MuskieFever]

Can't wait for saturday. I'll be on a north metro lake.. Good luck everyone!

[Deet]

Today is almost as tough as Deer-Opener-Eve.

[MuskieFever]

3 follows but no takers for me. Lazy follows.

[Deet]

Fished from 5:30 AM to 4:00 PM. Three guys in the boat.

6:00 AM buddy #1 caught a 44 incher on a walk-the-dog topwater. Buddy #2 saw it following #1's bait first, so then #1 sped the cadence, then paused, and she ate about half way back to the boat. the fish came from shallow water in a good, complex spot that has fish all year, it seems. Not a traditional "early-season spot".

A half hour later the same guy had another one blowup on that bait but it never get it in her mouth.

1:30 pm buddy #1 again had one following that topwater, this time I spotted it first. The fish was pushing hard on it, tail and dorsal fin breaking the surface as she darted side-to side. I told him he had one right on him, so he changed up the cadence. Fish disappeared, then came back two seconds later even hotter than before. I now could see this one was a beast, and [PoorWordUsage]ed off. About 20 feet from the boat, he paused the bait for over a second, and she slurped it in without hardly breaking the surface. Good hookset when he felt her, and after a good but short battle, Buddy #1 landed his FIRST 50 INCHER!

Buddy #2 also had one hit a bucktail but didn't get hooks. That was the fourth time that fish followed one of us. We kept going back to her every 1/2 hour, but never harassed her too much because it didn't seem like it was quite ready to eat until the last time. We also had two hard rips while trolling that never hooked up.

What an awesome day. 

[CaptainMusky]

Deet, sounds like your buddies are good fishermen. :-)

[Redlineracer12]

I fished the North Metro on Saturday morning but didn't realize what a zoo it was going to be. I fished for about 4 hours before packing it up, had one follow on bulldawg that was it. Good to hear there was some action on topwater, that's what I want to try more of this year.

[MuskieFever]

^guessing you were on bald or forest? Nice lakes but absolute zoos when busy. 

Last year on bald in the metro tourney, I was on a a hump about 30 min before tourney start. 2 min before  go time, a boat pulls up 20 yards away and sets up to cut me off. I was gonna be a true Minnesotan and not say anything. 

Heres where it gets good. He hollers over to me all sarcastically, "are you gonna fish it out??" And I said yes. He then looks at me like I'm the jerk and gets all mad. He left. Couldn't believe it, but at least he left. 

[Andrew Erickson]

Fished on Mille lacs all of Saturday, moved a few fish and lost a decent one on a phantom. Came home Sunday to get some time on my home water and moved 6, my buddy lost a 42" class fish right at the boat and I stuck this 51.25" right at dark on a baby doc. The fish came all the way out of the water and absolutely crushed it. Wish I could've had it on film, it was unreal.

[Redlineracer12]

^guessing you were on bald or forest? Nice lakes but absolute zoos when busy. 

 

​Yep, on Bald Eagle. What a circus. Next year I'll probably go to Mille Lacs where there is room to breathe!  I couldn't believe the entire lot was full and there were 10-15 boat trailers in the park area where you're not supposed to park with trailers.

[Cfollow]

The excruciating five month wait for the MN opener was well worth it. I managed this brute of 51" on hour 8 of our opening day outing. Moved six other fish that weren't within a foot of this girl.

 

Edited June 11, 2015 by Cfollow

[Cfollow]

Edited June 11, 2015 by Cfollow

[Hartley]

Caught this 45"  beauty on a north metro lake Saturday morning! Trolling a musky train diesel. Great start to the season! 

[mrklean]

Nice job guys my boat is still in storage so I can only live through you guys