How I got sick...

[Random guy]

Many of us have been infected with the Musky bug, some by accident, some by dumb luck and many by hours of relentless casting. This topic was spoken about at the tackle shop the other day and was also brought up in another topic but I thought we would all have some fun rolling back the clock and reminiscing about the first time the cork handles shook us to the bone. For those in search of their first Musky it will give a fair warning for what’s ahead of them in the years after the first fish. I’ll start it off explaining some of what’s wrong with me.

My first Musky came in mid fall when a group of small town farm kids heard a rumor that the walleyes where backed up behind a small set of falls on a river thirty miles North and East. Naturally we all stole our fathers best walleye rods, found somebody old enough to drive and away we went. The day was like dream, fall leaves dropping, walleyes as fast as you could catch them, and I think a few girls even joined the outing making it that much sweeter for a small town adolescent. As the day proceeded the walleyes completely quit feeding, just like somebody flipped a switch. In attempts to continue the nonstop action I put a floating Rapala on and began to twitch it along like that Al Lindner character I seen on Grandpas big Satellite TV, next thing I knew line was peeling out of that old Penn open-faced like it was hooked to a truck. After much screaming, hollering and general panic I had managed to get this brown colored beast tamed enough to swim up and down the shore at 280mph. In a last ditch effort I attempted to steer the fish on shore, thoughts of a state record pike flashed through my head as this spotted brown and silver fish beached halfway onto dry land. Little did I know how well I would get to know that toothy grin as it spun, cut the line and disappeared back into the rolling water behind the falls.

The silence was finally broken by my buddies voice “what was wrong with that pike…it was all brown” I have not stopped looking for that fish since.

So how did of the rest of you get the fever?

[MSRiverdog]

That's good Jon

I grew up going to Mantrap every summer to my Dad's, Aunt & Uncles resort, Birch Highlands. There was a 20#er hanging above the door that was caught many years earlier on a cane pole when they had a resort on Little Sand I think. I NEVER could take my eye's of that fish when I was in the main lodge. I can see it now like it was today. Dem Ski's can bite.

[shamalex72]

Here is the lure that started it all for me. A chunk of wood and my nieghbors belt sander is all it took. A fancy paint job and red tail from a piece of yarn and presto-3 inches of muskie magic

[TBone1]

My first experience with Muskies was on Tonka in the fall of '75 or '76. My dad and my uncles were the masters of trolling for Northerns around Smithtown Bay, thats all we fished for and we ate EVERYTHING we caught. Daredevils and Redeye wigglers were the standard and we spent endless hours trolling from what we called the Chineese house down to Boulder Bridge and back. One particular day dad got a wild hair and broke from our routine. We motored our 14ft Starcraft over to the Red Bridge and started trolling . It wasn't long before dads rod doubled over and he had one hell of a battle going on. I'm sure he thought he had enough Northern on the end of his rod to feed the whole clan , aunts, uncles, cousins- everyone. The battle kept on, dad manuevering the motor, while thumbing the spool on his old Pflueger reel. I sat in amazement as I watched , waiting for the Northern of a lifetime to appear, and when it did I sat confused , thats not like any Northern I had ever seen, I thought maybe it was a freak of nature. It wasn't to much longer and dad had the beast under control. It's a g-- d---- Muskie he said. I thought to myself hmm whats a Muskie? To this day I'm not sure how big it really was we didn't measure or weigh it, I do know it was only half in the net when dad scooped it up. Now 30 years later I'm on Tonka at least 4 days a week chasing these beasts. Recently my wife has taken up the chase with me, and has yet to hook up, it's only a matter of time though.

[RuKiddingMe]

You guys all have some pretty cool stories about how you got started fishing the great beast. Mine is on the other hand is pretty cut and dry. I have been fishing my whole life with my Father and Grandfather for walleyes, and just got bored of chasing walleyes. So one day I decided that I wanted to start fishing for Muskies, the thought of catching such a large fish really got me going. So I spent the rest of the summer studying up on what gear was necessary. That winter I bought a couple of rod and reels and loaded up a tackle box with some baits.

I was all set to go, that spring on the opener I was out on Lobster in the Alex area with my girlfriend and the first place we tried I raised one beast of a fish on a depth raider. This fish was huge, now being new to the sport and having never seen anything so big, I was just in awh and totally spaced out doing a figure 8. Now with my heart about to explode out of my chest I make another cast to the same area and sure enough she follows again and I do the same thing, totally space on the figure 8 and the fish swims off. The girlfriend seen the fish on the second follow and said don't you dare catch that, it's too big what would we do... haha Funny enough I was thinking the same thing what would I do with such a large fish... Looking back I would figure that fish to have been all of 48".

The feeling of even seeing that fish, the weak knees, the heart pounding and the andreniline flowing at 110%, I knew from that day forward fishing would never be the same for me, little did I know I would never be the same either.

My only hope is that my little boy will enjoy Muskie fishing as much as his old man, he's 6 months old now so I have a ways to go, just really looking forward to it.

RU

[TBone1]

I was also a Wally Man for a number of years, and always caught a few ski's chasing wally's, I guess the seed was dormant for a few years.

[Random guy]

Shamalex, I'm curios about the choice of colors!? I have boxes and boxes of baits and I truly believe that is one combo I have never seen before. It may be the next RED!

[shamalex72]

I don't remember why I picked those colors. Might have been that was all my dad had laying around for me to use.

[Random guy]

Either way it's pretty cool that you still have it. I would have to say that is a mantle piece, any true musky guy would agree.

[J Rookie K]

I got my first one back in 93, fishing for bass. It was 41", and the biggest fish of my life. I still have the mount.

Then in 96, I met a fellow who fished muskies, and he took me out a few times. We became good friends and fished for these things all the time. A few years back, I was frustrated with musky fishing and discovered catfishing. That has been my love for a while now. But suddenly this year I have the itch to hunt muskies. Ive been out 9 to 10 times this summer with only 2 follows. Each time out with nothing, forces me to hit it again. Now Im itchin to catch one bigger than my best, the first one.

I should have let that 41 go.

[Random guy]

It's always amazed me the worse fishing goes the more we want to go chase these things.

[Hotspotter]

My first encounter was on French Lake near Faribault, around age 10. Grandpa had a 14' foot aluminum with a 15 horse johnson that we tooled all over the lake looking for sunnies and crappies. We too, kept everything we caught, because grandpa did.

Grandpa was a wise old man, knowing my two brothers and I would wreak havoc on the boat, lake, and his subsequent fishing time if we each had casting rods. So he set us up with jigglesticks; the same ones we used for ice fishing. That way, one of us could fish off of the front, and each side, while he fished out of the back of the boat. Very few tangles, besides the times he'd get our lines and hook them to each others' life jackets when we weren't looking. He thought that was great.

So I was bringing up a small sunnie boatside, and leaning over the side of the boat, waiting for the thing to come spiraling up from the depths. As the sunfish was about to come out of the water, my world exploded. Within the span of one second, a toothy critter had missed the sunfish completely and come two feet out of the water with mouth open, ready to swallow my head. I had seen the look in this fish's eyes, and it wanted blood.

I didn't know what it was until my grandpa calmly commented, like nothing had ever happened, "It was a g$% d*$&@# musky. It followed my jig in on the last cast and hoped the #$%^&*@ thing would just go away."

To an old Czech, it just meant a major tangle and lost time catching potato chip sized sunnies.

I'd like to say i've been chasing them ever since, but I'm afraid to start because I know I'll like it too much. And, with my turkey hunting obsession, my wife would be mad at me for yet another season out of the year.

Joel

[Random guy]

I used to be a very avid bowhunter, fall musky took care of that hobby about ten years ago.

[shamalex72]

Wouldn't it be nice to have two fall seasons;one for fishing and one for hunting.