Of Muskies And Mental Health

[DeBo101]

Been quiet around here so I thought I would see if anyone else has been experiencing any mental anguish from our favorite fish.

My last two evenings of ski fishing have been pushing me to the brink. Last week I had a nice fish completely miss and boil on my lure while pulling through a weed clump. 5 minutes later I have a nice upper 30"s fish on for about 2 seconds. See absolutely nothing the rest of the night no follows, no pike, no bass nada. Ahhh

Last night cast too close to a weedline in a very good spot (think to my self I bet I will see a musky now). Sure enough a nice low 40's comes straight up from the depths and takes a nice look at my non-wobbling, weed-covered crankbait. 30 min later a ways down the weedline (the sun is very bright but low in the sky makes it a bugger to see in the water) fish follows don't see it in time poor fig.8 you can guess the outcome. 45 min later sundown time on the west shoreline get a nice wake going on the jackpot(at this point I try something new that I heard about some where "deadsticking") apperantly I didn't execute this properly . To top the night off (it was actually a pretty good night it was just lacking an "executed" plan) I head back to one of the areas where I had a follow and saw heavy baitfish activity. Magic time 15min after sunset out goes the hawg-wobbler wham 3# pike. 2 casts later big boil lure disapears I see that what would be my new PB is attached to the line it breaches, shakes its head, hawg-wobbler lands softly on the water(WITHOUT a fish attached).

argh

End result: lost sleep, sore casting arms, and I want to go fishing NOW!

[mtreno]

could not sleep last night - so thought it would be a good idea to get out this morning. hit the lake with fresh coffee and a donut about 445 this morning. boy was it cold and dark - sure feels like fall out there. great sunrise! thats about all i have to say.... had two totaly missed baits and one nice sized fish that i think just wanted to see how close she could get the top of her head to my low rider. did get a nice 21 inch bass. oh well till after work i guess

[setterguy]

After close to 30 hours of castsing with zero fish last weekend, I think I'm ready to get back on the horse. Fish were very sluggish, coming in late, turning early ect. Had a few nice fish working but just couldn't get the planets to align. Good luck this fall everyone,.

[MJBo]

Had four blowups on a weagle last night in 20mins. No hookups. Great way to cap off my six day no fish slump. Stupid fish. How the hell do they survive. If I only actually bit one in ten cheeseburgers I attatcked I'd starve.

[RK]

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How the hell do they survive. If I only actually bit one in ten cheeseburgers I attatcked I'd starve.

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Bahahahaa... If I had a dollar for every time I've said "How do they not starve to death?" I could afford to fish for them every day of my life. It really is amazing. Sometimes they don't even get close...

A more serious response to this thread... I VERY FIRMLY believe that in the end it all evens out. You have a dry spell, then a hot streak... That's muskie fishing. Treat the missed or lost fish as a Zen moment and keep casting. You'll go nuts otherwise....

Cheers,

Rob Kimm

[Cooter]

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I VERY FIRMLY believe that in the end it all evens out. You have a dry spell, then a hot streak...

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I must be due for the mother of all hot streaks!!

[RK]

Hehe.... My worst stretch ever was 11 fish hooked and lost in a row. Not missed fish or blow-ups (would have been worse if I counted those) but fish that were hooked and fighting and got off. It wasn't so bad until I hit double digits. Fish #11 was a 30-pounder that hit at full cast, fought all the way in, the dumped me right at the boat. I had a spectacular meltdown.

By the way, it DID even out. Later that season I got 9 in one day, 6 of them on figure-8s, including 2 47s and a 46...

Still bitter about #11 though

Cheers,

Rob Kimm

[MJBo]

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You'll go nuts otherwise....

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Too late. I'm already nuts.

My saving grace this year was a fantastic trip to canada. Would have burned all my gear and taken up foosball otherwise. Also, I find screaming the serenity prayer at the top of my lungs to be quite helpful.

[MJBo]

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Hehe.... My worst stretch ever was 11 fish hooked and lost in a row. Not missed fish or blow-ups (would have been worse if I counted those) but fish that were hooked and fighting and got off. It wasn't so bad until I hit double digits. Fish #11 was a 30-pounder that hit at full cast, fought all the way in, the dumped me right at the boat. I had a spectacular meltdown.

By the way, it DID even out. Later that season I got 9 in one day, 6 of them on figure-8s, including 2 47s and a 46...

Still bitter about #11 though

Cheers,

Rob Kimm

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Thats quit possibly the most inspirational and encouraging thing I've ever heard. Maybe there is justice in the world.

[Muskydanno]

I didnt have quite as vicious a consecutive streak going as Rob but last year i lost fourteen that i actually had hooked and fighting to the boat.3 in one day in about an hours time. (that will test your mental fortitude and your vocabulary)This year i have lost one second week of the season and one a month or so ago that i had hooked otherwise they all came to the boat, so it does eventually even out. Fighting through those rough spots is what makes the payoff so great when it does finally happen right?? Its just getting through those spots without pulling your hair out, or throwing all your equipment in the drink that is the trick!!

[cjac]

OK, after spending a week in Los Angeles, I could not wait to get back here and go muskie fishing! 7 lanes of 24/7 traffic jams, rental cars, smog (can you even call that stuff air?), and headaches made me long for the sore back and tired arms that come after a day of throwing baits.

I'll take a "skunked" outing over that life any day! If it's not fun, why go?

[TurnUpTheFishing]

Musky fishing can be really discuraging! I Started muskie fishing this year and have only caught two small tigers and can count the amount of follows and strikes combined with both my hands. I was out yesterday and didnt see a fish all day.

[propster]

Join the club! You'll see, you catch a couple good ones and they outweigh all the slow times.

[MJBo]

For me something that works well when youre really down like that is trolling. Bring your wife or a buddy throw on a couple of bucktails or spinner baits and just dink around the weedlines and cabbage beds. The fish are shalloew right now and are associating with the healthy weeds (from what I've seen anyway). You can't not catch fish (eventually) and you can't not have a good time.

I finally broke my skunk streak trolling last night. Thank god.

[mtreno]

last night -

its raining-cold windy - nobody wants to go fishing with me but i have to go..... get to the lake get everying setup and in the water - cruise out to my fav. spot - put on my fav. bucktail - no kidding first cast about three cranks in.... wham! fish on - cut the trolling motor - turn to the middle of the boat to get the net ready and the next thing i know i am sitting on the floor of the boat with this shooting pain from the right side of my rear - guess i stepped off the deck onto my open tackle box which turns out is rather slick when wet. to my surprize i did manage to keep the line tight and i still have a nice fish on - get her to the boat and she darts around the backside around the motor - so now i am standing on the drivers seat - reach back grab my net - turn around and..... she dives rolls and is gone...... after a few nice words at myself for being such an (Contact Us Please) i am drawn back to the fact that my rear end still really hurts - well it turns out that the bulldawg i had set on the deck was just in the right place to land on for a guy who likes to slip and fall on his tackle box..... thanks god i had a few sets of clothing on and did not catch a barb but that top hook on that bulldawg sure made a mess out of my raingear. i am sure it was a sight to see -

[CommonSense Guy]

YOu are a maniac.

[DeBo101]

Ahh and the saga continues.

Tuesday night fight a nice fish all the way to the boat makes a few runs didn't get a real good look at it. Dives under the boat and the only thing that comes up is my lure no fish attached. I put that rod down and collected my thoughts and switched to another rig. Later that night when I am touching up hooks with the file at home I notice my molly bait has a straightened treble on the front hook. Now I am happy!!!

Moved some fish the last 3 days but no takers. Today I am casting a jerkbait along a weedline, and I make another cast only something isn't right. I watch the handle of my reel sink to the bottom in 8 FOW and milfoil. Seriously, is that even possible?

The old man is coming up this weekend so I am going to regain my fish CATCHING confidence by chasing green bass tomorrow and brown bass on sunday.

Sometimes I love to hate musky fishing.