Tournament Blues

[uplander]

Let me tell a little story about the muskie tourney this weekend.......Fishing on Cass we got a hot tip from a guy on Wednesday on a spot. So Friday morning we decide to make the long run from the South side where we were staying to the before mentioned spot....7- 9 am nothing going so we pick out a new spot on the gps a wind swept point close to some reeds. 9:20 I'm burning a cowgirl on said point when out of nowhere at the end of the cast boatside....wham...this fish high 40's takes it ..I say "big fish" which makes my parner look and start to get the net!......She then does a 180 under the bout makes a small charge away then leaps out of the water and I mean out of the water her tail was 2-3 feet out of the just a beautiful silver fish...and then she was gone... silence at first then a few choice words then the self doubt.. what should I have done different...Truth is she was just barely hooked and that happens sometimes...or at least you have to tell yourself that over and over. That's O K it's early and it"s day one and now we got em figured out.....Then the weather completly changes..

The wind that was coming brisk from the east just quits. So do the fish...at least for us they did. Then to make matters worse the foot control for the trolling motor craps out. Now we are dead in the water with no wind to even make drifts..It's like 6 now with only an hour left in th day we decide to pull the plug early and head to Bemidji to track down a new control for the TM....that was a wild goose chase that ended in a goose egg..We call Walker and locate one but don't have time to make it there before close....Booooooo .We bring the foot pedal in that night take it apart and clean it and dry it out. The most we can get from it is constant with no turning ability....double booooo!

The next day we couldn't pick up a new pedal till 9 so we decided to go without and wing it with what we had.. That morning I decided to make a comitment to one lure since the previous day we emptied the box.it was the one pound kind with a curly tail. On our second spot and moral was low with our TM issues and all but I was getting the hang of stearing by hand and auto pilot helped as well...9:20 am, fishing the break on a mid lake reef..Wham.. my lure stops dead I set the hook and yell "fish on" I start to feel the head shakes and know she is a good one as i lift her out of the depths I see her........" big fish barely hooked" I say to my partner " get the net we have to take her on the first pass Oh no she's gonna jump".....the story ends with that fish puttin me in to the wall....Just like that the fish of my life was just another hard luck stoy of what could have been..

We stayed on fish all day on day 2 but never hooked up again. Unless you count the 24" walleye I caught on a Burt....I don't ..There is always next year....man I hate that saying!

May all your Muskies bite hard and hang on ...uplander

[musky_tail05]

Then to make matters worse the foot control for the trolling motor craps out....We bring the foot pedal in that night take it apart and clean it and dry it out. The most we can get from it is constant with no turning ability....double booooo!

Wow.....the exact same thing happened to me during the tournament this weekend. I went through two foot pedals before finding one that finally worked.

[50inchpig]

Cass broke my heart two years ago on a badly hooked crazy big fish that went berzerk - I feel your pain. I still think about that fish everyday.

Headed up this week for the club outing and can't wait. You're never safe on Cass until your bait is dry, and you don't know how you're going to react to one of those tankers at your feet until it happens. Those heart-stoppers don't get any prettier, thanks for the story, got me all pumped up - not that I needed it.

[nthomps66]

Why don't you cry about it Brad!

[uplander]

Good one thomps!!

[mroyten]

Cass broke my heart two years ago on a badly hooked crazy big fish that went berzerk - I feel your pain. I still think about that fish everyday.

That is heartfelt funny. Sounds like a lunker story to tell to the grandkids.

[tonkapat]

can u say copilot with foot control backup. i have had minn kota motors for a long long time if u do not take the foot control apart and clean it u will have weekends like that. I would bet your old control would work fine with maintenance. I learned the hard way also and now I know. good luck

[10,000 Casts]

We all feel your pain uplander. Durring the Tourney, we lost 2 nice fish trolling deep in Walker Bay on Fri. Both fish hit and we pulled the rods out of the holder felt head shakes and then gone.

There was quite a few fish that came out of Cass. More than usaul.

[NETim]

I've been told that it's a good idea to have a spare foot pedal.

1 is none. 2 is one.

[uplander]

My partner and I are the type that have to learn everthing the hard way I guess...Next time we'll be prepared......or at least we think we will ... Sorry to hear about your fish 10,000 but at least I don't feel like a man on an island now..I guess it happens to everyone eventually..

[Lare Pie]

I had that kind of minnkota, pedal went out after the second year. After the third year and second pedal, I sold that TM and bought the Maxxum series, the push/pull cables in the foot pedal. Best idea I've ever had. It's a little spendy, but worth every penny. Especially the one with the Lift-assist.