54.5"er caught fishing solo!

This post could also have been titled, “Why you shouldn’t cancel your trip!!”

This story starts out with my guide trip from Saturday, 10/2. The guys I had fishing with me that day had a day of opportunity but, unfortunately, they went home without any fresh pictures on their camera. Each missed a hit without a hookup on one of my honey-hole weed beds that’s still producing well, but the real heart-breaker came at the end of the day. The major that day coincided with sunset, and it didn’t disappoint. One of my guys had a real whopper follow in on his Shadzilla and it smoked it on the first turn. Unfortunately though, it didn’t stay hooked and sank out of sight. The fish was big enough to have everyone a bit shook up and it was the conversation piece for the last couple hours of fishing. It was a real bummer to see opportunity slip away for these guys. They were good guys to fish with and they busted their butts for over 14 hours on the water and deserved that fish. I always say, musky fishing isn’t fair.

The following day, Sunday, the guys I had scheduled to take out never showed up. I didn’t get a phone call or anything – they were a total no-show. That was the first time I’ve ever had that happen to me and quite a few curse words were muttered as I waited at the meeting point, many that started with ‘F’.

I fished alone and of course I went back for the whopper. I snagged (literally) a mid 40”-ish fish at sunset off a rock spot. I’m estimating the size because I didn’t bother putting it on the board, but it was probably around 45” or 46” Then, when it was a bit darker and into the major, I moved to go find the whopper. I found her on exactly the same spot. Working with a south wind, I set up my drift and when I got to the spot it only took a few casts to fool her into biting. I got her on a Shadzilla - not just any of the twenty or so Shadzillas in the boat - I got her on exactly the same one she bit the night before. She measured in at 54 ½ X 24”. Of course I released her and she took off strong right away. She was out of the water for literally ten second to have her picture taken, that’s how long the timer runs on my camera. This is a milestone fish for me - it's the biggest fish I've netted myself while fishing alone.

The Shadzilla has been my most productive bait this year. I wish I could get a 16-18” version for mid-October until freeze-up. The Shadzilla is made by Waterwolf Lures. The only retailer in the USA is Big Wood Musky Lures whose shipping is cheaper and really fast - Waterwolf is in Ontario - so I recommend getting them from Big Wood. Order a bottle of Mend-It off their accessories page; it’s the best way to repair Shadzillas after they get chomped.
www.waterwolflures.com
http://www.bigwoodmuskylures.com/lur...make=WaterWolf Lures

Even though posting photos is a pain in the butt I try to avoid, I’ve posted the photo of the big one to pre-empt Sam, who’d be sure to pester me if didn’t include a picture. The picture was taken with my camera on a Gorillapod. It works well in the boat. The picture kind of sucks compared to the photos I’d have if someone were with me, but it’s better than nothing. You can get a Gorillapod from Joby or Amazon.
http://joby.com/gorillapod/original/

To the guys that stood me up:
HAVE A LOOK AT WHAT YOU MISSED!!!

Well i hope they had a real good reason for standing you up Paul...they missed out on a beast! Always wondered what it would be like trying to wield the Big Kahuna by myself for a beast like that and if i would get it tangled on the outside of the net and create a new dialect!!
Been trying out the Shadzilla here and there a little bit and i really like the bait. I have yet to catch something on it but it got hammered on leech a few months ago when i first tryed it out ,and i know if i use it enough its only a matter of time .Just finding it hard to put the blades,cranks, and dawgs down long enough to gain confidence in it. Do you put any pops or rips into your retrieve or do you pretty much just straight reel it in? Seems to be a decent quality piece and i love the patterns.Great body roll too.
Our rock spots out there have been pretty devoid of fish as of late on the pond (at least the times we've been fishing them anyway)but i cant say i have a ton of hours in lately. Will try this weekend again.

See you at the end of November and dont worry i wont stand you up and miss a chance at a hawg like that!:)

Dan

That's great fish, well done. Did you post the photo yourself or did someone help you. Just kidding. The story behind that one shows the advantages of living and guiding on the lake and having a lot of time on the water. You're hitting Mille Lacs harder than anyone and deserve to catch a big one for yourself once in awhile. Good for you.

Congrats on the fish Paul!!!!!!!!
John

That fish is freeekin huge.... makes my head spin thinkin about it! Nice work,
you deserve all 54.5 inches of that fish!!


Jake

Nice fish Paul. See you in a couple weeks.

Hey good to see you can still figure out how to post a pic :) Now I can photoshop my head on that fish and send it to all my mates. Way to go on a real whopper momma fish. You're right about me bugging you about pics because you bet I would have. The pics are muskie porn for us that dont get all the action. You only forgot one thing though and thats the location and i mean the real location not the general vage info you usually give. JK Great fish

Thanks everyone.

Sam, I've mentioned the hot spot a few times already this year - Cove Bay, way back in the shallow slop. You can't beat that spot in the late fall. I did remember how to post a photo, that's not the problem. I always fumble my way through resizing the photos so they are under 195 K for a .jpg file. I'm not a total Luddite, I just don't do it often enough to become efficient.

Dave, The water temps will be dropping and I'd look forward to good fishing. Bring all your rods, I want to try out some of the new sticks you guys have; I'll be adding to my collection next year.

John, One of your Stealth leaders was the final, critical connection between me and the fish. Your 130# and 150# leaders are the best and have served me well this year. That fish was caught with the #150. Thanks.

Dan, I use a pretty steady retrieve with a couple twitches during the retrieve. I mostly let the lure do it's thing. I'll give it a small twitch/pause sequence about 1/3 of the way in, then again after another 1/3. The Shadzilla has enough action that you don't need to be twitching, pumping, snapping, and jerking the bait. That will likely just interfere with it's natural allure and put you out of position to sense the bite and get a proper hookset.

Thanks again.

Oh, by the way, I haven't heard from the guys that stood me up, nor have I tried reaching them either.