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!!!
54.5"er caught fishing solo!
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