4/26 and 4/27

[Red Childress]

Well, our trout hunt went OK with 4 in the net ranging between 15.5 and 25.75 but the craziest catch of the day happened as I was casting (in the wind and hard rain) towards shore while a duck was flying by at Mach 5. As luck would have it, the lure was a direct hit and got stuck under its wing......the 40 mph speeding duck was stopped immediately and hit the water. I gently reeled it in from about 25 yards so Ross and Lenny could perform shoulder surgery. After 5 minutes and a very calm demeanor by the duck, all parties survived. No blood at all. The duck flew away immediately. (Believe it or not, this was the 5th time catching winged animals. 2 duck, 2 bats and 1 goose. The goose hit a Bomber Long A Mag back in 1995 and was my first airborne experience.).

Today’s musky hunt really sucked. It sucked so bad we quit after 4 hours. Wind howling and sleet flying around. The river temp has dropped 4 degrees since yesterday! Everywhere I go, the water temps have been plummeting. Tomorrow’s musky hunt has been cancelled as well.

So to re-cap, weather and water conditions have consistently deteriorated over the past 9 days. I got sunburned on Wednesday and fished in the snow this morning. We caught more ducks than muskies over that same time frame and we had our first bird surgery on board a boat. (Both successful Bat surgeries did happen in a boat.) At least my family comes back from Europe tomorrow so that will be a positive.

I might post a funny video clip of the duck being reeled in but am reluctant because it is laced with profanity. If anyone wants me to send them the clip, just post contact info in this thread.



Good luck!

[ppalko]

That’s nuts. Caught a few turtles and hellbenders over the years but never a duck.

Things got better in the afternoon. Found some smallmouth and a 30 inch musky. Wind was only moderately annoying and quit blowing in the evening.

Going to get crazy again this week. 70’s and storms? Sounds like spring.

[Ivan]

Funny story about the duck Red. I've become a loon catching expert, myself. Got one last spring on a Wiley trolled behind an inline planer board. I thought I had a good muskie until the loon broke the surface of the water and tried flying away. I was able to get it boat side and unhook/release the loon, but that was a total disaster that I never wanted to experience again. Then just Sunday 4/28 it happened again. This one hit a short-lined Newman trolled off a side boat rod, but was a much easier release. I think my experience from the the one last year helped some too. Both of these loons hit the baits under water and were hooked in the beaks. If you fish enough, crazy things and catches can happen.

[Red Childress]

Great story! I think I had heard of that happening before but not while trolling. I bet the loon fought better than either of the 2 duck but my trophy goose might just be able to pull the loon backwards. The goose brought his A-game that day.

Did the loon pull drag?

[Ivan]

Both loons pulled some drag. The one on the inline board last year fought much harder than the one last weekend for whatever reason. I think the one last year was hooked far worse and hurt a bit. It was pretty vocal when I was handling it too. The one last weekend just had a single hook in the top beak. It didn't do much at all, didn't make any noise, and was pretty easy to deal with.