July 2 Fish Report - Musky Surprise

[Pete Stoltman]

Had an absolutely great day on the water with Eric Matuska and Kyle Bauman. These guys were a blast. Lots of fun and some pretty good fishing. We had a mixed bag in the morning of walleye, bass, perch, and a few assorted rock bass. These were hitting fathead minnows on 1/16 jigs. Weeds in the 5 to 7 foot range were good and downed timber was also holding fish. After a lunch break we decided to change things up a bit and threw spinnerbaits for bass and pike. Again the 5 to 7 foot weeds were the key. We caught a few pike and a bass or two when Eric's rod bent in half and we knew we had a battle on our hands. Kyle had tussled with a musky earlier in the day (jig and minnow) but got the dreaded bite-off. Now it was Eric's turn. Fortunately on the bass/pike gear I had him rigged with some super-braid line and a light wire leader (just in case). The question now was: how good was his hookset and would he be able to play this fish with the medium spinning rod and reel. I'm happy to say that everything worked out perfectly and after close to a ten minute back and forth battle Eric had landed his first musky! It was a nice hefty 42" and after a few photos and maybe just slightly less than pefect release (kaploosh) the fish swam off just fine. In addition to the fishing it was an absolutely beautiful day here in the Eagle River area. Lots of boat traffic on the water but most folks seemed to be pretty courteous and not crowding each other too badly.

Have a great 4th of July. Enjoy yourselves and be safe!