Day 3, Kinkaid

Success!

Boy are we lucky Chad's Friday client canceled. If we had to trade windy, snowy Tuesday for today, well, we would have missed out on, essentially, the whole point of the trip. Ultimately, eight muskies were boated today, but I'd say only three would be considered "nettable". The queen of the bunch was the above, a 45.5 incher that had to go about 30 pounds. My pop thought he had bottom for a few seconds, then got one of the bigger shocks of his life (and his biggest muskie ever).

It's pretty cool that we went from icebreaking yesterday to 43-degree water today. Those few degrees made all the difference. Chad was probably the most relieved of any of us, since he had to worry that we didn't believe all the stories he had been telling us. Of course, my day wasn't complete until I actually caught one. All but one of the fish were caught by someone else. I finally got on the board with this little bugger, a 35 incher.


So all in all, I'd say it's much easier to catch a muskie in Illinois than it is in Minnesota :)

Possibly, having Chad Cain in the boat coulda...maybe...had a tiny bit to do with it...



And don't forget to do your part to keep Chad's wife busy, buy Llungen Lures, made in Carbondale, Il! Where should you buy them? Keep my muskie consultant Aaron busy at Muskytackleonline.com!

Day 2, Kinkaid

Chad Cain, arctic explorer.

I said yesterday that ice was starting to form on the lake's surface as we were leaving. It should have been obvious to us what that would portend. It was in the 20s all night, so in the AM when we got back out there, a nice sheet had formed on much of the lake. Not believing it could possibly be all that thick, Chad decided we would bust through it since the "main lake must be open" and all we had to do was go through the thin ice to get there. Turns out, the ice wasn't all that thin. It was easily over a half inch in places. So Chad used one of his tried & true techniques, the reverse creep & gun. We would back up slowly, then gun the engine forward once we hit the ice edge to create a wake that would bust up the next 20 feet or so. Repeat.

After over an hour clearing a path to the main lake, we discovered the main lake wasn't open, either. We weren't finding bait fish where we could fish, so we went back to the coves where we were the day before that are usually so successful this time of year. Of course, they were fairly iced, too. He invented a new technique for that area, the Big Donut. He'd run 3/4 throttle in a circle to create an even bigger wake. Eventually, he created a big enough area of broken ice that what wind there was able to carry a sufficient amount away to allow us to troll a very small circle. We finally put poles in the water over three hours after we initially put in.

No muskies.

It was at least 40 degrees, so some ice was melting. We went back to the main lake and found the baitfish (gizzard shad). He told us beforehand that when we finally found the baitfish they would black out the sonar. I don't think my father believed him. There was so much shad that the sonar thought the cloud of fish was the bottom of the lake and got confused. We even "harpooned" a few with our trolled lures. You could actually feel the cranks pounding the shad by touching the rod as we plowed through the bait cloud. We saw a Bald Eagle, Osprey and many icecicles:



















But still, no muskies.

We went back to the coves and the effort Chad put in to break the ice in the area paid dividends. Much of it was gone, so we were able to cast a bit. We got about an hour of casting in before it started to rain. We were watching the radar pics on my BlackBerry and knew the storm was coming. It was turning dark anyway, so we headed out, fishless (so long as you don't count harpooned shad).

Tomorrow looks to be our best chance. It is supposed to be creeping over 50 degrees and most of the ice should have melted by then. Maybe they will be in the shallows, which would be the best possible scenario. Despite the clouds and the ice, I managed to get my face a bit sunburned, dammit. It will look like I went to the Bahamas to the uninformed. Since that's where I told my father we were going to go for this trip (I baited and switched him), I suppose that's just as well.

I will leave you with an instructional video demonstrating proper ice-breaking techniques with a Ranger. Be sure to listen for the sound of ice slushing and cracking, both against the boat and from the boat's wake. Chad explains himself (sorry about the crappy audio) at the end.

Day 1, Kinkaid

Brrrrrr...

I'm not sure it ever got into the 30s, but no matter, we still got one about two hours after we started. Chad Cain is a superman for having guided us to a Muskie while it was snowing, 36 degree water, ambient temperature of about 27 or so degrees. We began casting in one of his favorite coves, but weren't seeing enough baitfish to make Chad happy. So we went of trolling in search of Shad. Not long after we started trolling, this one hit an Ernie. It went about 35 inches and had no problem swimming away quickly.

Of course, that raised our expectations for the rest of the day, to no good end. It stayed cold, the sun would peek out temporarily, then hide again. We tried casting once more, but ice forming quickly on the guides, then making the line too big in the spool pushed us back into trolling. We trolled the rest of the day, until ice started forming on the lake's surface letting us know that it was a good time to call it a day.

Went to the 17th Ave Bar & Grill in Murphysboro, which won a bunch of BBQ championships and Bon Appetit press. The hot link was good, the ribs were good, the pulled pork was below average. All of it was served barely lukewarm. Podnah's it weren't.

Tomorrow is supposed to be in the low 40s, which will be a 20 degree improvement. It's also supposed to rain, so that will make the day another fun one, I am sure.

Below is what it looked like when we left the ramp in the morning.

Which Boat?

I don't have a boat. I would really like to have a boat someday, but which? In Oregon, the selection of used boats is pretty poor, especially for Bass/Muskies. I think Minneapolis Craigslist will be the way to go. I would like something 17' or bigger, with casting decks front and rear. I'm not sure whether I want fiberglass or aluminum. I assume I could get more value from a weld and would like the ride better of glass. I also like the idea of a Tuffy boat, if only because they have an "Esox" model that appeals to my sense of aesthetics.

So do I want a used Tuffy Magnum Esox, or some sort of used Bass Tracker, Skeeter, Stratos, Ranger, etc? I'm not doing new no matter what. I'm also not sure if I want a console or a tiller. If anyone ever reads this, I would love some guidance. The closer to $5k the happier I would be, but I could see going up to $9k or so if it's an amazing deal.

Cabin Fever

So I have some anxiety about now. In just over a week, I am to begin fishing on Lake Kinkaid in Murphysboro, Ill. with Chad Cain. Problem is, there are still a few inches of ice on the lake. I've been checking weather sites a few times a day, hoping to see a huge warmup. It's supposed to get up to 56 on the day before I start fishing, but I don't know if that will be enough. The next three days are pretty much staying below freezing. I would prefer to go in March, but Chad, who may be the premier Muskie guide on the planet, is all booked up in March. Aaron Heimkes of Musky Tackle Online had a buddy go out with Chad last year in March and they boated 22 Muskies in two days. I've never even thought of that many. Me and my fishing partners have only boated 11 total if you count Tigers, seven if you don't.

Even if the ice is off, there's a very good chance most of the fishing is going to be of the trolling variety. I don't know about anyone else, but I find trolling to antithetical to the whole Muskie experience. For me, it's all about The Take and if you're not actively participating in The Take, you don't really get to experience it. Personally, I don't even think Muskies fight all that hard, especially the Tigers in Lake Merwin. They feel like dead wood. The big ones in Minnesota fight fairly well, but I wouldn't confuse them with a Bonefish or Barracuda. They're more crafty than anything...wrapping themselves around motors or snags then tossing the lure.

Sitting around with no fishing readily available simply turns me into a consumer. I bought some Storm Spin Tail Shad today, both the 9" and 6" variety. I'm not sure if they catch anything, but I had to do *something* fishing-related. I already got an Okuma Red Isis a few weeks ago for pretty much the same reason. I picked up a Fig Rig 7'6" MH from Cabela's Bargain Cove when I was in Rogers, MN last. It was missing the ceramic insert for its bottom guide so it was half off. I love my 6'10" Heavy Fig Rig and can't wait to try the new one with the Okuma on it. I need to spend more time fishing and less time purchasing.

Umm...

I'm not really sure where this thing is going to go. My girlfriend's been trying to get me to start a blog for a long time. Now maybe she'll think I'm being productive. I really, really like fishing for Muskies. I'm also really, really political, opinionated and sometimes obnoxious and condescending. I guess I'm just saying this could grow from a lark into a bloodbath.

But no matter what, it will chronicle my fishing excursions. Nothing makes me feel quite like pursuing Muskies does and I've been only doing it in earnest for two years. In fact, I was hooked on Muskie fishing before I had even seen one for myself. I spent a few grand on rods and lures (to say nothing of plane tickets and gas) in the two summers and 25+ full days of fishing before I boated my first. The cute little guy (fish, that is) pictured above was my third, on Lake Minnetonka in Minnesota.

Because I live in Portland, OR, I don't have easy access to true Muskie waters. Washington's Lake Merwin is only an hour away, it contains Tiger Muskies. I've boated two Tigers in two trips to Merwin, but it's not the same as fishing in Minnesota for purebreds. Maybe I will go back and describe my previous journeys there. I will have to be careful not to give too much away. Fishermen are a secretive bunch and word tends to get out on the internet, no matter how small and insignificant one considers their patch of it to be. So I guess I can show fish porn, just not say *exactly* where or how I came across that good fortune. I will likely make exceptions for big or far away bodies of water. If I catch a sturgeon on the Columbia, it won't be too much of a secret to let out. I won't be telling anyone my favorite lure on Lake Merwin, though ;)

I hope in the coming posts I will be able to give some insight into how it feels to go after these critters. Maybe the picture will become more clear with the help of others' comments. I also enjoy the occasional Northern Pike and I will certainly relay any successes related to same.

Just to be clear, I will be using the "Muskie" spelling, since that is more consistent with Minnesota custom where I spend most of my time fishing for them. Let the cheeseheads spell it "Musky".