No Excuses

There is no excuse for my lack of fishing reports and the same goes with for the reason not to be muskie fishing right meow!  With the recent cooler temps and the water temps getting back into the low 70's the toothy critters have been active.  On this particular outing I was able to boat 3 muskies, with the one above being a 46" fish.  The fish have started to move and started showing up on some of their late summer early fall haunts.  The cooler temps and cooler water triggered them into feeding mode!  

I also managed to land this nice 38" fish.  I apologize for the poor quality of this photo.  It was early in the morning and my fishing partner really had no idea how to get it to focus.  The gentleman I fished with on this outing was a client that books me out by himself and asks that I fish with him so he too can learn and loves to see muskies coming in the boat-even if they are not on the end of his line.  The bite should could continue to stay good barring any weather that may shut them down.  Ideally we have many cloudy slightly breezy days in the coming weeks.  If you want to attempt to battle one of these, get a hold of me.  Until then, Fish On and get out and stretch the string!  

The Future

Do you think the future of "our" sport is very bright?  Yes, it is "our" sport to support and to pass along.  Here is a short piece and story to remind you that fishing will always have a place in "family and fun"!  

Got the chance to take out a few youngsters recently and I can't say enough about the smile that this guide trip on Lake Minnetonka put on my face.  A smile that makes me appreciate what I get to call "work" and also that I have faith in the "system"!  

On this particular evening I fished with Blake, his 2 son's(Colin, Pat), and Grandpa.  Blake's 2 sons are 3 and 5 and these kids are crazy about their fishing.  They make an annual trip to MN from AZ to visit family and manage to take one afternoon to fishwithmatt on Lake Minnetonka.  It is a trip I always look forward to.  Watching the excitement in these kid's faces and voices is priceless.  From the moment I pulled up at the dock to pick them up I could hear them screaming my name.  After 4-5 hours of hard fishing, the first thing they asked when I dropped them off was; "Mr Matt, can we fish with you again tomorrow?!".  

They are so well behaved and persisitent. Just look at how Colin(3yrs) thumbs that bass.  He is a natural and absoluetely loves the sport of fishing.  They managed to catch a number of nice hard pulling bass on this trip.  The biggest pushed 4lbs and made for a couple happy little boys.  

Colin took some time out from bass fishing to try his luck with a little musky winding.  Let me remind you, this kid is 3 years old and reeling a Shimano Caltutta 400 on a 8' rod with a 10" lure on the end!  He is a natural and gives me goosebumps.  I see so much of myself when I was 3 yrs old in this little guy; it almost scares me.  It also makes me realize that the future of our sport is in good hands and will be ok.  Although this family doesn't even live in MN they make a point to get these kids outdoors to enjoy God's creation and expose them to great sports like fishing.  These kids will leave MN never forgetting their outing with "Mr. Matt"!  I can apprecaite that and thank them for taking their kids fishing.  Just never know what they may grow up and want to do......

Backing It Up

Backed up the most recent "grown ones" with more donkeys!  Fished a day with Jason Benner from WI and managed to catch a mitt full of "grown ones"!  Was able to get this WI cheesehead his personal best bass on this outing.  We caught 35-45 fish on this morning in less than 4 hours.  The summer heat have the fish chewing.  

I even managed to catch a couple pushing the 5lb mark on a few of these outings.  This was a fish that fell victim to the new secret bait that I will be posting more about soon...  At this time I can't talk alot about it, but soon enough I will be able to let you all in on this big fish slayer!  Until next time, Fish On!  Get out and stretch the string.  I have a few openings if you are looking to book a guide trip before summer is over.  Now is the time to take advantage of our great lakes here in MN.  

Catching their (B) Ass!

As many of you know I get "mad em" sometimes and when that happens I usually go on a pretty good tear.  I made a statement about 2-3 weeks ago and it went little like this...  "If your name starts with a B and ends in Ass, I am coming for you!"  You are about to see the fruits of my labor.....DONKEYS around!  

Have been taking advantage of the recent heat and great weather to exploit the Largemouth Bass to the fullest extent!  The bass bite has been as good the past few weeks as I can ever remember.  I have been guiding Lake Waconia, Lake Minnetonka, and Lake Mille Lacs.  All 3 lakes have been fire.  Here are a few pics of some of the better fish we have managed to boat on recent outings. 

We even got these young guns(Hudson and TJ) on the fish in a big way and they were able to catch lots of fish over 3lbs and a few 4lbers!  They both have new personal best bass.  It was great to see the smiles on the faces of these little guys and to know that our sport does have a future.  It takes all of us sportsman's efforts to pass along the great outdoors to kids like this.  Having them out for a full day of bass jacking helps the cause.  On this guide trip I was able to cater to a technique that allowed the kids to have great success.  

As you can see, "Uncle PP" was the big winner on this outing.  He managed to catch a few real great big grown ones.  These donkey's fell victim to a black 5" Big Bite Trick Stick fished on a small mushroom head jig.   On this particular day we boated 30+ fish over 3lbs.  It has been nothing short of a blast catching all these big fish that stretch the string so hard!  This is the start of what the last 2 plus weeks have been like.  

With the hot weather we have not been chasing the muskies.  Hoping if we can get the water temps down a bit we can start to get after the toothy critters.  Summer goes way too FAST!  Until next time, Fish On!