Streak Hits 11!!!

Kept the streak alive this morning.  It has now hit 11 trips in a row!  After losing one and then missing one I was able to hook up on this 46 1/2" fish.  There was a point in the morning when I thought maybe today the streak was going to end.  I thought to myself that all good things have to come to an end....that thought only lasted one second.  I put my head down and contiuned to fish hard, I was not going to except no for an anwser.  My moral was down but I wasn't beat yet.  I brought the confidence and energy back up in the boat and it was what we needed.  We got into an area and I said we would catch one.  It doesn't always work but this time it did!  I am happy to say that we have boated muskies on 11 consecutive trips.  We have seen over 30 muskies in 3 days and had 25 try to bite.  We have landed 12 fish in 5 days!      

After boating his first muskie ever while fishing for them yesterday Mike backed it up today with his second fish ever.  This fish was 42 1/2" and put up a great fight.  This fish attacked so hard Mike dropped his rod....after fumbling to get his grip again he was able to get a good hook set and land the fish.  Good job Mike!  I know he is addicted.  He wants to go tomorrow again.  Fish On!  I will be taking tonight off the water.  I will be back at it tomorrow and will keep you all posted on trip #12!  Wish me luck. 

Two New Personal Bests And The Streak Hits 10

Some one pinch me....is this really happening?!  I am starting to wonder if I am living a dream.  Every fisherman dreams of days like we have been having.  I was joined tonight by Tim for his 29th B-day and he was rewarded with a 46 1/2" muskie!  It was the first muskie he has ever caught muskie fishing and his new personal best. 

This was my second fish of the day.  I caught the 43" in the morning and followed it up with this 44" in the evening.  I lost one over 50 on the cast before this fish hit.  It was nuts.

This is where the story gets good.  I was able to catch my new personal best tonight.  This fish measured a strong 52" long and had a girth of 23'!  It was a true giant. 

I am still shaking.  I will finish the story tomorrow.  I just had to get a few pics up from tonights trip!  I am headed back to the water in the morning.  Will report back soon.  Fish On!! 

Update on Friday, September 12, 2008 at 1:00PM by Matt Peters

Here are a few better pics of the 52" fish from last night!

What a rush! 

Catch Photo Release!  Always want to practice CPR with these great fish. 

Streak Is Still Alive, 9 Trips

We extended the streak to 9 trips with a fish early this morning.  I was joined once again this morning by Matt Rauenhorst and he brought muskie "newbie" Mike Zirbes.  Conditions were just right  on Lake Waconia again this morning and it paid off for Mike.  He caught this great 50" muskie only an hour into our morning.  Mike had never caught a muskie while fishing for them.  He had only caught a few smaller fish while walleye and bass fishing.  What a great fish for a guys "first"!  He now has a new personal best of 50"!  Mike even kept the bait he caught it on.  He will remember this one forever. 

Releasing Mikes 50" muskie. 

I was also able to hook up this morning.  This 43" fish ate a cowgirl and put up a great battle.  It was in the same stretch of water where we saw 5 fish last night that I was able to catch this one.  About 50 yards farther down I had another fish well over 50" eat right next to the boat.  It was a giant!  I was trying to keep it out from under the boat when we were trying to net it and it won.  It threw the bait and swam off.   

Wow, Where Do I Start

Tonight was a night of muskie fishing that I will never forget.  Where do I start?  I was joined tonight by Matt Rauenhorst who is a long time friend that I went to high school with.  It was great to get back in the boat with Matt and catch up.  Historically when he and I hook up to fish or hunt we make lots of memories.  So we had high expectaitons when we saw the fishing conditions today.  I stated to Matt that we would catch 5 muskies and probably see 5 others.  All he did was smile and shrug like..."let's go do it then!".  I really thought we could do it with the way the night started.  I lost a fish at the first spot and then again at the second spot.  Then before we could leave the second spot I was hooked up and doing battle.  After a few pics and a measure (51") we had her back in the lake and the count started at one muskie. 

About 75 yards later I was hooked up again, this time I wasn't even watching when the fish hit.  Matt just said, "dude you going to catch that one?".  After a short battle, a few pics, a measure (51 1/2") we had her back in the water and on her way.  We now had 2 fish and were on our way to 5.  Both fish ran on the skinny side but were still great fish.  Needless to say there was some energy and excitement in my boat.  I told Matt, "if there is one fish there, then there are more!".  It only took 10 more casts and Matt had a giant fish coming on his bait.  I could see the fish coming so I was telling him to get ready.  Unfortunately his bait caught some weeds half way back to the boat and caused the fish not to eat.  It still followed the bait to the boat and we got a good look at her.  She was a giant, over 50 and was very fat!  If I was a guessing man I would say she pushed 53".  Without a doubt bigger than the two I had just caught.  We then headed for spot # 3 and all hell broke loose.  Matt had a big girl attack his cow girl about two casts into the spot only to have it miss.  About 75 yards farther and Matt had a giant attack his cow girl only to have it eat and miss in one motion.  We got a good look at her and she looked well into the 50" range.  Matt made a statement about how that was the biggest one he had seen in quite some time.  About 25 yards farther down the spot and I get a mid 40" fish to eat my cow girl boat side, but once again it eats and spits it all in one motion.  At this point Matt and I were buzzing.  We were getting the fish to take our baits we just weren't hooking up.  If we didn't change our luck soon we were not going to get to 5 fish for the night.  We finished the spot with no hook ups.  As we headed to spot 4 we realized we were running out of light.  We were going to need to get back to catching quick.  We were only on the 4th area for 5 minutes and Matt had another fish attempt to eat only to miss.  Then I had one miss, then another, then Matt had another miss, then he had one eat and he pulled it out of her mouth.  We were seeing fish every where just could not get a hook into any of them.  We finished the night with a total count of 12 muskies, 10 of which tried to eat and only two of them were landed.  What a great night!  I will report back soon.  I have a streak of 8 trips going.  I am not going to let that end tomorrow.  Fish On!