"One of three monsters in five days"
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"One of three monsters in five days"
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Back in the summer of 2009 I began to plan a “Monster Musky Madness” trip to Northern Minnesota on Vermilion Lake. This plan was based around the full moon and prime fishing periods for monster muskies.
As many die hard musky fishermen know, you need a half crazy die hard like yourself to make these musky trips complete~! On this trip my brother Dr. Kelly Towne, Sports Chiropractor from New Glarus, WI accompanied me.
My brother met me in Rhinelander, WI where we loaded my truck full of hardcore musky ammunition. I’m talking about baits that weight 1 pound and 27 inches long. I make custom musky lures “Towne’s Tantilizer Tails”, along with my brother, so there was no shortage of crazy musky ammunition for the trip. Big monster musky baits were the bait of choice for slaying monster muskies. Tackle Industries Mega D’s and my custom double bladed bucktails was the primary arsenal to attract the huge musky’s that lurk in the waters of Vermilion Lake. My brothers creative terminology that first day on the water was “Go Big. or Go Home”, was about to become reality~!
We arrived at our resort and were unloaded in a flash with the anticipation of that back wrenching hook set into a huge monster musky. As part of my musky madness I had studied lake maps
As night set in on our first evening we had already pounded the water for hours with huge rubber creatures and double bladed tails in search of the “Giant”, when my brother set the hook into a huge musky that ended up in the net and measured out at 56 inches long with a huge 26 inch girth. That made the first musky a huge 48 pound monster. Can you imagine the size in the fall when the feed bag is on? After several quick photos the monster was set free to fight another day. One angler fishing in the area that heard the measurements yelled to us that it was probably a new State record. My younger brother just had the experience of fighting and catching a fish of a lifetime. I could sense he was still in shock and probably needed a good stiff drink to settle his nerves by the quiet aura he was displaying. You see, he normally is very emotional and talkative,
We beat the water to a froth after that, our adrenalin still flowing like a super car screaming down the drag strip. Already, a “Monster Musky” in the boat on the first night as we fished into the wee hours of the night before heading back to catch what was one of 2-3 hour naps we took between prime fishing hours. You see our musky madness took over us as we became the crazy musky hunters many of us become when searching for this allusive creature. We continued to fish hard for the next several days with no luck or success, but had an in creditable amount of musky follow-ups, especially big muskies.
Then, it happened again. I had chosen a windswept point that was loaded with bait fish being blown into the point, a perfect spot to hold another monster musky. On our first drift past the windswept point I raised a big musky, but no taker, so we made another drift. This time it slammed by brothers Tackle Industries Mega D. My brother had gone to a left- hand reel after his new reel was destroyed by his first monster musky. Well, once he set the hook, the huge musky took several heart pumping runs pulling out line. My brother began to back off the reel drag to assist in fighting the uncooperative musky when it made a hard charge at the boat leaving my brother screaming in line on his reel trying to keep up with the huge musky as it made several runs under the boat and head shaking attempts to throw the bait. My brother who is right-handed, had serious issues reeling a left-handed reel at the speeds he needed to while fighting the musky, but we were able to land the brute on third attempt. This monster musky measured 53 inches long and had a 22 inch girth, another beautiful musky.
I was beginning to think that I should have left my brother home. Not really, it was great to see my brother land such big muskies after years of frustrated musky trips for him. As you can imagine, he was floating in the air by now with two musky’s over 50 inches in the boat. The smile on his face told it all. What can I say? When lady luck is on your side, it’s on your side.
We continued to pound the water taking our 2-3 hour naps between primary fishing feeding times. The toll of throwing 16 oz. Mega D rubber baits and heavy tails was taking its toll with hand blisters, line cuts and hand cramps from throwing the huge baits., but we knew it would pay off if we could sustain the effort. We were simply raising way too many huge musky’, not to not get another one to bite. Then it happened, I set the hook on a hard hitting strike by another monster musky, this time I was throwing a single hook rubber bait that was not known for great hooking percentages, and boy was I right, as I told my brother to get the net because I feared what I thought might happen as I fought the fish. I was trying to keep it from shaking its head in the air by reel hard downward, but, as I thought, the first time the huge musky got to the surface with an earth shaking head shake it threw the rubber bait in the air. Silence was the word in the boat, along with a few other words not printable. The huge musky won that battle and reminded us how quickly things can change from being victorious to defeat.
On our fifth and final morning we performed a “Gun an Run” on areas where we had landed and saw big musky’s looking for the last one fish that might give us a fish of a lifetime. An area where I lost a big musky earlier in the trip was my favorite area, being we saw many big musky’s in this area every day. Then it happened, I set the hook after a gut wrenching strike by a big musky. After a short fight my brother put the big musky in the net, and our third musky over 50 inches was reality. My huge musky measured 53 inches and had a 23 inch girth making it a 35 pound musky. After a couple quick photos we watched the monster swim away. What a feeling after all the hard work preparing for the trip and the time spent on the water. Our blisters, cuts, hand cramps and lack of sleep were a price we would pay again in a minute for the results we achieved on this trip. Truly this was a “Monster Musky Madness” trip of a lifetime for these two brothers from Wisconsin.
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Last updated on ...December 7, 2010
