Here Fishy Fishy Fishy

This would be my first muskie. I caught it Monday night at Alum Creek Reservoir, only 20 minutes or so from my house. My buddy, Greg Hastings, who fishes for muskie competitively(ish) in a league was having his best day on the water ever, and called me at 5pm, after releasing a fish that was 14 inches bigger than the one you see me holding. Of course, I immediately cancelled my plans for the evening and drove straight to his boat (barely stopping before my car entered the water!). He'd ended up landing 11 fish that day in total. Generally, muskie fishing is a bit like salmon fishing in northern CA. You can troll 2 or 3 big lures on a big body of water, and wait for a rod to double over. The difference is that muskie have HUGE teeth and it requires a special leader, etc. Similar to salmon, a 2 or 3 fish day is a great day. An 11 fish day is NUTS around here.

My fish was 33 1/2 inches long. They only care about length here. I bet it weighed 12-14 lbs, though (but not "official").

Greg's 47 incher was caught on a lure that he'd made himself--about 8" long or so whittled from cedar, then painted and laquered, etc. Made him feel great, as you might imagine. He has a simple aluminum 14' deep V with a small motor. Nothing fancy, but it catches fish!

Oh, we also caught a suicidal "saugeye"--a hybrid fish here in Ohio that's a lot like a walleye. No idea what that fish was thinking going after what we had on.