All I can say is if there were Muskie in California, I'd have a hard time fishing for Bass. I've been planning a full on Gladiator mission for Muskies for some time now. I got the invite from my friend Dan Marking that works in the industry (and is an avid Muskie nut)to come out and fish with him at Vermilion. The fishing had been pretty good for the last month with multiple muskies each trip up there but the fishing had started to taper off as of last week. Regardless, I was pumped and ready.

I arrived in Hibbing, MN on Friday at 2:30pm where Dan picked me up. We drove about an hour to the small hotel we were staying at in the city of Tower and attempted to check in. With nobody there to help use, I got rigged up and off to the lake we went. As we were running through the lower section of the lake, I was looking around at the abudance of structure that this lake has. Islands, reefs (both submerged and showing), long points, cuts, etc... Absolutely a ton of water to fish. The plans was to target rock reefs, islands and points as this has been the pattern for Dan over the last month.

Session 1 - 5:00PM - 1:00AM (Friday)

we started chuking and winding various baits (Topwater, spinnerbaits, bucktails, jerkbaits, etc...). One the second spot that we fished, I had two fish follow me out on a Jackpot. One of the fish was a high 40 inch fish and the other looked to be in the high 30's. With those fish not acting too aggressive, we decided to move on and come back to them later. Those two fish were the only two fish that we visually spotted that day. At 11:15 as we were debating on heading in, Dan stuck a 46 incher off of an island on an M&G Spinnerbait.



http://www.calfishing.com/files/Images/daily_reports/1.jpg


We continued fishing for the next 2 hours or so before heading in to catch a few zzzzz's.

Session 2 - 3:45AM - 12:30PM (Saturday)

Back on the water after getting a couple hours sleep, we continued to hit the same type of structures. On the first spot that we stopped at, I got clobbered 8 - 10 feet from the boat over 3 feet of water by this fish.



http://www.calfishing.com/files/Images/daily_reports/2.jpg



She ended up going 50 inches and had a girth of 24 or 25 inches. Dan guestimated her at 33 - 35 pounds which is a big fish for this time of the year. Typically they are a lot thinner that this and they start to fatten out in the fall as they get ready for the ice. She ate a cowgirl as I mentioned about 10 feet from the boat. When I set up on her, she jumped 2 - 3 feet in the air. Talk about some scary stuff to see at 4 in the morning. The only thing scarier comes later in the report. After taking measurements and a few photos, I dropped her back in the water and watched her swim away. Here's a photo of the Cowgirl and the outfit I was using.



http://www.calfishing.com/files/Images/daily_reports/3.jpg


The weather was looking good for us (meaning rainy, cloudy, windy)... the same weather we look for with swimbait fish. We thought that we were going to stick some more on this session. We continued to jump reefs when at 8:30 Dan stuck his second fish of the trip. This one came on a Leo jerkbait and was also a 46 incher. This 46 was definitely feeding more than the first 46 as you can see by the picture.



http://www.calfishing.com/files/Images/daily_reports/4.jpg


There were 2 other fish that were caught in the general area that we saw get netted within 10 minutes of Dan's fish. I grabbed the digital barometer and noticed that it had been falling since 3AM. After photos and measurements, she too was dropped back in the water. We continued to move along when we came across a reef that had 5 feet of water on top of it with 25 surrounding it. Dan pulled out a bulldog so I thought it would be a good time for me to bust out the Stocker Trout. YEP.... first cast I got railed. I slammed the hooks to her and she came to the top. I ended up ripping the hooks out of her about 15 feet from the boat. She looked about 40 inches or so. That was the last action we had for this session.

Session 3 - 5:15PM - 11PM (Saturday)

High pressure moved in and you guessed it... no bites no follows, nothing. Just flat calm water and no breeze.

Session 4 - 3:30AM - 10:45AM (Sunday)

Same as session 3 but much hotter.

Session 5 - 5:00PM - 11:30PM (Sunday)

Ahh man... looks like we are screwed for the rest of the trip. Same high pressure. We pulled off into the basin and made a snack. I asked Dan to turn on the National Weather Forcast to see if we were going to get a break. Oddly enough... a cold front was going to move in during the evening and give us some North winds and clouds. We were stoked. We ended up staying out until 11:30PM but nothing evolved.

Session 6 (bottom of the 9th inning) 3:45AM - 1:45PM

This was the last session before I had to get on a plane for Cali. The weather had shifted like it was supposed to and we got our winds. Remember earlier in the story I mentioned that there wsa only one thing scarier than a Muskie jumping 8 feet from the boat... this is it. At 5:30 in the grey light I got pummelled by a little guy (38.5 inches). I had finished my retieve and was doing the figure 8 which we had done for the previous 4000 casts. I had wound the leader to the rod tip and put my rod tip in the water and started the figure 8. As I was about to pull the Cowgirl out of the water, The fish ate the bait and tried to take my rod from me. With my last bite coming a day and a half prior, I think it was safe to say that I was sleeping at the wheel. Regardless, I stuck the fish and we got her in the net shortly after. The pictures didn't come out too well but If I get them off of Dan's camera, I'll post one.

That was the last fish of the trip. My goal was to get 1 fish on the trip which I accomplished. Not only did I get one fish, I got a true trophy that Is definitely going to cost a lot of money when I get a replica made. I cannot wait to get back there next year.

As for Dan who's 49 years old.... I would like to formally welcome him onto Team Gladiator. The guy is a maniac and to be honest I didn't think he could hang with me. The guy's a great muskie fisherman and I thank him for putting me on some awesome fish.

dude

...
...
...
...

This gladiator just went from drool to slobber. Just the fact that fish like that exist in fresh water is scary. That they jump is scarier and that they eat the bait on a figure 8 is ... horrifyingly cool!

Congratulations on that 50 inch muskie. That's an amazing fish!

What an awesome catch, very nice, and in flip-flops too :o

Sweet! Glad to hear your trip was a success.

Aren't they called the fish of a thousand casts? And you got a monster!! Someday I hope to fish for them. We'll see what happens down the road maybe I'll get lucky

Here are a couple more pictures off of my friends camera. The first one s the 38.5 incher I caught on the figure 8 and the second is another shot of the 50.

http://www.calfishing.com/files/Images/daily_reports/mark_muskie1.jpg

http://www.calfishing.com/files/Images/daily_reports/mark_muskie2.jpg

Mark you are a freak. Those are awsome fish! Ok I have a couple questions for you. How did the Stocker hold up to musky and were you fishing a locked drag? I cant imagin getting slammed right at the boat by a 30lb fish with a locked drag while I wasnt paying atention. I think If I was using a regular rod I would have dropped it. being a swimbait rod tucked probably saved it. That would definatley wake you up. What an awsome trip. When do I get to go? :7
Also most of the musky baits look so bright and weird looking to me. Do you think the outfish realistic baits?

Hey Matt...

Actually the Stocker Trout only had a few punctures in it. I thought that it was going to be shreaded but it wasn't. After I dumped the fish, Dan just looked over at me and all he said was hmmmm....

I know his brain was spinning. I left him with a couple swimbaits to try out. He seems pretty confident with them after seeing me get bit.

Locked Drag? Pretty much. I was using 80 pound Tuf Line and with 3 wraps around my hand, I could barely pull line off. With both of my fish, After they stopped jumping and thrashing around right at the boat I put the reel in freespool to give the netman time to prepare. If the fish took some line while in freespool, I'd just put it in gear and gain the line back. Once at the boat again the reel went back in freespool.

I don't know a ton about muskies but I don't think their eyesight is that great. There are a ton of ugly baits out there for those fish that are awefully ugly. They all get bit too. I did talk to a few guys that have been using Huddlestons and they are getting bit on them but they have a hard time paying $40 for them to only get one or two fish max.

Now THAT'S a PREDATOR!!! Nice Job on LANDING that 50 incher! I love Pike and Muskie, and of course our beloved BASS, because they will STOP YOUR HEART, and you have to remind yourself to B r e a t h e. I'm very jealous, but very happy for you. Betcha cant wait to go back?!! Vermillion is also home to a GREAT population of Smallmouth Bass as well as Largemouth. Next time give those Brown Fish a shot.... Be Well, Alex

I'm feeling extremely Jealous. I must try that. Awesome fish, trip, report..everything. Completely, increditably, awesome