Upon my arrival to my favorite Northwoods area, I was slow to get the day started. Exhausted from driving through the night after playing at an open mic took it's toll on me, but that's okay, I wasn't in a rush. I had 4 days off, and nothing but time.
The morning weather was cool, in the high 50's, and some of the leaves had started to change into their beautiful red and orange colors. Get those hoodies out, because, Fall has definitely arrived in the Midwest.
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| Fall has arrived. |
The fishing at my first spot on the river was slow. The smallie's were biting, but each one I caught lived up to the "Smallie" nickname. On my way to some other spots I marked on the map, I grabbed an always refreshing PBR, because, it's good to stay hydrated, right?
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| 10:30 AM - It's 5 o'clock somewhere, right? |
Feeling energized, refreshed, and hydrated, I began to chuck my lucky Northwoods fly that has been a favorite of the tank smallmouth I come across in this river since last summer. I also caught my musky down in Tennessee in the Hardly Strictly Musky on the same fly back in May. The fly did not disappoint, and wrangled up a few bigger smallies, and the tank you see below.
Hiking through the forest in this new area I came across quite a bit of bear scat. Being by myself, I just started to do what I normally do when I'm hiking by myself, I started to sing songs from the Lion King soundtrack. Hakuna Matata and I Just Can't Wait to be King will always be favorites of mine. They work, because, I haven't come across any predators singing those songs, yet.
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| It's Football Season. |
Continuing to fish the same fly, I came across a stunning section of river that just screamed "Musky" to me. It was time to focus on what season it was - Musky Season.
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| Chuckin' Chicken. |
After 2 follows from a huge huge musky, I moved down river a little bit more. There was a big tree branch in the water extending out from the bank, and I tried to carefully cast near it, but instead, I snagged it. Ugh... I gave the fly a hard strip and it broke a branch and became free, and as soon as that happened a musky came out and annihilated my fly!!!
Here's the dialogue from the encounter
HOLY SHIT!!!
Strip Set! Strip Set!! (Yes, I said this out loud.)
YEEESSSSS!!!!!
MUSKY!!!!!
What a fighter!!! She gave me a run for my money and as I was trying to land the beauty, I fell down, not once, but twice. I tailed her, and then dropped my rod and grasped her with my other hand, she shook her head, and my fly popped out - WOW!!!
I was ecstatic!!! Roughly 4 hours of fishing on my trip and I have already accomplished mission number one - Musky. It was easy sailing from there on out. Everything else was considered a bonus.
I didn't get a measurement on the emerald green beauty, but I estimated her to be between 36-38.
Whoever invented tripods - THANK YOU!
Finished day one with another follow from that huge huge musky I had encountered earlier. Just couldn't get her to commit. Caught a few more smallmouth, hiked, and just enjoyed the beautiful fall weather. Ended the day with a drive to a nearby watering hole to partake in a good old Friday Fish Fry.
Today was a good day.
