The Muskie Storm
By: Dan Gapen Sr.
It had been raining, with an intermittent thunder and lightning cascade for four days. Not ideal weather for catching fish. Bryan Rheault, our host at Bayview Lodge, apologized for the bad weather, even though he had no control over it.
The fourth night saw our weather really kick into high gear. Bobber Anne and I were rudely awakened at midnight by a
hellacious clap of thunder. So heavy was the explosion that it shook the cabin. The storm lasted until 6 a.m. with almost constant lightning strikes.
At breakfast the conversation with our host was all about if fish would bite after such an onslaught. We all had heard the old tales about such weather and how it drove fish off structure and the bite would be off for at least two days.
By noon the rain subsided and patches of blue sky began to
appear� time to give it a try.
�Guys, I have a few good spots for muskie I want to try first. If
they don't work we may be out of business, our host and guide commented as we took off.
Spot one was a weedy narrows between a pair of rocky islands. Water depth was no more than 8 feet; patches of cabbage and coontail were everywhere.
Bryan had earlier explained that at this time of year smaller lures were best. He would start with a number four Mepps spinner with a yellow bucktail. Anne chose one of our old #5 hologram spinners tipped with a pair of yellow 3-1/2 inch twist tails. I chose a new experimental 6-inch doublejointed
lure in a walleye color. It was a lure we'd tested last summer and found it to be extremely effective on northern pike.
Our purpose of the trip to Minaki, Ontario was to fish the
Winnipeg River and do a muskie TV show for our new program, Fishing the World with the Ol Man and Bobber Anne. It will play on the Sportsman's Channel beginning in January 2008.
We'd each made about three or four casts when Bryan set the hook in a pretty good fish. Out of the water it came, brass spinner flashing in the sun. It gave one run to the right, then a second one under the boat. Minutes later as Bryan attempted to maneuver his line out from under our boat there came a SNAP and our first muskie of the day swam free. Had we lost our chance to boat a muskie for our show? Waving off the thought we headed for spot number two.
Once again weeds along a rocky shoreline were our target to produce muskie. When asked, our host explained that muskie in these waters were drawn to the weedy structures
in search of small baitfish at this time of year.
My experimental lure had reached the boat three times when a 40-inch plus muskie followed it in and reacted
viciously to a figure 8. It may have been my inability to perform the figure 8 properly but the fish missed the
lure three times, sunk away, and then came back for another try. I had pulled the lure out of the water but placed it
back in the water as the fish reappeared. Two more times he attempted to attack but finally he slowly swam off. I must have done something wrong. One thing for sure, that muskie truly liked the looks of our new walleye colored muskie lure.
Moving on, spot three was even more unlike any muskie structure I'd ever fished. It was a shallow mud bay with intermittent patches of coontail and mossy weed. Water clarity was nearly non-existent-brown mud was the major
ingredient of the water in this bay. However, on Anne's seventh or eighth cast she hooked a 44-inch trophy muskie,
landed it after two jumps, displayed her prize for a photo and
released it. It looked like 'Bobber' Anne was about to beat
the Ol' Man once again. So confident was she in this that after spot four failed to produce she did a close on our show proclaiming she had whipped the Ol' Man. However, that was not to be!
For more information on Bayview Lodge contact:
Click Here: Bayview Lodge
Bryan or Kathleen Rheault
Toll Free: 1-800-844-7907
E-maIl: bayviewlodge@Kenora.com
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