[TX.]

So after taking a six hour ass beating w/ nothing to show other than a follow from a bluegill and a six inch smallie, I decided to pack it in, head home, and clean up the war pig. Like a dumbass, I didn't take a before picture. Some of you have seen her in person, but let me paint the picture: I have done a few mods, casting deck, rod storage, and last year cut out the middle seat. So in a nut I had the original "Desert Green" color, about three or four shades of primer (in greys and greens), and bare aluminum where the seat was. I decided today at 4 O'clock was the day to change that.
She got prepped, scrubbed and painted.
Nothing fancy mind, just all the same color.

[report]...And as my 2 YO would say: Ta-Daaaaa (arms extended):

warpig 002.jpg (325.08 KiB) Viewed 874 times

Maybe that will add some mojo.[/report]

At least I accomplished something today

[ncguy]

[report]Does not look like the same boat!
[/report]

[Aguirre]

So after taking a six hour ass beating w/ nothing to show other than a follow from a bluegill and a six inch smallie, I decided to pack it in, head home, and clean up the war pig. Like a dumbass, I didn't take a before picture. Some of you have seen her in person, but let me paint the picture: I have done a few mods, casting deck, rod storage, and last year cut out the middle seat. So in a nut I had the original "Desert Green" color, about three or four shades of primer (in greys and greens), and bare aluminum where the seat was. I decided today at 4 O'clock was the day to change that.
She got prepped, scrubbed and painted.
Nothing fancy mind, just all the same color.

[report]...And as my 2 YO would say: Ta-Daaaaa (arms extended):

warpig 002.jpg

Maybe that will add some mojo.[/report]

At least I accomplished something today

Damn, the Muskellunge Motel is clean.
Got your message, will holler soon.
I fished too and caught a bluegill.
They don't do much on a 13 ft 7wt.
See any?

[newschoolnympher]

Not a muskie but its the next best thing on a slow day

[TX.]

FINALLY was able to get out.
The kids started school today, and Alex has been asking to go fishing.
He had a half assed lazy follow right off the bat.
Over the course of the next two hours I had four hot low to mid forties fish come in, got two into the "8", one opened her mouth but no love, got her to follow again on a throw-back, nada.
Alex wore down fast w/ the ten weight, and it was starting to rain so we packed it in.
He turned to me and said:" Dad, this was really a special treat to get to musky fish the last day of summer break, thanks."

...It rained all night and I awoke this morning to a chocolate milk river....again.

Funny thing. I just realized the above post was five years and five days from the first post on this thread....And 200 pages of very cool shit, frustration, and brainstorming.
I think in that five years I have landed 35 or 40 fish....One fucking monster (yeah, record in either state I may have caught her in, blah,blah, blah). And been given the middle fin by oh, 1200-1500 of those toothy bastards, not to mention the days (like yesterday) that they didn't even show me the respect to flip me off, and turn away. I stopped trying to figure them out a long time ago, and just roll w/ it. They're gonna eat what they want, when they want, and I just hope I'm lucky enough to be there when the switch turns on (I'm in on the moon/ sun phases game, but I fish when I have time to fish).
I've met and fished w/ some really cool dudes because of this thread.

I've fished for a fair number of species in my lifetime, and caught some real trophies of most, but I must admit the musky has my full respect as the most demanding and toughest species (to catch) I have ever sought w/ a fly rod.
Hell, if it was easy everybody would be doing it!

Thanks for playing and keeping this thread alive.
Cheers to the five year mark dudes!

[AftonAngler]

TX - Thanks for starting this dang thread!

Wow 5 years huh...my how time flies...

I've enjoyed being a part of this thing immensely. My life has changed a ton in those five years. Many musky have been caught and released, lots of them ended up on here;)...many middle fingers have been witnessed(finny and human...haha)...lots of lessons learned...and most importantly I'd say that I'm truly thankful for the opportunity that this musky on the fly game has provided me to meet SO many really cool humans!

I'm very blessed!! I get to fish with the most passionate and awesome folks. True anglers who come from all points near and far to Musky Country to generally get their ass kicked by this great creature. Sometimes we get to howl and raise our arms above our heads. Many times we are humbled and muttering over beers at the daze end.

It's all good...

I hope to continue this Passion of mine - pursuing the mighty musky on the fly for many more moons. I'd like to think that I'll be posting my gibberish here in another five!

Thanks for all for following along...I'll raise a glass to all of you who get your balls kicked in hopes of going Zero2Hero


Here is one from the other day up at Location X...

[AftonAngler]

Glass Is Not Dead...

Had the pleasure of hosting The Fiberglass Manifesto up here in Musky Country this past week. Great dude! Check out his Blog;)

FYI - Epic fast glass and some other makers are putting out VERY relevant musky sticks! I'm into it!!





Mmmmm - it's BLT season

[V Wake]

This is a bit of a meta-analysis of how the summer went down for those of us here in Dixie. I'm back to the process of getting my teeth kicked in by school, but wanted to revisit the best summer of my life. Feeling nostalgic and a little overwhelmed by my current to-do list I wanted to take some time and pay homage to all the water I fished, new and old friends alike that I got to fish with, the few fish that felt the net, and last but not least to all the fish that haunt me in my deepest sleep. It was weird to be 33 and to have a summer break, but I tried to make the most of it in spite of all the rain and muddy water. I probably hunted toothy fish close to 40 days this summer, each trip trying to scout new water, very rarely revisiting known beats. Those I fished with (TWiles, Chidester, Socks, Terd, Maniac, and few other no-namers) were excellent company and always maintained the focus, optimism, and humor that is required for this kind of work. Thanks for the memories, boys. Hope y'all enjoy the ride. -VW



The summer started slow. I fished a lot of water that was rumored to have musky. I probably logged 8 full days without seeing a fish. Tough medicine, especially after having a great winter. I saw a lot of sunrises and even more muddy water. Gotta be stubborn, flexible, and hopeful in this game, if not optimistic. [attachment=23]1-DSCN7105.JPG[/attachment] [attachment=21]1-DSCN7158.JPG[/attachment][attachment=20]1-IMG_0367.JPG[/attachment][attachment=22]1-IMG_0361.JPG[/attachment]
Finally we started to move fish. Funny how the fish caught aren't as memorable as those that break your heart, which happened on every trip mid-summer till now. I probably saw 15 fish hooked, several long enough to have the net ready for the grab, only to get a fly flung back in our faces. There were a lot of moments of extended, quiet heartache as well as thunderous roars of anguish. What other pursuit can take us from calmness/boredom to fear to excitement and immediately to sadness all within 10 seconds? I can't think of anything. Some like to fish flies for carp. I like to fish carp for musky.

Here's a few that made it boat-side:[attachment=14]1-DSCN7353.JPG[/attachment][attachment=19]1-DSCN7113.JPG[/attachment][attachment=18]1-DSCN7116.JPG[/attachment][attachment=17]1-DSCN7170.JPG[/attachment][attachment=16]1-DSCN7169.JPG[/attachment][attachment=15]1-DSCN7180.JPG[/attachment]
We fished from a variety of vessels- some plastic, some fiberglass. Some rubber, some aluminum. All got the job done. Beer was consumed, shuttles were run, rope swings were tested, fires were built, and flies were tied by lamp light. As much as I like to think these fish are the end, I'm learning that they're just the means.[attachment=13]1-DSCN7202.JPG[/attachment][attachment=12]1-DSCN7206.JPG[/attachment][attachment=11]1-DSCN7319-001.JPG[/attachment][attachment=10]1-IMG_0094.JPG[/attachment][attachment=9]1-DSCN7341.JPG[/attachment][attachment=8]1-DSCN7333.JPG[/attachment][attachment=7]1-DSCN7209.JPG[/attachment][attachment=6]1-IMG_0355.JPG[/attachment][attachment=5]1-DSCN7146.JPG[/attachment][attachment=3]1-DSCN7320-001.JPG[/attachment][attachment=4]1-DSCN7377.JPG[/attachment]
My last trip out of the summer was the most memorable yet. It was never a planned trip, but out of the blue my wife says she's going to a wedding with one her work friends and that I'd be alone for 2 days. "Would that be okay?" she asked. I called up little brother, and four hours later we're running shuttle. This was his first musky trip. He'd never seen one and had only heard my stories. He picked up the heavy casting and was diligent about finishing every retrieve with purpose. He was soon rewarded with an eat at the boat that scared the shit out him by one of the biggest fish I've seen to date. He set the hook and promptly had his ass handed to him. After a long silence and a lengthy pull of Knob Creek he asked, "Is it okay that I'm a little scared?" I could only smile and slap his back and he let out a nervous giggle. We fished together for two days. He hooked up two more times with similar results and had numerous follows. I honestly could not have planned a better ending to an already great summer![attachment=2]1-DSCN7395.JPG[/attachment][attachment=1]1-DSCN7399.JPG[/attachment][attachment=0]1-DSCN7397.JPG[/attachment]

[AftonAngler]

Damn fine reportage VW!

I recognize some of that fine, fine water and more than a few of those ugly mugs

Dixie musky and musky anglers are close to my soul. Thanks for sharing!

From your words I can tell yer a true musky man;). You get it and I found myself smiling and nodding along...

Keep up the good work. Hope to get back down there this 'off' season again.

Again Thanks and Congrats

[FredA]

"Is it okay that I'm a little scared?"

hahahaha. I love it. good stuff vwake.

[TX.]

Nice summer report Knox.

Saturday my daughter was gonna have a bon fire. Alex and I mowed and trimmed by the river in the AM and about noon the sky unleashed. Madison postponed the event till this Saturday, so I asked Alex if he wanted to fish, he said "Musky? uh yeah". So off we went....Kid's gettin' damn good w/ the ten weight....forty footers even (He's 11, but a small 11).

He had a fish hard on his fly...he froze, "Dad, DAD! What's that???!!!" "Smallmouth, I said, but you still froze, you can't freeze, they leave"....So in the end I had two follows and one eat by toofies, and we each had a follow by good (18"+) smallies.

For those that have fished w/ me I will tell you it's gonna happen when you have your dick in your hand...both of mine did.
First one I was coaching and watching the boy with a deadfall, look back to my fly and there was fish right on it's ass....second fish, I was trying to keep Alex out of a tree...look back to my fly and the fish has it in it's mouth....just the tail, mind...I still jacked it.
That's all we saw, but at least we saw.

[Terd Ferguson]

"Carp for Muskies"

Doucher

Are you breaking up with me? I know you are going back to school and all, but I thought I was the one.


Seriously tho, enjoyed it this summer. If the rivers will ever get down, maybe we can get back out again.