Went out today, again with a couple of neophyte hardcore musky guys…Greg from Cookeville and Brandon, the guy who got his first yesterday. Somebody pull the horseshoe out of this kids butt!!! We pull up and in 4 casts, he has a mid 40″ slam his bait, but nerves made him jump and pull it off after just a second…a few casts later Greg got ghosted by a nice fish, in the high 30’s. Good juju for the first 15 minutes. We start to motor around our area and out of the blue Brandon gets slammed with a nice 43″ on the same jerkbait he got one on yesterday. Unfortunately, Outdoor Junction no longer has them in stock, haha…I ordered some through them and they put a few on the racks, but I think Greg bought the last of them out. After getting some great fight and release video of Brandon’s beautiful 43″, which will be posted soon as I can figure out how to do that on this new flip camera…not moments later, Brandon slams into a fish approaching the 50″ mark on the troll through the same area. Unfortunately, as I was figgeting to get the camera out for fight video, and poor Greg grappling for the net, it shook off, but nevertheless…I know where she lives haha, and I doubt she’s alone.

Remember, these fish are not only a fragile resource, but fragile themselves…the fight takes alot out of them, which is part of the reason their fight is so epic. Even in this cold water, it took a good 3 minutes to get the girl kickin’ and going on her own, and the warmer the water gets, the harder it is. Please…PLEASE…if you land a musky, limit the time out of water, unhook it IN the water, and if you plan on going AFTER these fish, or even fish in water regularly where they are present in good numbers, get appropriate tackle, for your own good and the fish’s. A big deep Frabill or Beckman hookproof net, boga grip [not a cheap knockoff...they don't spin and it can damage the fish, or you, as muskies notoriously do death rolls like a gator] and heavy line with a steel or my pref, a heavy fluoro leader will put you in the ball park for an enjoyable musky fishing trip, and a safe one for your quarry. These fish are too cool and rare to just be enjoyed once, especially when they can reach the mid 50″ mark or larger in our Tennessee waters.