A Surprise First
Posted: Fri Jul 22, 2016 10:35 am
The Maverick recently posted a comment in another thread here that hit home, it is a love-hate relationship with the Ottawa River. This is very, very true.
Spent the last two summers on average 1-2 times per week getting to know the river between Blair launch and Rockland, more specifically the western / urban half of this stretch. Some days it is generous, with bountiful offerings of multiple species. Other days, stingy as hell and very frustrating. The hardest part of this learning curve is the lack of pattern in it (weather, air & water temperature, level, pressure, bait style, type and target, wind, moon phase, reading fish-hawk, etc).
So far this year, stymied on the bass... or at least predicting where they will be, less the odd catch. The only reliable go-to for us has been the 12-15" meh catfish at 20-30' depths on worm & a jig (the obvious / desperate choice if all else fails, or my 8 year old is present and needs stimuli), and 18-28" pike on top water tackle in 4-6' depths.
Wednesday was no different. After 90 minutes of cat action we decided to move to the shallows to target bass and pike.
We call this the "golden hour"; the middle of which is sunset. The river at this time is usually peaceful. The wind dies out completely, the wake boats disappear and the kids on the wave runners head home. This hour is occasionally action packed, too. The glassy water tunes in the senses, a splash within casting radius can be the start of a pike hunt.
This exact scene played out Wednesday night. Something was trying to hit the double-prop buzzbait, so I strapped on the head-cam and hit record. On maybe the 15th retrieve, a ~20" pike followed along, but was spooked by the sight of me on the other end and bolted off. Tried to be super patient and steered the trolling motor in circles in the general area, but after 2 revolutions and 30+ more casts I prepared for some disappointment.
Conditions were a beauty.
Continued spray-casting, shots in the dark. The persistence paid off however. On maybe the 40th cast, the fish slurped up the lure. Didn't crush it at all, just took it in (Of course that was the moment I glanced away - no screenshot of that). About 10 seconds after the hit though, I'm thinking this doesn't feel like a 20" pike.
Then this:
OH. MY. GOD. Never before in my life have I felt the mixture of elation and terror as I did at that moment.
With some reassuring advice from my dad to take my time, I spent the next few minutes tuckering the beast out. She swam all over the place, then treated us to another aerial display:
Another few minutes pass and she's starting to tire out. I get the first glimpse up close.
Dad readied the net, but she's not yet done. Another moment passed and I start to calm down slightly. I prepared the camera and grabbed the lure removal tool. Never even seen a Muskie before let alone catch one. She's beautiful. Though intimidated, I press on with the fight and try to remember everything I've heard about these beasts. They're very sensitive and must be treated with respect. Jeez, those teeth! Ok, I think I'll treat this like a humungous pike. She's in the net. What now?
Trying to take great care I extract the tackle that she completely swallowed, thankfully it's clean. She's not letting me get away that easily though, and just as I finish thrashes around, teeth ripping open my finger.
Since my heartbeat was around 160 there's blood everywhere but man, adrenaline. I don't care. She's back in the water. I give her another minute before hoisting her out for a photo op.
Have only a yardstick on the boat. Dammit, not sufficient for this fish. Time to scale her up.
32lbs, 1 oz. What a beautiful beast. Put her back in the water and gently rocked her back and forth, looking for signs the fight is still in her somewhere. About 2 minutes later she lazily swam under the boat. Packed up, put the lights on and just basked in the glow of elation. Just before leaving we noticed she's about 20 feet from the boat, resting.
Being on a spot known for lots of traffic, we decided to babysit her, so we waited 10 minutes before she disappeared into the depths.
I don't expect I'll catch something like this again, but wow, what an experience, and another chapter in the love / hate relationship with the river.
PS: Can anyone with Muskie experience here estimate the length based on its' weight? My cursory thoughts were somewhere between 46-48" - Not sure if this specimen is considered average in its' girth? Feedback appreciated!
Al
Spent the last two summers on average 1-2 times per week getting to know the river between Blair launch and Rockland, more specifically the western / urban half of this stretch. Some days it is generous, with bountiful offerings of multiple species. Other days, stingy as hell and very frustrating. The hardest part of this learning curve is the lack of pattern in it (weather, air & water temperature, level, pressure, bait style, type and target, wind, moon phase, reading fish-hawk, etc).
So far this year, stymied on the bass... or at least predicting where they will be, less the odd catch. The only reliable go-to for us has been the 12-15" meh catfish at 20-30' depths on worm & a jig (the obvious / desperate choice if all else fails, or my 8 year old is present and needs stimuli), and 18-28" pike on top water tackle in 4-6' depths.
Wednesday was no different. After 90 minutes of cat action we decided to move to the shallows to target bass and pike.
We call this the "golden hour"; the middle of which is sunset. The river at this time is usually peaceful. The wind dies out completely, the wake boats disappear and the kids on the wave runners head home. This hour is occasionally action packed, too. The glassy water tunes in the senses, a splash within casting radius can be the start of a pike hunt.
This exact scene played out Wednesday night. Something was trying to hit the double-prop buzzbait, so I strapped on the head-cam and hit record. On maybe the 15th retrieve, a ~20" pike followed along, but was spooked by the sight of me on the other end and bolted off. Tried to be super patient and steered the trolling motor in circles in the general area, but after 2 revolutions and 30+ more casts I prepared for some disappointment.
Conditions were a beauty.
Continued spray-casting, shots in the dark. The persistence paid off however. On maybe the 40th cast, the fish slurped up the lure. Didn't crush it at all, just took it in (Of course that was the moment I glanced away - no screenshot of that). About 10 seconds after the hit though, I'm thinking this doesn't feel like a 20" pike.
Then this:
OH. MY. GOD. Never before in my life have I felt the mixture of elation and terror as I did at that moment.
With some reassuring advice from my dad to take my time, I spent the next few minutes tuckering the beast out. She swam all over the place, then treated us to another aerial display:
Another few minutes pass and she's starting to tire out. I get the first glimpse up close.
Dad readied the net, but she's not yet done. Another moment passed and I start to calm down slightly. I prepared the camera and grabbed the lure removal tool. Never even seen a Muskie before let alone catch one. She's beautiful. Though intimidated, I press on with the fight and try to remember everything I've heard about these beasts. They're very sensitive and must be treated with respect. Jeez, those teeth! Ok, I think I'll treat this like a humungous pike. She's in the net. What now?
Trying to take great care I extract the tackle that she completely swallowed, thankfully it's clean. She's not letting me get away that easily though, and just as I finish thrashes around, teeth ripping open my finger.
Since my heartbeat was around 160 there's blood everywhere but man, adrenaline. I don't care. She's back in the water. I give her another minute before hoisting her out for a photo op.
Have only a yardstick on the boat. Dammit, not sufficient for this fish. Time to scale her up.
32lbs, 1 oz. What a beautiful beast. Put her back in the water and gently rocked her back and forth, looking for signs the fight is still in her somewhere. About 2 minutes later she lazily swam under the boat. Packed up, put the lights on and just basked in the glow of elation. Just before leaving we noticed she's about 20 feet from the boat, resting.
Being on a spot known for lots of traffic, we decided to babysit her, so we waited 10 minutes before she disappeared into the depths.
I don't expect I'll catch something like this again, but wow, what an experience, and another chapter in the love / hate relationship with the river.
PS: Can anyone with Muskie experience here estimate the length based on its' weight? My cursory thoughts were somewhere between 46-48" - Not sure if this specimen is considered average in its' girth? Feedback appreciated!
Al