Rideau River Musky Report Oct 13 and 14, pics (hopefully)
Posted: Fri Oct 20, 2006 10:44 pm
Well, it took me awhile to figure out how to upload pictures to the gallery, now hopefully they'll show up in this report properly...
Hatcher, (my brother in law), and I had planned 5 days of fishing starting last Friday the 13th. Then I took a new job and had to go to Toronto for some training and that took our 5 days down to just 2.
The forecast was not looking too good, but we only had the 2 days to fish, so we got up early and hit the Rideau as the sun came up. The wind was blowing and a few flakes of snow fell as we set out. I knew we needed to pack all the food and drinks we'd need for the next 9 hours or so, and Hatcher would probably not pause long enough to eat anyway. He gets in the zone when he musky fishes. 
I get hungry and have a sandwich now and then. 
He pulled us up to the south end of a long flat, and used to electric motor to try and hold us at a good angle to cast from either end of the boat. The GPS showed us moving along at 1.6-1.8 mph as the wind howled us along. It was raining and stopping and raining again. We started off throwing huge spinner baits from 14-16ft of water into probably 4-5ft along side weed beds. The first 2 hours were cold and uneventful. Hatcher switched up to a jerk bait. Good decision as it turned out. He put the hooks into this beauty.
A great fight and a beautiful 46" musky.
We danced around and hooted and hollered after we released it. Funny, it didn't seem so cold anymore! We still hadn't seen another boat....well, I ate a sandwich and Hatcher started chucking his jerk bait again. When I finished eating I too switched to a jerk bait. Oddly enough it resembled the one he was using 
Well, an hour of casting later Hatcher is into another one! 
Another beautiful musky, not a blemish on it! We hopped around like school kids again, high and low fiving It was really great to catch the fish we were targeting. I had a big swirl behind one of my casts as it hit the water, but no action Oh well, we'd had a great day, and we were coming back again the next day!
We got up a little later Saturday....I was a little sore from the hours of casting the day before. If Hatcher was he wasn't letting on
We again pulled up to the long flat, and again started out with huge spinner baits. It wasn't quite as cold, but the wind was howling again. He used the electric to keep us out in the 14-16ft range again. It rained off and on all morning. Hatcher had a nice one follow right up to the boat, we both stared at it, and he figure 8'd to no avail. After 3 hours or so I had a sandwich. And a little beef jerky
....Hatcher kept right on casting. Having eaten, I felt ready to continue my quest. We only had a few hours left to fish. We both switched to jerk baits again, the same kind that had worked the day before. I threw up to the edge of the weed bed, and on the second tug of my retrieve this beauty hit it like a champ!
I had begun to wonder if we had used up all our opportunities the day before! Hatcher has caught a lot of big muskies before, and this was my first big one, 44". We jumped around again and hooted and hollered. I can't describe the mix of joy, elation, excitement and relief I felt. What a rush! Hatcher I can't thank you enough for your help over the past few years, from helping me get the right equipment, to helping me boat this fish!!!! I couldn't ask for a better fishing partner!
As it turned out, this was the last fish of our 2 days fishing, (except for a 4-5 lb pike I caught a little later on....we didn't even bother with the camera after the big muskies!). Here is a shot of the release of the last fish. It is pretty cool, as Hatcher took it just as the fish kicked off, you can see the water surging up my sleeves as it powered off, straight to the bottom.
All three fish were in great condition and released so we can catch them again next year! I can't wait!!!!!!!
Seabreeze
Hatcher, (my brother in law), and I had planned 5 days of fishing starting last Friday the 13th. Then I took a new job and had to go to Toronto for some training and that took our 5 days down to just 2.
The forecast was not looking too good, but we only had the 2 days to fish, so we got up early and hit the Rideau as the sun came up. The wind was blowing and a few flakes of snow fell as we set out. I knew we needed to pack all the food and drinks we'd need for the next 9 hours or so, and Hatcher would probably not pause long enough to eat anyway. He gets in the zone when he musky fishes. I get hungry and have a sandwich now and then. He pulled us up to the south end of a long flat, and used to electric motor to try and hold us at a good angle to cast from either end of the boat. The GPS showed us moving along at 1.6-1.8 mph as the wind howled us along. It was raining and stopping and raining again. We started off throwing huge spinner baits from 14-16ft of water into probably 4-5ft along side weed beds. The first 2 hours were cold and uneventful. Hatcher switched up to a jerk bait. Good decision as it turned out. He put the hooks into this beauty.A great fight and a beautiful 46" musky.
We danced around and hooted and hollered after we released it. Funny, it didn't seem so cold anymore! We still hadn't seen another boat....well, I ate a sandwich and Hatcher started chucking his jerk bait again. When I finished eating I too switched to a jerk bait. Oddly enough it resembled the one he was using Well, an hour of casting later Hatcher is into another one! Another beautiful musky, not a blemish on it! We hopped around like school kids again, high and low fiving
It was really great to catch the fish we were targeting. I had a big swirl behind one of my casts as it hit the water, but no action Oh well, we'd had a great day, and we were coming back again the next day!We got up a little later Saturday....I was a little sore from the hours of casting the day before. If Hatcher was he wasn't letting on
We again pulled up to the long flat, and again started out with huge spinner baits. It wasn't quite as cold, but the wind was howling again. He used the electric to keep us out in the 14-16ft range again. It rained off and on all morning. Hatcher had a nice one follow right up to the boat, we both stared at it, and he figure 8'd to no avail. After 3 hours or so I had a sandwich. And a little beef jerky
....Hatcher kept right on casting. Having eaten, I felt ready to continue my quest. We only had a few hours left to fish. We both switched to jerk baits again, the same kind that had worked the day before. I threw up to the edge of the weed bed, and on the second tug of my retrieve this beauty hit it like a champ!I had begun to wonder if we had used up all our opportunities the day before! Hatcher has caught a lot of big muskies before, and this was my first big one, 44". We jumped around again and hooted and hollered. I can't describe the mix of joy, elation, excitement and relief I felt. What a rush!
Hatcher I can't thank you enough for your help over the past few years, from helping me get the right equipment, to helping me boat this fish!!!! I couldn't ask for a better fishing partner!As it turned out, this was the last fish of our 2 days fishing, (except for a 4-5 lb pike I caught a little later on....we didn't even bother with the camera after the big muskies!). Here is a shot of the release of the last fish. It is pretty cool, as Hatcher took it just as the fish kicked off, you can see the water surging up my sleeves as it powered off, straight to the bottom.
All three fish were in great condition and released so we can catch them again next year! I can't wait!!!!!!!
Seabreeze
