Camping on 'Skies – Musky Skull Preserving – Some GIF Action
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Camping on 'Skies
Is running-and-gunning the best way to put muskies in the boat??
Was reading this In-Fish article from Matt Ahrenholtz on the topic and thought we'd share a few quotes:
"When fish are moving [active], there is an urge to want to cast every single spot on the lake at the same time. Most anglers tend to get the trolling motor humming, put on a bait they can cover water with and start pounding. What most are missing though is that when the fish are up and active, most spots that are holding a muskie will be holding multiple muskies."
We see it ALL the time in tournaments – the best anglers record and submit their fish as quickly as possible, then get their baits back in the water. Boating a couple muskies back-to-back isn't uncommon when the bite window is open and you're in a good area.
Speaking of tourneys, here's a quick story from Matt, showing just how powerful "camping" on a good area can be. He was fishin' a PMTT event in Iowa a few years back with his partner Shane Akin:
"A buddy had texted me at 8:45 a.m. to wish us good luck. We had already registered six fish and had a seventh, a low 30-incher, get through a hole in the net. All of those fish had come in a stretch of weeds about 100 yards long. We continued to pound that one small area all day. We ended up boating 12 muskies in that small area during the tournament hours of 6:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m."
Here's a look at their graph after a full day of slimin' up the net:
"We probably could have caught some fish in other areas of the lake as we knew of some other similar spots that fish had been using also. However, I believe our plan of not wasting time running from spot to spot is what ended up allowing us to boat as many fish as we did."
I guess we'll never know for sure, but regardless, things paid off BIG for Shane & Matt.... breaking PMTT records in the process.
Obviously there are a lot of factors in play – the size of the spot, the number of fish there, how many boats are fishing the area vs. other spots – but definitely something think about, especially on pressured waters.
GIF Parade
Here's a few sweet shots we GIF-ed up for the email – enjoy!
First up, we have a video that went crazy viral (2.5M views on IG) from Ben Stone:
☝️ We had to speed things up during the middle portion of the video to make it short enough for a GIF, but if you watch the full vid, you'll see the 'skie opening her mouth EIGHT times, attempting to grab Ben's bucktail.
She was hungry!
This next GIF is from Jeff Lehr – no strike, but I'd love to see more folks getting awesome boatside underwater footage like this:
This last one is from Dylan Aldridge. It's both an amazing strike, an amazing shot, and a huge heartbreaker!
Here's his play-by-play:
"With a well-executed first cast, I enticed the fish as I manipulated the fly, watching it gradually begin to trail. Employing a slow twitch motion, I managed to maintain the fish’s interest until it finally succumbed and seized the fly.
"In a state of exhilaration, I executed a forceful strip set, only to feel a single forceful shake of the head before witnessing the fish swim away, my fly no longer in sight."
Musky Skull 💀
Check out this sweet time-lapse from Cliff (Skullatorium), featuring a tiger musky and a bunch of hungry beetles:
That's the result of 10 days of munchin'!
Here's some of the commentary from the video:
"This always starts pretty slow. The beetles start at the bottom of the head and slowly work their way up towards the top. If I had left all the meat on this head before I put it in, it would have taken twice as long for them to work through it."
Cliff has a bunch of cool photos and time-lapses with other fish/animals if this is something you're into....
Not "fishing" related per se, but interesting regardless!
Btw, I know some folks will be curious.... Cliff's client sent him the head, and his client received it from a DNR officer. That's all we know on the origin story of the musky head!
This Week's Mashup:
Mashup time!
#1 – Jeremy Roskom saw this on a sign at the Colorado Aquarium. Best comment on his FB post was from Kevin Cochran: "Only in Hayward." 😂 #ifyouknowyouknow
#2 – Really enjoyed this video "God Made a Muskie Fisherman" with hockey-pro-turned-musky-guide Jean-Paul Tessier. Super nice dude and the best mustache in the business!
#3 – Beauty of a water release pic from Trevor Allen:
#4 – Check out this sucker shared by Randy Bean in Manitoba. Haters will say it's colors aren't "natural" enough to catch 'em on their favorite lake 😉
QUICK HITTERS:
– Musky fishing on LOTW w/ Pete Maina (video)
– Open water 'skie on weighted bucktails w/ Andy Schiera & AA (video)
– Glide bait tips w/ Rich Reinert & Burnin Eights (video)
– Chasin’ WI ‘skies w/ Fischer Smith & Todays Angler (video)
– Topwater musky fishing w/ Slime & Slay (video)
THIS WEEK'S MONSTER MUSKIES:
Gotta extend a HUGE congrats to Scott S. on boating this massive 55-inch porker out on the French River – amazing fish, man!
This big-bodied up-north 'skie fell for a Llungen DC-8. Great fish for Randy and Sam 💪
Check out this portly 53-incher Scott Ellis caught out on Georgian Bay 🔥
Wanna be featured in Musky Insider? Send in your recent trophy musky photos by replying to this email. You might just see your pic in next week's newsletter. 🤙
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