Big Smallie and Appearance by the mighty Tiger

[muskynut]

Had Rob from Rutherford and his dad Bill out today. Many missed opportunities on topwater smallmouths but did manage some topped off by this toad. Chug bug over a weed bed was too hard to pass by for this exquisite Tiger Musky....day ended with really happy excited fishermen! Enjoy! Capt. Dave

[AndyS]

Some healthy looking fish there !!!

[Skunk City]

What time of day did the Tiger hit that topwater?

[muskynut]

We had topwater action from 5 in the morning to around 8.......I honestly thought it would peeter out once the sun hit the lake....but it didn't....the water was really calm and the smallies were willing.....the musky came I'd say between 8-9 am believe it or not! Hope this helps skunk....by the way....beautiful pike pic congrats!

[Jerseydix]

Those are some pretty fish.. I love it whent they hit topwater.

[buzzbaiter]

Pretty fish indeed.

I noticed that the tails on the big pike are also kind of bloody. Whats up with that? Certainly not spawning.

[Skunk City]

Originally Posted by buzzbaiter

Pretty fish indeed.

I noticed that the tails on the big pike are also kind of bloody. Whats up with that? Certainly not spawning.

I could be wrong, but I believe it is stress related. It was not bleeding, but the coloring of the fishes skin. You can actually see a reddish tint along the side of the fish. With Eddie's Pike, you could see the coloring down its side changing as we were removing the hooks in the net. With the water temps being up now and these fish really exerting themselves during the fight, we really made a conscious effort to keep them in the water until we were ready for the picture and measurement, then took our time reviving them and letting them get their bearings back. They all swam away just fine. Been a very, very long time since I've had a fish go belly-up on me.

[buzzbaiter]

I wasn't implying any wrong doing just thought it was odd that both species had similar "redding" whatever it is.

[muskynut]

Despite "fin saving" coated mesh net bags, sometimes when fish thrash around in the net their fins split and bleed since they are vascularized. This is NOT a life threatening thing. Esocids displaying a reddish flush over their scales are a different story.....they ARE in trouble and therefore minimal handling is necessary. Despite this, one can do everything right and statistics show 10 percent of fish released still will succumb.

[mcfish82]

Did you guys hold up a bank after fishing?? Nice smallie!