Musky Weekend (10/10-10/11, 2015)

[JDTuna]

I decided to give the pike a break this weekend and finally try for the king of the Esox, the elusive musky. I had never caught a musky, nor had I ever even fished for them before, so I was definitely starting from square one. I had an idea of where I was planning to go, and had a few questions which Chrisper answered for me (thanks man). I spent some time thinking about lures, presentation and strategy and was ready to go.

Saturday 10/10/15:

Got to the spot, launched my kayak and began my search. In addition to never having fished for musky, I also had never fished this particular water body. I spent a bit of time learning the area, and tried a variety of lures without a bite. However, I did have a decent size musky roll on the surface right next to the yak, and I think I even saw him flip me the fin. Unfortunately, the wind picked up and made fishing very difficult from my small kayak so I packed it in early and called it a day. Saw a few other guys out there, and ended up meeting Gatto.

Sunday 10/11/15:

I only had a few hours to fish but I was determined to give it a shot. I started where I had seen the fish on Saturday, and after a few casts, I saw a decent musky in the 30's swipe at the lure, but it quickly disappeared. Unfortunately, it was very difficult to do a figure 8 out of the kayak from a sitting position. I continued to pound the area to no avail, and after about 15 minutes I decided to move on.

As I worked my way down the shoreline, I began to second guess my decision to leave the other area. I continued to fish without seeing anything, and the voice in my head kept telling me to return to the prior area. I decided that I was going to fish down a little further, before I headed back to where I had seen the fish earlier. This proved to be the right decision.

A few minutes later, in mid retrieve, I felt a jarring strike. Though I didn't see the fish, the massive headshakes told me this was the one I was after. After the headshakes, the fish peeled drag and rather than heading to the surface, it dove deep. The fish stayed deep for the majority of the fight. After a short but tough fight, I finally saw the musky and it was a good one. I positioned the kayak in shallow water, and jumped in to 2 feet of water in my jeans and sneakers. I led the fish over to me and finally had my musky in my hands. She was 43 inches long and way fatter than I had even imagined, and her body looked more striper than musky. Using length/weight charts I found online, I would estimate her weight to be right around 25lbs. After a few quick photos, I put her back in and she strongly swam out of my hands quickly, disappearing into the deep. Since I was dripping wet, I decided to call it a day and head home after only fishing for about 1 hour and 45 minutes. This definitely ranks as one of the most memorable first fish of a species I have caught, and definitely my biggest freshwater fish in NJ. I am looking forward to getting out and chasing them again.




In the second pic, you can see her massive girth.