[luvinbluegills]

I told you and I told you and I told you: they are out to get me.




There I was Saturday morning, wading out on the old road bed. The water is still at record levels, and visibility is still low. There was surprisingly, no one at all in the area. I was about waist deep, with water behind me, beside me, and in front of me, my primary company only the ducks and the fish I was catching.

Every now and then somebody would show up, look at the water, then leave. Most of the time despite the sunny bluebird skies, it was eerily silent. Then it happened.


I was retrieving a size 2 Black Wooly Bugger, in search of bass, when about 8 feet away the water erupted! A musky shot clean out of the water! I mean it cleared the surface entirely by probably 2 feet! I've caught my share of Muskies, my biggest being 39". This fish was clearly larger and heavier than the 39 incher I caught earlier this year in the Ohio River. When this thing fell back into the water it was like a child doing a cannonball dive at the local swimming pool! I managed to put on a big popper I have permanantly rigged with a White plastic jig dropper and cast it twice half-heartedly.

Then, I was done. I slowly (quickly) waded (ran) back to shore, where I noticed my hands trembling (shaking violently). I have been mugged, jumped, been in several car accidents, once which included our car being pushed a distance by a semi, I've had guns in my face at least 5 times, been chased by dogs and ticked-off Roosters, had a huge spider lower itself from the roof of my jeep to my face at 4:30 in the morning, yet I have never been so freaked out in my life.

I spent maybe an hour on shore, casting from there and gathering my self. One guy stopped by and when I told him what happened he said he'd have done the same thing. Finally, I told myself: Until something actually happens to me, that means nothing has happened to me, and I ought to get back into the water. So, gingerly, I made my way back over the rocks, into the water and onto the submerged road bed. Advancing maybe 10 feet at a time, I made my way back out, suddenly realizing that if that fish was still out there, and I decided to keep some fish, I'd be in the water with struggling bite-sized morsels at my hip! I decided not to keep any.

My heart was pounding, but slowly, I adjusted. I had just started to focus on my presentation when...





...it freaking happened again!



I immediately left for another part of the lake.

I am having such self-esteem issues right now.



Did I mention that just after I got to the other part of the lake, got chest deep in positively murky water, that a guy on shore said a 46 inch Musky had been caught there that morning?

It may be a week before I get back in there.


Major self-esteem issues...





(Sean Jean, it wasn't at the vise, but it is definitely embarrassing!)

[TroutBum]

Remind me never to take you saltwater fishing.

[MSUICEMAN]

something like that is there and you leave? i woulda gone back and gotten say a 12wt and pounded that place with either huge streamers or a rat pattern. game on! many guys up here hope they get to have a chance to tangle with them toothy critters!

take some deep breaths, and go for it!

steve

[DFix]

Wimp.

[steeldrifter]

.......

[yakfisher]

I don't think wimp is strong enough. I have been wade fishing and had sharks cruise by me and I casted to them trying to catch them. Man I am with Msuiceman, I would have gotten a bigger gun and tried for the fish. I have never caught a Muski, and probably won't have the opportunity any time soon as I live in the southeast. I believe we have a couple of rivers in NC that have them. But if I ever get the chance I would love to tangle with one those critters.

[luvinbluegills]

Paranoia n : The rational response upon learning that something really is out to get you.

[SmallieHunter]

Mark you are waaaaaay too funny

When I was a kid I use to have the same feeling about Hellgrammites. I would swear that if you put them on a rock or something they would come straight at you and try to attack. I fished with them all the time but they even gave me nightmares

[MSUICEMAN]

lol, i'm not saying i wouldn't be unnerved at first... then i'd be challenged to hook and land that SOB.

steve

[luvinbluegills]

So...


...will you guys love and respect me again if I go back and land one in the same place while wading?

[TroutBum]

No, it's too late for that now.

[Dble Haul]

To hell with the muskies, go and catch one of those ticked off roosters.

[luvinbluegills]

Roosters are even worse!



"According to an article appearing in the Wisconsin State Journal (Madison) on July 1, 1998, muskies may be developing a taste for unusual bait.

Dan Droessler, a Platteville, Wisconsin, police officer was vacationing at Governor Dodge State Park near Dodgeville, Wisconsin. He had been dangling his foot in the water over the side of a canoe at Twin Valley Lake when a 36-inch tiger muskie clamped onto his foot. The surprised Droessler, who wasn’t even fishing (and usually does not fish), pulled his foot out of the water, and the muskie dropped into the canoe.

Droessler required 60 stitches in a local hospital emergency room.

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources then confiscated the fish. Warden Randy Rossing said, "We had to take it. It’s not a legal size for one thing, and it’s not a legal way to catch a fish—with your foot."

Droessler did eventually get to keep the fish."



How not to catch a fish

[Dble Haul]

Seems like it's time for someone to develop a "Toejam" pattern.

[dabalone]

Make you think twice before tinkling over the side of the boat.