Musky Report - Pineview 7/22/04

[BearLakeMack]

[font "Comic Sans MS"][size 3][black]Biteme and myself took off work a little early and headed out for Pineview to try and knock down a musky or two. Biteme and I had never caught muskies so we were pretty stoked up to give it a go. [/black][/size][/font]
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][size 3][black]We launched around 4:30pm and motored over to Cemetery Point to start our first run. We threw out our lures, all J-13 Rapalas on three rods and headed around Cemetery Point and into the middle arm. We no sooner got around the point and our inside rod went bendo. Fresh one!
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][size 3][black]The fish wanted to stick to the bottom but with a little persuasion he came right to the boat. I was a little surprised at the size of the fish for so little fight. We pulled him in and got pictures and measured him. A nice 46" Fish. Not bad for my first musky! Here's a pic of him.[/black][/size][/font] [center][/center] [left]
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][size 3][black]We threw out and continued up into the middle arm and turn around and headed back along the shoreline we had just trolled. We were probably 300 yards from the point and WHAM! Fish on! Biteme grabbed the rod and put a killer hook set to the fish. This fish fought considerable harder and did a respectable job of trying to avoid us and the boat. We got him to the boat, threw the lip grip on him and pulled him in. We got a few pics and measured him at 44”. Another nice fish. Here are pics of a happy Biteme and his musky.[/black][/size][/font] [/left] [center][/center] [center][/center] [center][/center] [center][/center] [center] [/center] [center][/center] [center]
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3]We continued to troll until sundown but no more hits. We ended having a great time and caught a couple nice fish.[/size][/black][/font]
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[DonInDenver]

[url "javascript: addTag('cool')"][cool][/url] [url "javascript: addTag('cool')"][cool][/url] [url "javascript: addTag('cool')"][cool][/url] WOW!!! Nice job BLM and Biteme! Those are terrific fish and great pictures. I'm really jealous! The pike weight calculator I just checked indicated 24.3 pounds and 27.8 pounds!! Cool.
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[Theekillerbee]

That is awesome guys!!!! Congrats on the great fish!
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[Hellsangler69]

Nice Fish Guys !! Way to go .
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[MGB]

Congratulations BLM and Biteme! Those are acouple nice fish. You never know what to expect from those muskies,sometimes the smbass put up a better fight and other times they will put up agreat fight.
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[TubeDude]

[url "javascript: addTag('cool')"][cool][/url][#0000bf]I guess the "thousand casts" thing doesn't apply to trolling.[/#0000bf]
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[#0000bf]Great pics. Congrats on breaking into the ranks of muskie catchers in such fine fashion.[/#0000bf]
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[petty4life]

right on brother!!! good to hear both of you culd get a good one...
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[tomegun]

Beginners luck! You know its not suppose to happen this way, right? Where is the Capt'n's stogie?
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[Coldfooter]

Man some guys can step in a bucket of s--t and come out smellin like a Muskies!! Nicin's! Way ta go guys!! Congrats!!
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[Kent]

Some of us chose good looks as our gift for this life, and some of us chose good luck for this life. Rich you made the right choice by choosing good luck! Of course it could be argued that some of us chose neither. I didn't do quite as well with my first musky, it took me two trips to catch mine.
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[skipythelurker]

Nice Fish BLM that'll bring your fuzzy fisher points up...providen the moderator lets you inn..Im sure there are pics with a tape and BFT sticker..Right?.
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[icefool]

Wow nice fish. congrats.
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[BEARCLAW]

Sweet fish there fellas. Congrats.. Great photos too!
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[BearLakeMack]

[font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3]I claim no skill or expertise at this musky game! The only reason I even had a clue was all the great people here and posts of good info. This was actually my 3rd time out for muskies but the first trip I and Biteme have hooked up. He's fished for them a time or two also.[/size][/black][/font]
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3]The cigars were there, Tomegun. I think I swallowed it when I saw that fish come to the surface! Those fish are impressive even if the one I caught wasn't much of a fighter. Biteme's fish had a whole lot more spunk.[/size][/black][/font]
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3]Here are a few lessons learned that may help others. This info has been posted before but I believe needs to be re-emphasized.[/size][/black][/font]
[font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3][/size][/black][/font] [ul] [li][font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3]Be prepared for BIG, toothy fish. They are not much different than handling big macks but if you never have had to handle large fish you will find they are a little more than you expect. 40 plus inch and, 20 plus pound "alligator" of wiggling slim with large teeth can be a little intimidating for some. Lip grips are a handy device for keeping all you fingers intact. You can grab the gill plates but be careful you don't snag a gill in the tussel.[/size][/black][/font][/li] [li][font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3]Large nets are good but a sling net like Old Coot's is probably better. Large hooks and nylon twine nets have a tendency to become a massive mess with a large fish thrashing around in it. It can be very difficult to get things undone in a timely manner. Coot! Post some pics of your sling again![/size][/black][/font][/li] [li][font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3]These fish are big and strong but they don't seem to be very hardy and can not take a lot of handling. As, MGB and others have stated, you need to QUICKLY and as GENTLY as possible get your business done with the fish. The water temp is almost 80 degrees at Pineview and I would think that at those warm temps, stressing a fish is more likely.[/size][/black][/font][/li] [li][font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3]These musky, even if handled and released quickly, took us a long time to revive so they could swim under their own power. We spent a considerable amount of time reviving them before we felt they were ready to swim off. Don't give up to early when trying to revive them.[/size][/black][/font][/li][/ul]
[font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3]These are just my observations after catch one musky and have two others caught on my boat. I'm sure all our more accomplished Musky Aficionados have even more helpful tips to make your musky trip more enjoyable for you and less stressful on such a cool resource like our Tiger Musky in Pineview.[/size][/black][/font]
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[Gumbo]

Your third picture looks a little scary. According to Tom Pettengill, "Hooking the fish under the gills and hanging it up vertically can cause serious internal injury. A fish's internal organs are built to have support from surrounding water, not hanging vertically in the air."

[#660000][size 4]Tiger muskie release tips[/size][/#660000]
[url "http://www.wildlife.utah.gov/fishing/tiger_muskie_tips.html"]http://www.wildlife.utah.gov/fishing/tiger_muskie_tips.html[/url]

[BearLakeMack]

[font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3]Thanks, Dennis. That's a very informative webpage and well worth the read. I know I'll consider other means in handling muskies. I still think that the cradle net is better than a conventional net for handling those long, snakey critters. Two or three big trebles on a lure, hooking into the twines of the net, can make a mess of a conventional net and virtually lock a fish in it like a straight jacket.[/size][/black][/font]

[font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3](edit) Here's a link Old Coot provide in an earlier post on making a cradle net:[/size][/black][/font] [center][url "http://www.fishontario.com/articles/muskie-cradle/"]http://www.fishontario.com/articles/muskie-cradle/[/url]
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3]Did you notice the picture on that page was Teroy and his musky! I wonder if he gave his permission to use it or even knows it's there?[/size][/black][/font]
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3]Thanks again for the valuable info source on handling muskies.[/size][/black][/font]
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[wiperhunter2]

Way to go BLM and Biteme very nice fish.
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[Xman]

sweet blm. those are heck of muskies for first time i would say. thanks for sharing.
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[Old_Coot]

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[font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3]I know I'll consider other means in handling muskies. I still think that the cradle net is better than a conventional net for handling those long, snakey critters. [#ff0000]Two or three big trebles on a lure, hooking into the twines of the net, can make a mess of a conventional net and virtually lock a fish in it like a straight jacket.[/#ff0000][/size][/black][/font][#ff0000]
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[Old_Coot]

[font "Comic Sans MS"][black]BLM, I understand your pain. Cradle nets aren't any better for the problem of locking a turning/twisting tiger into a "straight jacket". The big tiger that Mrs. Coot caught had me cutting a lot of netting to free it up. [/black][/font]

[font "Comic Sans MS"][black][black][size 3]"I know I'll consider other means in handling muskies."[/size][/black] As for me, I'm thinking about following MGB's practice of boat-side release.
Now, I have got to say, MAN those are some gorgeous looking fish. Those pictures you guys took sure show the beauty of an ugly musky. Well done.[/black][/font]
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