His first big musky

April 27, 2009 by admin

Growing up fishing in farm ponds for largemouth bass and bluegill was training for what happened on April 9, 2009.

While fishing at Cave Run Lake with my father-in-law, who happens to be a great guide, I had my first run in with the fish of 10,000 casts. As I bumped a 1/4-ounce spinner across a log — boom — suddenly, a lanky creature appeared. Two seconds later I was fighting my first Muskellunge, albeit a small one.

I dragged the 12-inch fish into the boat (no net or pliers required) and safely released it to fight another day.

About 45 minutes passed and I switched to a half-ounce Rat-L-Trap as we continued to fish the cover along the south shore in Scott’s Creek Marina. Since my first strike came along a tree line my thought was there were more where that came from.

As each cast drew closer and closer to the shore one particular cast actually skipped from the water onto a rock and back into the shallow, 56 degree, water. Five cranks later and I had one! I could feel his head move back and forth as he dove and the “zzzzzzz” of the drag let me know I was not snagged on a limb.

He fought me for about 5 minutes before he surfaced. The excitement rushed over me as he thrashed and rolled at the surface. It took a few tries to net the whale in an obviously undersized trout net (my father-in law would rush out the next day and buy a big game net.)

Our next task was making the photos for posterity – which actually turned out to be a difficult task as well. Posing with a 38″ fish with sharp, one-inch teeth is not easy, but we finally got a keeper.

My mother-in-law loves that photo of me and the musky, and quickly declared that I was the Greg Norman of Musky fishing, thanks to my stylin’ hat. I’m not sure about that, but I am sure that the next time we hook a Musky; we’ll be ready with our huge net.

Jonathan Palmer, a freelance photojournalist, is an occasional contributor to www.kentuckyfishing.com.

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