waneta last night!!!

[zach]

not posting any pics this time but waneta lit up last night. i was watching the radar at work yesterday morning and told boss man i had musky fever and had to leave work. a storm was going to push through waneta last night and i had to be there. i took off from work early and got down at 3pm and by 3:15pm i had a thick 39" in the net shortlining shallow weeds! towards evening the storm came through, the light switch flipped on for the fish and the heavy feeding began. bam, bam, bam, bam. the muskies went crazy before the storm and stayed that way until after dark when i left at 10pm. all hits were high up in the water column on "bigger" bright baits trolled slowly ( slow for me ). ended up w/ a 34", 37",39", 41" and a solid 43" while losing another fish before i could grab the rod it came off. an hour before sunset it was totally pitch black because of the rain clouds, there was lightning all around the lake, real high winds and you could feel the electricity in the air. i had my headlamp on my head and needed it by 8pm. crazy times and i am at 23 muskies for the year. i am getting spoiled but the tough months of august and september will set me straight. all fish were caught trolling in the top 5-10 feet of water no matter how deep the bottom was. all fish and hits came from the same "general" southern area of the lake. the fish were so hot i even got one to hit a trolled homemade double 10 w/ 6oz of weight in front of it. bty i am not condoning fishing during hostile weather as it could be dangerous.

[Gator]

Hey Zach,

I grew up fishing Waneta and the musky can be tough there, but they get big. And by big I mean BIG...scary big. Saw several over 40 lbs caught by others during the '80s.

What exactly is a "homemade double 10"? And how does it run in the top 5-10 feet with 6 oz of weight in front of it? Not being a d-bag, just curious...I'm not a real musky fisherman (I don't even play one on TV) and I don't know the lingo.

You should set up a camcorder in the front of your boat to make a YouTube video. I'd love to see the waves and lightning with you fighting a twenty pound muskie amidst it all. Now that would be cool!

Gator

[ray koziatek]

hey 20 plus fish for the year ,ya better change your signature the bills ant won that many in 3 years/

PS Im a bills fan

[solgrande]

Looks as though your making up for last year...nice going zach-keep it up.I may hit it sunday am-we`ll see.I`ve been off the water for awhile now.Got alot of catching up to do,just short on time man..would love to be out there.

sol

[NitroMusky]

Zach,

I gotta say that when I saw your note that you were on your way out there, I was jealous...after I saw your post with that incredible day you had I was REALLY jealous. that is awesome. you sure are having a good year.

too bad I'm in the same boat at Sol: drydock couple more weeks for me...all this travel sux. is it summer or winter outside these days???...I'm losing track

[zach]

"a homemade double 10" is a big 10" bucktail with twin #10 colorado blades on the front and alot of skirt material in the rear, they are pretty easy for everyone to make at home w/ huge 6/0 trebles in the back. no dumb questions here buddy. you think i always knew what a "dcg10" was? no, someone told me. you think i always knew how to short-line? no, someone told me. what the hell is a "wiley" i used to ask? "how do you catch them out in the middle of the lake in no-mans land"? yes- someone told me that one also. why those damn long 4 foot trolling leader? someone told me too. the big bucktails pull very hard (like a 5lb clump of grass on the end of your line) and even w/ 6oz trolling weight 4 foot in front of them, i bet you a dollar i never got deeper than 10 feet down while trolling around 4.0mph. nitro and sol- all work and no play makes for unhappy boys, get out fishing. it has actually been nice being the only boat out there a few nights this year but i don't need to rub it in anymore than i have. good luck everyone that is lucky enough to get out musky fishing. sol and nitro- don't worry your time will come, i will be jealous reading about you guys crushing the fatties come october and november when i am hunting and not fishing. so it will all come around full circle.

P.S. ray- keep the comments coming, i really think you have an amazing sense of humor and i laugh after reading most of your posts. keep it up, i love it! "the fashion police of corning" .

this was actually the only picture i took b/c the i wasn't gonna take that expensive camera out in the rain. this was the first fish i got right when i started. 39"