Chautauqua 11-6-2011 – A humbling outing…

[BlueEye]

Had a chance yesterday to fish with Dan Hughes from Lunge Lumber Lures. Thanks again Dan for invite – it was a blast fishing with you! I was really confident going into the trip as it seemed like all the right weather conditions were in place for the making of a good day on the water – overcast skies, pre-frontal, some wind, etc. Unfortunately, musky fishing has a way of humbling you very quickly. On the water at 4:00am and fishing non-stop right through until an hour after sunset with very little to show for our efforts. We had one lazy follow and another hookup that I lost as the fish came airborn. Two other boats out that we knew of and between the two of them only one small musky boated all day. Slow day all around despite what we thought was a good weather setup.

The trip was not in vein however, as I really learned a TON from Dan. Nothing beats actual time on the water. Dan is basically to casting what Larry Jones is to trolling. I’m itching now (and I know Dan is too) to get back out there and get some revenge. Persistence and dedication can be tough on days like yesterday but it only takes one good fish to turn the day around so keep them lures wet and plugging away. I’m hoping to make it back out this weekend.

Cheers,

Chad

[wet the net]

Chad and Dan,

As you know I spent the day there with a friend and we too had high expectations for the day. The only things that were high was the wind and our dissapointment with the results. We ended the day with a small 31" "ax handle". The fish hit the Lunge Lumber 9" Prowler in perch pattern

I took a a tip from Dan on using the drift sock and it really helped to control the boat, slow the drift and keep the bait in the water longer.

It was still great to spent on a warm day in November on the water rather than in the office. It just makes me want to be right back out there.

Ed

PS. It was in the 60's yesterday and tonight there is a lake effect warning for Chautauqua Lake forecasting up to 7" of snow overnight into tomorrow noon.

[LungeLumberLures]

Hi Chad and Ed(Ed being the only guy to put a fish in the boat , nice job!).

I am still in disbelief and scratching my head at what the heck happened yesterday! 2011 as been a weird year but yesterday every thing was in our favor #1-period of high pressure and warm sunny days(#1a this being in November after the water temps dropped below 50). #2 Large cold front/low pressure system approaching(starting pressure was 30.15 and when I got home it was 29.24 so it was falling through the day). #3 Wind from the south @ 10+ mph. a personal favorite.

#4 Between Chad and I we knew where several schools of bait were located and were still there. #5 The full moon is today so we were one day from perfect in that department. All of this in our favor and it was just dead as a door nail no birds feeding , no perch feeding on the schools of minnows , it just doesn't make sense BUT that is musky fishing just when you think you got it figured out WHAM right between the legs! That was the first time I have been skunked since 9/22/2011 and yes I hate being skunked but this is musky fishing. I don't want to use the term humbling because for me days like this just feed the FIRE the next trip I will fish that much harder to make up for it! After all that Chad loved having you in the back of the boat , definitely need to get in another mid-week trip this year we still have a few weeks left.

Ed - Again nice job man , so glad to hear somebody boated something even a little one makes the drive home a little shorter.

[BlueEye]

Yeah congrats Ed on being the only guy to Wet the Net that day. I'm thinking I will be giving it another try this Sunday. Maybe I'll see you guys out there again?

[ericmic1]

just to add my non-muskie fishing 2 cents...

Sunday was a great day, for me. The perch were really active in the bay opposite of long point, protected from the wind. 1st cast with small jig on ultralight and I hooked a toothy monster. He came up I got a peek then he proceeded to drop down and 2 shakes later snapped the line. Walleye were really active at night (which is my goal).

That being said. Everyone has the tough days even when the stars are alligned. Just have to keep at it...its the law of averages, we just try to put the law into our favor.

-ericmic

[BlueEye]

Well I went out this Saturday with Mike and was able to get my "revenge" in a pretty big way. A new personal best surely for weight judging solely by the girth of the fish (not actually weighing them on a scale of course). Fish was 48" long and came right in what I "thought" was going to be the deadest time of day... (see time stamp on photo below).

I thought it funny that here I was again thinking this time it WASN'T going to be a good day based on weather conditions and had it totally wrong again. Maybe the lesson here is either A.) You can throw a lot of stuff that holds true in the summer time out the window in the fall or B.) I still have a lot to learn about this musky fishing thing. My guess is it is a combination of both.

Ended up getting another upper 30's fish as well and had several more lazy follows and lost one more on a tube bait. Best baits for us ended up being LL Prowler's and Tubes. All white and natural perch patterns on the Prowlers and copper and silver/sparkles on the tubes in big sexy size seemed to be getting much of the attention.

At least now I can relax the rest of the weekend and watch some football knowing that I was able to get my revenge

Cheers!

[LungeLumberLures]

Revenge is SWEET! And so is that fish , man what a fat SLOB of a fish.Chad I think you are some kind of BIG fish magnet , keep up the good work.

[mostlymuskies]

Chad,Very Nice Fish!

[ Post made via Android ]

[wet the net]

Chad,

That is an awesome fall fatty. Great photo as well. Those Lunge Lumbers are hot right now.

Ed

[LungeLumberLures]

Ed- There always HOT!!!!

[BlueEye]

Thanks guys for the kind words! Here is one more picture that Mike's girlfriend Jenelle took right before we released her:

Picture is a bit small but you can see how thick the fish really was. Certainly the heaviest fish I have ever caught in my life as I really struggled to even lift her out of the net. Larry - where was this fish during your tournament? On a side note, awesome idea Larry putting a side prize for total length on your tournament! I was really excited to see that!

[Gill-T]

Looks like you were outside of Dewitville Bay? Nice pig!