Chautauqua muskie

[Ivan]

I wanted to share a pic of a nice, heavy fish I released Sunday at Chautauqua. It was one of my nicest Chq fish ever. Fishing has been pretty good over the last few weeks there and the cooler weather this week should really get them going. Good luck to you guys fishing the tourney this weekend. I will be getting my gear and boat ready for a Canada trip next week.

[Tigerhunter]

That's one heck of a fish! What did it measure?

[fbg14619]

What a beautiful fish!  I noticed the inverted rod holders. That is the first time I have seen a picture of them. Don't mean to sound dumb but can you tell when you get a strike as readily as with conventional holders?

[BlueEye]

Nice fattie Adam

[Nalod]

Awesome fish, Adam!  It is nice to see such a great fishery producing such a healthy looking fish....but why didn't your dad get to hold it in the pic?

 

--Joe

[John Kelley]

Wow, check out the mangled dorsal fin on that beast!!  Must be a bigger beast than that one, out there as well!!  Beautiful Musky, man!!  

[Ivan]

Thanks for the comments guys.

 

Tiger:  a bit to my surprise it was 48" on my bumpboard.  I know I called it 50 one of the two times it jumped completely out of the water, headshaking, while I was fighting it.  I was expecting it to be a bit longer; not that there is anything wrong with a 48.  We've caught longer fish from Chq, but I just love the build, pattern and coloration of this fish.  Big head and big black eyes too.

 

fbg:  I dunk the tips of my rods in the water and run down rods a few reasons.  Mainly to keep floating weeds and leaves from running down my lines to my lures.  It also helps me get more depth from my baits with less line.  All my trolling reels have good clickers.  I never watch my rods.  My eyes are always glued to my graph and gps while trolling.  Most of the time I troll around 5mph, and I know when I have a hit by the sweet sound of screaming drag.  I have a bunch of superstitions when it comes to muskie fishing.  Have you ever heard the saying "a watched pot will never boil"?

 

Joe: I know you are joking about something, but I just can't figure it out.  Dad and I almost always take turns reeling in fish when we troll.  It just happened to be my turn.  Dad sure gets his share of big ones...probably more than me.  He got a 43.5"er about an hour before I got this 48"er.

 

John:  I'm positive there are bigger fish in Chautauqua, but that mangled fin is most likely fin rot or red spot disease.  Red spot is a bacterial (I think) disease that muskies get and they pass from one to another mainly around spawn.  That's why the areas affected are usually by the reproductive portion of the fish.  if you look at the photo again, you can see a couple scars below that messed up fin.  Those are most likely healed over red spot sores.  Places like Chautauqua and Pymatuning have been known for muskies with red spot over the years.  What sucks is when you get one that has a rotted tail fin because the fish ends up being shorter than it should be with a healthy tail.

Edited October 9, 2013 by Ivan

[mostlymuskies]

Adam, Very Nice Fattie! Capt Larry

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