Tales and Trails

BY DAVE BECK Sorting the contenders from the pretenders

We have finally gotten to my favorite part of the summer: The northern Minnesota/Lake Vermilion musky trip. I say this all the time, fishing around here all summer long is a hoot and obviously I have a great time doing it but going up there is like getting called up to the major leagues. The two reasons so many musky addicts make the journey up there is because of the big fish, and the number of big fish. Around here, if you catch a 50-inch fish, it's cause for a festival and a golf hole-in-one type celebration. Catching a 50-inch fish up there isn't a big deal unless you're from Wisconsin and you have never caught a 50-inch fish up there. I am a member of that group. So how did I end up going there in the first place? About ten years ago a group of guys from Ghost Tail Musky Lures were heading there when one of the guys got sick and couldn't make the trip. I was the replacement for the sick guy. Once on the water, on the very first cast, I caught my first Lake Vermilion fish. It would have been epic but for one small detail: The fish I caught was a small northern pike, not a trophy musky. It didn't take much more time on the water to know that I would be going back. Over the years I have boated 15 fish up there with the biggest being a pair of 47 inchers. The monsters that I have seen are what makes me go back. Take last year for example. I finished the trip on a rock reef and threw half my tackle box at it. Before I called it quits and left the spot, I let the boat drift over the reef and right where I expected a fish to be, was a 50-plus inch musky laying there in total defiance and indierence to me. It was both amazing and maddening to be throwing lures at a world class fish and she simply wasn't interested. Another great moment was the fish I hooked into late one night in a mean wind. The bow of the boat was pitching up and down with the west wind-powered rolling waves when a monster musky pounded my oversized black bucktail with black blades. For 20 seconds I went toe-to-toe with the bruiser and the only thing she did was violently swing her head side to side trying to throw my lure. Even in the dark I got enough of a view to know it was the biggest musky I ever had on my line. What made it more disappointing was when she became the biggest musky that I ever lost 21 seconds into the fight. So, I have some unfinished business to take care of but it won't be easy to avenge some of those near misses. I guess if it was easy, it wouldn't be nearly so great. Man, I can't wait to get up there. Didn’t get enough Dave this week? Visit “Outdoor Trails and Tales with Dave Beck” on Facebook for photos and video of Dave’s adventures. You can share your own photos and video with him there as well, or by emailing him at [email protected] Also, check out OTT content on Instagram @ thepiercecountyjournal

Dylan Bowe, on the right from Ellsworth, caught this 48-inch musky on Lake Vermilion just two days before I am scheduled to make the drive up. Congrats Dylan! What did you use for bait? Photo courtesy of Dylan Bowe