One last musky outing OUTDOOR The hunting seasons are upon us and it’s a dealer’s choice with so many outdoor options: Small game, turkey and archery._While I am all in for doing those things, I …
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One last musky outing
OUTDOOR
The hunting seasons are upon us and it’s a dealer’s choice with so many outdoor options: Small game, turkey and archery._While I am all in for doing those things, I needed to scratch one last musky fishing itch. After spending the entire summer chasing the fish of 10,000 casts, it was hard to load up the boat knowing that it would be the last time of the season.
I hit the water on an unseasonably warm morning._Typically, the action is unpredictable this late in the season and for that reason it’s rare for me to go out._I am much more versed on the summer musky patterns but when the moon and the stars aligned, I couldn’t help but think this was going to be my day to put a hog in the dipnet, ending my season with a huge win.
I was on the water before the sun came up._That’s a special time of day no matter what you are doing._I couldn’t help but be optimistic while sitting in the boat waiting, and watching the sun peak over the hills as a new day rolled in from the east._By the time I fired out my first cast, I was in my happy place.
I fished around the lake and hit spots that had produced action in the past but the problem with that strategy was that the lake was already changing._The water was getting colder and the weed beds were fading away. Yesterday’s hotspot was today’s fishless desert._It took a while but I finally found an area that looked fishy with some green weeds on a shallow bar._That was the thought I had when I noticed a green torpedo behind my lure._It really wasn’t a torpedo; it was an estimated 45-inch musky._The fish came charging in hard but when it got to the boat it simply faded into the weeds like baseball players do in the Iowa cornfield. Just like that, it was over._I never dealt with another fish.
Most years I get skunked on the last musky outing so I was pretty happy to have seen such a nice fish._ Here’s the thing:_It’s easy for me to move on to the fall hunting season when I throw a shutout on the last outing of the year, but seeing a monster turns that last outing itch into a rash.
BY DAVE BECK
