“Gotta put your time in” – Capt. Bob
In the cold depths of the mighty St. Lawrence live some very toothy critters. There is no “fishing” for these elusive aquatic predators, only hunting. If you do catch one from the clutches of the river, it will most likely be close to a world record. Because, in fact, a world record musky was caught out of “the river”.
To be honest, we are not planning on being “musky fisherman”; fisherman that strictly fish for musky and have all the gear set up with specific boats. We just want to catch a musky! One fish we have NEVER caught before. They have been spotted while fishing and pike have been caught but none as of yet.
Annually, the yacht club, drives to Clayton, NY to fish with Captain Bob for these toothy critters. Captain Bob Walters, phenomenal guy and excellent knowledge of the water! Because if you’re going to catch your first musky, it might as well be a world record candidate! Clayton is a quaint town along the banks of the famous and stunning 1000 islands region.
Saturday, we get up bright and early and head to Koffee Kove for breakfast and to meet up with the crew, Bob and 1st mate. Fresh coffee fills the air as well as loud hellos and laughter while reuniting with our fishin’ buddies. Telling stories and catching up on a years worth of life and adventures. Chocolate chip pancakes and eggs benedict devoured and we head to the boat slip. Tucked back in the boat slip with a view looking out towards the blue waters of the St. Lawrence is the Water Wolf. The famous musky hunting fishing boat, known for some of the biggest muskies to come aboard. We get settled in and start out into the day, hoping to hear the words FISH ON.
Fishing unique and personalized lures is the name of the game. Musky fisherman are a different breed. Bob doesn’t fish for your joe shmo musky, he goes for world record kind. To fish for big fish, big lures are needed. We were trolling with some of the largest lures I have seen and it makes you all tingly inside knowing what massive beast could potentially strike them!
Couple hours into our trolling, 1st mate yells FISH ON! And the sounds of the reel drag start screaming! We were taken by surprise and all rushed out onto the back deck. I grabbed the rod that was making all the noise and started reeling. But by the time the time I got to the fishing pole, whatever had attacked that lure was gone. OH well, reel it up and set it out again!
One of the cool things about the Water Wolf, they have an underwater camera live feed displayed. Sit back and enjoy watching the lure track back and forth while waiting for the fish to smash your rig! Check out the videos on their website www.waterwolfcharters.com !!
TWO more strikes and TWO more fishless lures pulled from the water. 4th time is a charm.
Pole bent down hard and drag started screaming. I ripped the pole out of the holder and rod tip up! The line counter read 220′, 350′, then 402′ of line out and still going! I start reeling, lifting slowly, releasing back down and reeling. Seemed like forever till the fish came close enough to try and net! MUSKY???? The 1st mate is ready with the net and yells “Just a pike!”. WHAT?! Finally a fish in the boat after losing several and it is a pike! Not a record musky or even a musky. A pike! Regardless, the fish had beautiful markings and river coloring. As we put it on the board, a whole girthy 39″! What a stud.
Another “FISH ON”, and another slightly smaller pike in the boat! TWO fish in the boat! While they weren’t the targeted fish they were happily received! What a fight, one of the fish had taken over 400+ feet of line out.
The hunt continued into the second day of our trip. The bright sunny weekend weather turned on us. We spent the day battling the wind and white caps. No strikes or bites all day. You win some you lose some and it is all about “putting your time in”. We finally head back after a fishless but great day on the water besides! Say our good-byes and see you in a year ! The saga continues on our hunt for a musky! One of the only fish yet to be caught by the Little Plastic Boat Yacht Club!
