Went up to the Antrim chain this past weekend mostly to help my uncle get his bayliner unwinterized for some downrigging when the kings come into the bays but was able to get on the water both mornings.
Had a hunch that the muskies would be in the river spawning still since it has been so cold, so I took our little boat out on the Torch River to see if I could spot some. There was no wind whatsoever and was clear sky so I could see everything from a mile away. Sure enough they were in there full force and definitely in spawn mode. Saw a total of 9 ski's, 7 of which I am pretty sure were males as they were only upper 30's to lower 40's fish. The other two were definitely females tho and I was in shock as to how massive they were. The first one I saw was easily 50 inches and was just slowly cruising the middle of the river in about 8 feet of water on the clear side of the river. Swam right underneath my boat and seemed completely oblivious to the fact that I was above her or just didnt care.
Then saw a handful of browns and atlantics still up in the river for some reason. They were up in a bayou of the river and I casted spoons at them for awhile with no luck but while up in that section I saw a massive fish on the bottom shaking its tail but not going anywhere. Looked like a freaking sturgeon it was so big but looking closer it was paired with a smaller fish and was spawning. The little male was probably only 38-40 inches but that female had to be 55+, no joke. It looked almost double the length of the male and 4 times the width. It was an amazing sight to see them spawning like that and to see a fish that big. Now if only I could see that many or even better, that big female in the summer when I can actually fish for them…
Went to Clam the next day for some pike. Caught 4 decent largemouths and 2 pike. Didnt see any ski's tho, the water was much darker than in Torch and clarity is lower.
Even tho I didnt do any fishing for muskies, I still consider the weekend a huge success and it makes me alot more motivated for the summer knowing that they really do exist in those lakes. After all the hours of skunk I have put in up there I was beginning to think they were all gone in there…
No pictures, sorry. The only camera I own is the one on my phone and its quality is pretty bad plus I didnt want to get too close to the ones spawning. I was just really lucky that it was so calm and clear that I could see so far.
Definitely second what Will said. Would not want to do anything that would disrupt reproduction for these fish. Wait till theyre in the big lake to fish for them.
52
34