Hey Guys,
What makes you want to go out on the lake and chase musky, what makes you want to spend so much money on lures and tackle to chase this fish?
For me, back in 2004 it was the day on sanford when I was casting a 6ft hvy action broomstick shakespear rod with a bass pro bass style baitcaster, throwing a bluefox #6 silver blade with yellow hair in front of a big weedbed. Because I was curious about muskie after hearing of some giants in sanford. On my 10,001 cast I had a fallow from a monster fish that had to be 60"….hahaha
It was prolly a upper 30" fish…but first fallow was so exciting. I added a few lures, and kept trying finally in late august I hooked into a fish in area where I had my first fallow in the beginning of the year. The fish fought pretty good, thought I had a giant pike at first, my friend Mike scooped it in his net, kinda..net was a little small. The fish went 47" skinny though and some scares on it. But still to this day stands as my largest fish. After releasing that fish something clicked in me and I began to stock up on ALL musky fishing equipment ….
Today I look back on all things bought from this hobby, and it would be cheaper to be a ragging drug addict, but the feeling of being out on the water is something I would never want to give up, and every fish boated is a great reward for all the hours of work (fun) that are put it.
So fella's…I ask you, why do you go after this fish, what made you get into this lifestyle…???
Queenie and I just love being able to catch these monsters on Lures we made. Theres something special about taking a chunk of wood and shaping it into a Musky lure and watching a 47 incher pound it at Boatside. My knees were shakin last week when I hooked what was easily my biggest Musky ever and watched as it nearly spooled me and then threw the lure. I will keep fishing them until I cant lift my azz into the boat because they are the Kings of freshwater. Top of the line biggest trophy in the state. I can except no less of a challunge as the others are all bait. But the cost can be extreme chasing these giants all over the place. 5 days at Lake st. Clair$ 500.00 . Gas,lodging,food,beverages and we bring most everything with us and stay at campgrounds. I think most of us would fish even more if fuel prices were under 2.00 per gallon. Michelle and I find ways to save money and still fish all the time. One way is to downsize your boat or as we did buy a little one for inland lakes. Our 14 foot Jon doesnt need its own insurance policy as its covered on our homeowners . It uses less than 3 gallons per day of fuel and can be towed by our tiny Chevy Aveo. The Aveo gets 30 mpg while pulling the little boat. We can fish anywhere in the lower part of state except the bigger lakes and get there and back for about 20 bucks. I had a 45 incher jump into the boat with me on hookset this spring. It was a scene that will replay in my memory for the rest of my life. No other fish has ever tested my nerves, beaten my best or given me thrills like the Musky has. Top water strikes that turn the water white, Boatside poundings that tear your arms from thier sockets and Screaming drags on St. Clair that are attached to 30 lb missles. Thats why. Kingfisher
"Kingfisher" said:
One way is to downsize your boat or as we did buy a little one for inland lakes. Our 14 foot Jon doesnt need its own insurance policy as its covered on our homeowners .
Careful with that, if you aren't 100% sure that it will be covered. Most policies have coverage but it's limited to liability and/or it has a common limit of $2500 for watercraft. Many homeowners also will not cover anything beyond the boat. Lastly, if you ever have a claim you are much better off with a stand alone watercraft policy. We're still not in a soft market and just a single claim on a homeowners can see a rate increase of 25%. If you have a second claim on the home/personal property you run the risk of being non-renewed in which case you'll end up with a non-standard company and a policy that is double what you would pay with a standard carrier. To be on the safe side it's always better to have a stand alone watercraft policy.
It was a slow transition for me. I grew up in Manistee which as most of you know is a destination spot for trout and salmon. I was also an avid smallmouth and pike fishermen. After having caught like three zillion salmon and trout and the same in pike and smallies it started to get boring. The ceiling on catchable size had been reached (within reality) and it was just the same old same. Then I strted fishing with Muskypimp and he said something about fishing for muskies. This amounted to using our gigantic SSR's a little faster and throwing those humongous mepps musky killers 
Man was that a slow learning curve. Then we started reading the books and the magazines and buying the baits. Still no muskies to our credit as we were fishing low population lakes and chasing around the elusive secret lake which we all now know does not exist. Then came the trip to Wisconsin and some eye opening revelations. We fished the lakes where muskies were supposed to jump in the boat except for that did not happen. Then the magic moment occured. We said phooey on Wisconsin and went back into Michigan to Chicagon lake. After a few days of nothing we were fishing on a rock bar with suckers at about 4 in the afternoon. I said hey Dave lets move along this break and start casting, the sun is starting to drop a little. First cast, three cranks, monster strike. Five minutes later miss fatty the 50 was in the boat. After you have held one of those bad girls in your arms it is all over for smaller fish. Anyway the sickness has progressed from there and I am waiting to hit 54 before I get a reproduction mount.
Kevin
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