Fishing with the old man

My Dad taught me how to fish at my grandparents place up in Spooner Wisconsin. We would take several trips each summer and fish on Matthews Lake, a small couple hundred acre lake that had Musky, Pike, Walleye, Bass and a variety of pan fish. I think my Dad hated fishing with me because I was a 20 minute fisherman, and would spend most of the day running me back a forth from the dock. I didn't become a hard core fisherman until after I graduated from college. After my Grandfather passed away, my Grandmother moved back local and we started taking trips to Hayward Wisconsin, the Musky Capital of the World, or at least that is what the Hayward Chamber of Commerce would have you believe. After getting married, Momma Musky, the little Muskies, my Parents and my Brother would take an annual week trip to Northland Lodge on Lost Land Lake. This went on for about 10 years. When scheduling the next trip, Momma Musky indicated that maybe we ought to think about going someplace else on vacation. She also indicated that she really hated going up north fishing. 10 years she put up with it, but didn't say a word, what could I say? After that the annual family fishing trips ended. Over this 10 year period my father never caught a Musky over 30 inches. During this time, I have caught many up to 46 inches.

After my parents retired to Phoenix, it became difficult for us to get out fishing, maybe one day per year and only for a couple of hours. I took last Friday off from work as my parents were in town and figured we could get a few hours of fishing in. My Dad is now the short time fisherman, about 2 hours is all he can handle. So I went out at 6 am and he planned on meeting me at the landing at 9:00. The morning was perfect for Musky fishing. Overcast, Humid with a bit of a wind out of the west. Before the old man showed up I lost three Musky, including one that I had right up to the boat but when I reached for the net it got away.

So my Dad showed up right at 9am and off we went. I had spoken to a buddy who was also out fishing. My buddy is a guide on the local lake and was out with two clients. I like to share information with him on the water, if I can help him get his clients on the fish I know he will also let me know what he is seeing or what is working. He mentioned that one of his clients had a Musky follow a Pacemaker to the boat but wouldn't eat, so I figured this would be a good lure for my Dad to start with. We pulled into our first spot, a small bay on the southern end of lake and I positioned the boat in about 7 feet of water right on the weed edge. Usually we will cast to the weed edge but I had a feeling that fishing over the tops of the weeds would be more productive as it would follow the same pattern I had used earlier in the day.

We started working down the shoreline and I let my Dad know that this was one of my favorite spots and that I had caught and seen many big fish in the area over the last few years. It took a few casts for my dad to get back in the grove and about 15 minutes after we started down the shore, I heard he say, "there is one.". Musky love to follow your lure to the boat. Sometimes they eat and sometimes they just show themselves and swim away. Just as I looked over, I saw the fish smash his Pacemaker right at the side of the boat. It was a great strike, one that is really cool to watch. The fish came up behind the bait and just as my Dad started to change the direction of the bait at boat side it struck. After thrashing around the side of the boat and making a few short runs, I was able to slide the net under her and put her in the bag.

It wasn't a monster fish, measuring 34", but it was the biggest one my Dad has ever caught. I think I was more excited than he was, I immediately called all of my Musky fishing friends to let them know. We took a few photos and released her back into the lake. Minutes later the clouds broke and the sun came out. We didn't see another Musky for the remainder of our time on the water.

I miss fishing with the old man, and really enjoy the time we can spend together on the water. Even if it's only a couple of hours each year. It was also a great thrill to be able put him onto his first Musky over 30". Next will be to put the Kids on their first.