I located a couple nice muskies in a local river a few weeks ago while kayaking and fishing for bass/panfish. I wanted to wait for what in my amateur opinion were "good conditions" to go back and fish for them. With the rainy weather on saturday and it being within a few days of a new moon I figured I'd give it a shot. I was on the water before sun up saturday.
I had more action on saturday, but couldn't put one in the kayak. I had a fish boil on the fly and i pulled the hook away while attempting to set the hook and i had multiple follows from what i think was the same fish that hit the fly very lightly earlier in the morning. By about 8am some other boats were on the water, things seemed to have died off a little, and i was hungry for breakfast. With all the action i had on saturday i was motivated to try again on sunday. The sight of a large wake following behind your fly while you just keep stripping and hoping the fish strikes really gets you going.
I was at the same spot before sun up sunday morning. I felt more confidence in my strategy and approach on sunday from what i had learned the day before. I fished for about half an hour with no signs of musky and that's when it happened...I was stripping a large tandem bucktail rainbow trout pattern tied by jay348 near where i had some action the day before. Out of nowhere the fish hit, the water's surface boiled explosively, and this time there was no doubt that its intention was to kill and eat the fly. I felt the line go tight and I had the composure to remember to pump the rod several times hard to make sure the hook set well.
The fight felt like it took a long time but in reality it was probably around 1 minute. The fish pulled my kayak around for a little while and then surfaced on it's side from fatigue. I had always thought that tailing the fish would be the most practical method from a kayak, so i was trying to get a good shot at it's tail. Tailing it wasn't working and the fish was making short runs before surfacing again on it's side. This happened 3-4 times before the fish's head came towards the kayak upside down, giving me a perfect shot at the jaw grab. I was scared it would freak out when i touched it and break me off, but luckily it was very sedate through the whole process. I grabbed it by the lower jaw and slid it into the kayak over the side so it's body weight was always supported. I took a couple shots that didn't turn out well of it in the kayak. I was shaking from adrenaline and i think the lens was fogged. Luckily my friend was fishing with me and was able to get 2 photos of me holding it before release.
I was anxious to get it back in the water quick because i felt i played it a little harder than i should have with messing around trying to land it. i thought it's complete lack of struggling while unhooking it may be a sign it was exhausted. I put the fish in the water and almost as soon as i put it back, it took off powerfully. Finally after 2 years of fishing for them, albeit halfheartedly, I landed a musky and a nice one at that! I stopped fishing for musky after that, partly to give my friend a better shot at getting one and mostly because i was so content. It just couldn't get any better than that. I was happy to catch a few sunnies on a beetle pattern and head home for breakfast.
