French River Monster Musky
Unfortunately, I can't take credit for this catch. But being able to see it in person was still a pretty incredible experience. The story goes something like this:
My friend and I are fishing the Wolseley Bay area of the French River when we see a person in a boat waving to us. Thinking he needs a tow or something else, we go to offer him a hand. And that's when we see that his rod is bending like crazy. Immediately, he tells us that he needs help landing a fish. In his words, it's the "fish of a lifetime". We think he's exaggerating at first. And then we see it.
He asks if we have a cradle, since his net way was too small to land the fish. We try fitting it in my net, which seems like a good idea until the fish literally tears a hole in it. Fortunately, the fish stays on the line. At this point, the skillful angler wisely decides to simply beach the fish. After a few more minutes, he finally unhooks it and picks it up which, let me tell you, wasn't easy. Luckily for him, we have a camera and a measuring tape. I do a double take when I measure the fish, since I can't believe my eyes. The musky is a whopping 55" long.
Here's what I know about the catch (which, by the way, was released):
My friend and I are fishing the Wolseley Bay area of the French River when we see a person in a boat waving to us. Thinking he needs a tow or something else, we go to offer him a hand. And that's when we see that his rod is bending like crazy. Immediately, he tells us that he needs help landing a fish. In his words, it's the "fish of a lifetime". We think he's exaggerating at first. And then we see it.
He asks if we have a cradle, since his net way was too small to land the fish. We try fitting it in my net, which seems like a good idea until the fish literally tears a hole in it. Fortunately, the fish stays on the line. At this point, the skillful angler wisely decides to simply beach the fish. After a few more minutes, he finally unhooks it and picks it up which, let me tell you, wasn't easy. Luckily for him, we have a camera and a measuring tape. I do a double take when I measure the fish, since I can't believe my eyes. The musky is a whopping 55" long.
- It was caught trolling on the weed line shown in green on the map below
- The lure was a Mepps spinner tipped with a couple shiners left over from the perch fishing season
- It took 15 minutes to get it to the boat, and a few more to beach it
- It was caught around 6 pm
Unfortunately for me, my luck wasn't nearly as good that weekend. I was mainly focussing on smallmouth, and caught a bunch of small ones mainly using wacky-rigged senkos. The one decent sized fish was caught off the south side of an island around 10 in the morning using a LIVETARGET Bluegill crankbait, though I'm pretty sure I could've thrown anything- the fish smashed it just after it hit the water. Also caught a few small pike in the bay north of the weed line using the same lure.
Anyways, back to fishing Simcoe this weekend. Hopefully it doesn't rain too much...And remember, knowledge is important, but it's no substitute for experience!
Greg Cholkan is a lawyer, fisherman, and Hemingway impersonator. He works in Huntsville and Haliburton with Barriston LLP and his practice focuses on real estate, wills and estates, and corporate matters.
Greg Cholkan is a lawyer, fisherman, and Hemingway impersonator. He works in Huntsville and Haliburton with Barriston LLP and his practice focuses on real estate, wills and estates, and corporate matters.
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