Late June is usually an active Musky time but this year we have been held
hostage to high temperatures causing Musky fishing to be tough…so it was
with great expectation, based upon overcast and stormy conditions, that Rob
and I hit the water on this June day.
The wind was from the West, giving us the opportunity to use the wind to
cover large expanses of good Musky water. We took a short motor trip from
the Indian Trail Resort dock and set up the boat to cover the complete
Church Bar. This is a huge subsurface piece of structure with a rolling
bottom that ranges from 18 feet to 1½ feet at its shallowest. This year the
weeds are classic for Musky with clean crisp cabbage and isolated clumps of
flat weeds, both of which can usually be relied upon to hold a fish or
two…the problem being that there is one heck of a lot of water where Musky
could be lurking.
I put a bucktail on my 7 foot Guide Pro rod and Rob put a Best American
Topper on his rod. It is not uncommon for two fishermen searching for Musky
to use lures that cover below and on the surface.
The wind had the water whipped up a bit and we had to deal with 2-3 foot
rollers and the occasional white cap. Squalls of rain were advancing from
the West and the overcast provided a pleasant break from oppressively hot
temperatures…it was actually quite pleasant to be on the hunt.
We spent about 40 minutes beating the water of Church Bar without any
action and as we got to the bog that marks the boundary between outer and
inner Church Bar, I asked Rob if he wanted to try another spot or continue
to cover inner Church Bar using the friendly West wind. Rob turned to me and
said: "You’re the guide".
Inner Church Bar has produced some really nice fish over the years but it
is not hit very hard these days. I looked at the water where the wind would
take us and told Rob that we would take a chance on the reputation of Inner
Church Bar.
The wind and occasional shower were persistent as we made our foray into
inner Church Bar. I was casting my bucktail with the wind and Rob was
casting his surface lure against the wind. We did this in an effort to get
the best coverage we could as the wind moved us briskly along.
We had fallen into the groove of casting, so it was a shocker when Rob’s
surface lure became the object of a violent assault. As I looked over my
shoulder in the direction of the commotion, I saw Rob dealing with a Musky
that had the wind driven water foaming at the surface.
It became obvious that if that lure had been actual prey it would
have been torn apart from stem to stern. This fish was on the attack
and that topper was bearing the brunt of the teeth and aggressive
behavior that motivates us to do what we do.
Rob was holding on for dear life as this fish sounded down and then shot out
of the water like a rocket…a total of three times. I had the net at the ready
waiting for Rob to bring the fish into scooping range. A few more runs and the
fish was finally in the bag.
