I got to add two more to the tally today. The nice thick 43.5" below and a 34".

Ten muskie over the past five days with 7 of them over 40". It's been a great week. 

39 minutes ago, T-Billy said:

I got to add two more to the tally today. The nice thick 43.5" below and a 34".

Ten muskie over the past five days with 7 of them over 40". It's been a great week. 

You're on one heck of a heater !

Nicely Done.

At this rate, won't be long before Tammy will need

to do a figure 8 with your chow before you'll eat it . . . .

Congrats Brother, Keep it going . . . .

A-Jay

30 minutes ago, A-Jay said:

You're on one heck of a heater !

Nicely Done.

At this rate, won't be long before Tammy will need

to do a figure 8 with your chow before you'll eat it . . . .

Congrats Brother, Keep it going . . . .

A-Jay

Lol. Thanks A-Jay. I get to fish Monday morning and Tuesday yet, then it's back to the grind. 

My wife got a last minute invite to help a friend, so I hooked the boat on and went to one of the locals.  This lake has been super low since last summer and it is finally within 5’ of normal pool. The ramp still wasn’t quite usable but the gravel next to it was.  I wanted to mostly see how the lake looked, see if it was launchable, and graph around a bunch to see if I could find some bass. My left elbow is still painful, so I can’t fish a baitcaster but spinning rods are left hand reel for me and alright.  I thought the largemouth might still be on beds or might be done and backed off.  With the water having just come up 2’ and dirty, there was no way to see beds and all of the cover in the lake was still above water (plus the grass is all dead).  I scoped around some stumps and brush, but every mark was a crappie.  No bother- foot long crappie fight just fine on light spinning rods.  I caught 8 in the end fishing for them just like they were bass.  I was going to keep them but then decided I couldn’t be bothered to clean them tomorrow so after a quick pic of the 5 big ones (2 biggest both 13.5”) they swam away for me to catch them another day.  I’ve got a couple buddies that want to fish but don’t really know how to fish so a bucket a shiners and a couple spinning rods should make for a good night.

I stopped by my local retention pond after seeing the bluegill moved into the shallow weed infested waters but they must be spawning as when I approached they were completely moved out with zero activity in the weeds. I tried my favorite almost guaranteed fish catching combo a 1/16 oz jig head and 1” gulp alive minnow under a slip bobber but the bluegill were more interested in nudging the bobber and or attacking the strings I didn’t trim on my bobber stop. I managed one in the hour I was there.

Papa's little buddy caught his first fish this morning. The beginning of a lifelong passion right here.

 

I got out for a short trip this morning. Ended up going two for three. Netted the thick 40" below and a 32". Had an upper 30's come unbuttoned boat side. 

Edit to add: I got back out this evening for a few hours, and added three more to the tally. 35", 38", and a 39.5". No sows today, but going 5 for 7 is a pretty awesome day of musky fishing.

Well, now I feel embarrassed of my evident pride in this picture of my 25" pike I caught today. In the light of @T-Billy's glorious Muskies, all other fish pale. 

 

No need to feel embarrassed @IcatchDinks. We can only catch what's available to us. I'm blessed to live near a couple of Ohio's best muskie lakes, and I'm also blessed to be friends with an awesome muskie guide, plus a couple other guys who've been at this game for decades. Their mentoring has dramatically shortened the learning curve for me. 

Nice pike brother. Congratulations.

@IcatchDinks 

17 hours ago, IcatchDinks said:

Well, now I feel embarrassed of my evident pride in this picture of my 25" pike I caught today. In the light of @T-Billy's glorious Muskies, all other fish pale. 

 

I enjoy catching muskies...but I'd rather catch pike.

Catching big pike is harder than catching muskies, and they're more savage, and harder fighting most of the time.

6 hours ago, Further North said:

I enjoy catching muskies...but I'd rather catch pike.

Catching big pike is harder than catching muskies, and they're more savage, and harder fighting most of the time.

I’d much rather catch a muskie than a pike. But that’s because I constantly catch pike when I’m targeting bass, walleye, and muskies. They are a dime a dozen.

 

I do agree that a sizable northern pike has become a major challenge here in the states. The last stronghold they have is in Canada.

 

I caught probably close to 100 last season and my biggest was a 34 incher. While muskie fishing.

On 5/20/2025 at 12:40 PM, Further North said:

I enjoy catching muskies...but I'd rather catch pike.

Catching big pike is harder than catching muskies, and they're more savage, and harder fighting most of the time.

I friggin love pike fishing haha. And I’ve only caught small ones, they are mean and delicious. A good time all around 

4 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

A good time all around 

Panfish have moved up shallow in my local lake...went out for 3 hours and between gills, crappies and small bass caught probably 75 fish. Kept 4 gills and 2 crappies for the wife and I to have a fish fry tonight. Ended up keeping a 13.5in crappie which I'd normally never do but she was hooked bad and didn't think she'd make it so I figured better to eat her than waste her, also kept an 11in crappie and 4 gills in that 7-8in range. Big fish for the day was a 14in crappie that was stuffed full of eggs...turned her loose. Very fun morning.

1 hour ago, DitchPanda said:

Big fish for the day was a 14in crappie

 

That is a big slab for this region.  I've never caught one that big.

Yep they are hard to come by...its the biggest I've caught in several years. Like I said in my post I didn't wanna keep that 13.5 but sometimes you gotta do it when they are probably gonna die.

Lil blue cat. Fried up nicely. The meat was a touch softer than I’d like, but still very good. 

I started today out right with this gorgeous 45" about two minutes after I put the first crappie down. She ate before I could even finish rigging the second rod. 

Then... 6hrs of NOTHING!!! 😂 Super tough. I had a few lookers, but no more bites. A couple of wardens stopped by to check my license at about 13:30. They said I was only the second muskie fisherman they'd talked to that caught one, and the lake was packed today. The other fish was also on a crappie. Super nice guys. We talked muskie fishing for awhile, and one of them took a pic of my crappie rig so he could make himself some like it. 

 I spent a couple hours late in the morning pitching grass for LM, but it was a dinkfest, so I went back to musky fishing for the last few hours. Back to the grind tomorrow for 5 days. 

I got a gar. It was feisty in current. Gorgeous fish.

10 minutes ago, LrgmouthShad said:

I got a gar. It was feisty in current. Gorgeous fish.

They're feisty even in calm waters - shortnose gar are a pretty fish.

7 minutes ago, MN Fisher said:

They're feisty even in calm waters - shortnose gar are a pretty fish.

My guess was spotted gar not shortnose gar? Not sure. I've got plenty to learn about gar. 

11 minutes ago, LrgmouthShad said:

My guess was spotted gar not shortnose gar?

They are close, but the spotteds have smaller & more numerous spots.

1 minute ago, MN Fisher said:

They are close, but the spotteds have smaller & more numerous spots.

Okay. I appreciate the info properly ID'ing my fish! They are fun. I might keep a mepps around or two and toss it if I see a group of these fish. I've had plenty chase and strike other lures before, but this is the first I've managed to get into the boat.

I went down to the river again tonight for a bit and while I was targeting bass, no bass were willing.

 

 

This Gar was probably 15 pounds. I was able to get him up on a higher level of rocks and he started thrashing and come unhooked, and when he started to head back towards the water I let him go rather than grabbing him for weighing and a better picture. I was alone. Afterwards it struck me, he would have counted for my state's trophy fish program if I could have weighed and measured him.