1 hour ago, T-Billy said:

I drown 2-3 dozen of those destructive little buggers a year.

Chipmunk stew?

6 hours ago, T-Billy said:

83 in the main lake basins. 77 in the creek where I caught that fish.

That 77° would be pushing it for me, and at 83° I would have been fishing for bass.

On 7/2/2025 at 1:26 PM, RealtreeByGod said:

Caught a decent carp with the ultralight while fishing for catfish bait

 

 

 

I bet that was FUN. 

I seldom take fish pics, but a tiger muskie is worth a photo.

 

 

Add a couple of 24" pike for my fishing partners:

 

 

...and a weird looking little smallie with a body like a panfish...

 

There were another bunch of unremarkable pike and smallies, a good day...

24” pike are a blast!!! Nice photos. 

3 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

24” pike are a blast!!! Nice photos. 

I agree.  My favorite sized esox are between 24" and about 45".

Most of the really big girls are just sorta sluggish.

That said...there's not much that compares to watching a truly big pike or muskie eat your fly or lure...

6 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

24” pike are a blast

4 hours ago, Further North said:

I agree.  My favorite sized esox are between 24" and about 45".

Most of the really big girls are just sorta sluggish.

That said...there's not much that compares to watching a truly big pike or muskie eat your fly or lure...

I haven’t caught many but they were all about 24” and mean 

I had a pretty good trip this morning. I got started about 02:30 and bass fished until a bit after 05:00. I caught nine on the bladed jig and lost several more. All dinks, 12" - 15". 

 I switched to muskie at daylight and fished until just after 13:00. I caught the 43.5" below, and a 37.5". I also raised four others, all 30 somethings. 

 Not an epic day, but better than it has been for the last several weeks. Surface temps are down a couple degrees from last week, and after a couple scorchers this coming week, the extended forecast is looking good for that cooling trend to continue.🤞

2:30am until 1pm in the afternoon.  Sleep, showers, meals, and change of clothes be damned.

57 minutes ago, gim said:

2:30am until 1pm in the afternoon.  Sleep, showers, meals, and change of clothes be damned.

I got a three hour nap before I went. Had biscuits and gravy for breakfast. Shower and clean clothes are optional. I opted out. 😂

One of my favorite things to do at night is shine a flashlight into the water and see all the creatures/fish swimming around.

 

The other night I was doing some night fishing and before I left I did my little shining in a shallow area near the ramp.

 

Saw my very first musky.

 

I only saw the last 1/4 or so as it was slowing swimming away from me. The area is lighted and has a tremendous amount of forage that I'm sure it was hunting.

 

I'd have to guess it was around 3 foot or so.

 

Sorry this isn't a catch post.

 

Just thought it was super cool.   

I’ve got this catfish bite down it seems.  About a 6-7# fish tonight and there were more around that I should have chased.  Also found a bunch of perch for another day.  This guy was 14” and on another day might be a keeper (with a few of her buddies).  Did manage a half dozen bass, but nothing worth picturing.  

I muskie fished with a friend of mine for 5 hours this morning.  He caught a 32 inch tiger muskie (pictured) and a 29 inch northern pike (not pictured).  I was blanked.  But hey, I netted his muskie, took the photo, and it was in my boat.  So I did my part. 😂

 

It blasted a mayhem spinnerbait right next to the boat and jumped like a tarpon completely out of the water twice.  I thought it was going to spit the hook, but it stayed pinned.  This is the first muskie he has caught in 2 years.  He went with me three times last season and didn't catch any.

 

 

@gim good fish, and sounds like a lot of fun getting it to net.

7 hours ago, Further North said:

@gim good fish, and sounds like a lot of fun getting it to net.

 

I've had quite a few do that in recent memory.  One just last month.

 

Two of the biggest ones I've hooked in my life have also done it.  I don't really know what to do.  Better hooksets I guess.  They have an iron jaw.

 

The pure strains don't seem to do it nearly as much as the tigers.

On 7/21/2025 at 4:26 PM, T-Billy said:

I got a three hour nap before I went. Had biscuits and gravy for breakfast. Shower and clean clothes are optional. I opted out. 😂

 

You're smart to keep your pedal to the metal, as the years are coming fast when you won't have the stamina to fish hard.

1 hour ago, Swamp Girl said:

 

You're smart to keep your pedal to the metal, as the years are coming fast when you won't have the stamina to fish hard.

I wasted way too many years drinkin, druggin and just generally living a hollow life with no purpose.

Since getting clean and sober 14 years ago, I'm doing my best to make up for lost time. You're 100% correct Katie, and the muskie fishing will be the first that I'll someday be incapable of doing anymore.

 If The Lord grants me enough years, I'll eventually end up right back where I started. Sitting on the bank, watching my bobber dance on the waves. At that point it will have been a life well lived, a life with purpose, and I'll be watching my bobber, just waiting on my savior to come take me home. 

 Ha!!! Writing that made me think of Burgess Merideth sitting on that lakeside bench in Grumpier Old Men. I share his love of bacon. 😁

1 hour ago, T-Billy said:

You're 100% correct Katie, and the muskie fishing will be the first that I'll someday be incapable of doing anymore.

 

Yeah, musky fishing was the first to go for me too. My main musky lake was reached by paddling across a lake, portaging a hilly quarter mile, paddling across another lake, portaging a swampy tenth of a mile, paddling across yet another lake, bushwhacking through the woods because there was no portage trail, slogging through a swamp, and then doing the final portage. However, I once boated five muskies in an hour.

 

1 hour ago, T-Billy said:

If The Lord grants me enough years, I'll eventually end up right back where I started. Sitting on the bank, watching my bobber dance on the waves. At that point it will have been a life well lived, a life with purpose, and I'll be watching my bobber, just waiting on my savior to come take me home. 

 

Amen, my friend.

On the water at 05:30, outta there at 11:30 before I melted. Thank God this heat wave is almost over. I picked up muskie #40 for the year up in the creek this morning, and it was a 40 incher. What a quinkydink. 😁

I also caught one about 33-34 up in that cooler creek water, and raised another two. That was it. Never moved a fish after about 08:00. The surface temp in the lake is back up to 83-84 and the fish ain't happy about it. The forecast is looking good starting Thursday. 🤞Let the cool down begin!!!

22 hours ago, T-Billy said:

On the water at 05:30, outta there at 11:30 before I melted. Thank God this heat wave is almost over. I picked up muskie #40 for the year up in the creek this morning, and it was a 40 incher.

Water temps have got to be well over 80° down there.

 

On 7/28/2025 at 12:45 PM, T-Billy said:

I picked up muskie #40 for the year up in the creek this morning, and it was a 40 incher.

 

I can't wait to see your muskie #100!

24 minutes ago, BASS302 said:

 

I can't wait to see your muskie #100!

I'm gonna need a bigger boat. 😂

Awesome trip, Caught two BFT 🐟

 

yep.  Got that FFS suspended catfish bite down pat now.  another big one tonight (8-9 ish I think, around 27-28”).  My wife came with me on the boat for her first ride so we went to the ‘pretty’ lake and I couldn’t not catch something fun.