WOO!!  I'm stoked!!  was out fishing for a long weekend up in N. Wi these past few days and landed these 37" and 35" muskies!  All fish were released!

Also ended up with a few 3 lb smallies, but I forgot to take pics of them!! DOH!

this is the 35"

Nice job! Those are some great fish....

thanks man!  They were both really exciting to catch....mainly because they were both right next to the boat when I set the hook.  I was using a number 5 mepps aglia (actually the same thing i caught the smallies on), and i watched them both follow the lure in and grab it!!!  but then they kept swimming towards the boat, rather than dive right away....so i reeled up as much as i could without adding any pressure to the line....then...YANK and zzzzzzZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!!!!!!!!! The bigger one only stripped out about 15 yards or so, but the smaller one thought he was a 50 lber!!   ;D  He stripped out probably 30, then another 10 after i had gotten him close again!  What a blast!!

Very cool when you catch one of them as a surprise. Gets your heart pumpin' a little and keeps you on your toes!

Congrats!

Man!

That's a fine fish.

8-)

Congrats.  I have yet to catch my first Muskie but I'm working in it. What color was the Mepps?

Thanks guys!

In reading about musky after the fact (in other words, I didn't plan it this way ), I guess its good to downsize your lure for early season musky, and not use those mega lures like you do in summer and in fall.

The first fish was caught in relation to a laydown (they like wood/trees as cover) on a rocky point, w\ cabbage about 5 yards away. The second was caught in relation to reeds (seen in the picture) and cabbage together

Here's a pic of the mepps I was using! It was also a cloudy/rainy day, and I'm pretty sure thats important.

Oh yeah, I know for a fact that my home lake (about 5 miles from me) has an IL state record muskie in there. She was netted during the last survey, so my fish focus might be changing!!! ;D

Edit: sorry, its was actually a gold spinner, not a silver one.

That water looks aweful  familiar.  That wasn't by chance on Big Spirit next to the island was it?  By the way nice fish.

Nice fish.  Looks like a lot of fun.

Thanks!!!!

It was actually Pine Lake, in Iron County.  The island you see in the background is the northern most island on the lake, and is state owned island for camping.  If you go to http://maps.google.com and put in 46.265141,-90.141342, thats the point that I caught the first guy.    8-)

Thats awesome.  I was walleye fishing a couple weeks ago and got about a 40" musky.  They are such powerful fish.

Nice looking toothy critters! Congrats!!!!!

I've never had much luck with muskies in lakes. I've caught a handfull while bass fishing. If I'm going out for muskies, I prefer fishing for them in the river. IMO, the fight is 100 times better! Especially on a 40" plus!

Nice catches.

cool. nothing better than wood an choppers

Nice fish.  If you are hooked on muskies now do yourself a favor and get a canoe and hit the Turtle Flambeau Flowage just south of Pine Lake.  Loaded with musky and northerns plus you have the added thrill of being in a canoe.  I caught a 45-inch musky there back in 1993 and it pulled us for quite a while in our little 17 foot canoe.  lots of wood and good cabbage to fish in the fall.  Fish all the coves around Big Island and just pull top waters or spinner baits across the weed mats.  Well worth a weekend trip.

ah sweet!!  thanks for the tip!  We had talked about heading to TFF but decided not to since it was so much larger than Gile and Pine lake that we didn't really know where to start.  Next time we are up there (this fall) we'll definitely hit it up!!

i agree 100% with basser89.  This summer i caught a 47 inch musky on our local river ill bet i fought that this for 20+ minutes.

Congrats, very nice fish. I've yet to catch my first Muskie but I'm working on it.  I read where a lot of Muskies are caught near the boat which is why it is important to always do the figure eight with the lure at boatside.

Those are some nice fish.  I am taking a guided musky trip on Lake Minnetonka at the end of July.  I hope to catch fish that nice.

Those are some nice fish.  I am taking a guided musky trip on Lake Minnetonka at the end of July.  I hope to catch fish that nice.

Good luck, Aaron! Let us know how it goes