Moral Has Never Been Higher... or Lower

Fishing Time: 6:30 am to 6:00 pm

Weather: Sunny, calm, T-80s

Moon Phase: 50% Moon

Location: Pineview Reservoir

Best Bait: None – spinnerbait for smallmouth bass

Who Went: Dunc

I’ve had musky fever lately as it’s been a long time since I’ve caught one.  I had a day to fish and no one to go with, so I thought this was my chance.  If I could give it a full day with my undivided attention and fish hard all day long, I just knew I would get a chance to land one.  I sent a first of the day “moral has never been higher” photo to my fishing buddy Bobber.

I pre-rigged 9 rods with a variety of baits to target musky.  

I started off throwing topwater for about 30 minutes, but didn’t have many expectations.  After that I started casting all the good points and shorelines I know switching between different rods and baits.  Never had a follow or bite.  By 11:00 I turned to trolling on the downriggers.  I covered a lot of different areas.  Some where I’ve had success in the past and others that were new to me.  

I had one rod bend that got me excited, but I think I snagged a cable off the docks.  Looking back, it was the second most exciting thing that happened all day.

I spent all afternoon trolling with no success.  Sad part is I didn’t even see anything on my active target that looked like a musky.  Late afternoon I started casting again.  I was throwing a spinnerbait and had a good bite.  My reaction was musky on, but my hook set sent an 8-inch smallmouth over the top of my boat!  That was the most exciting part of the day.  

My arm had been half cocked all day waiting for the big bite and that poor smallmouth felt the wrath.

By 6:00 I was spent.  That is the hardest I have ever fished for musky, and I never had one follow or bite.  I know that is musky fishing but man it took a toll on my confidence.  I sent the end of the day “moral has never been lower” photo to Bobber and hit the road for home.  Next time…