Fishing Reports 11/5 - 11/6

[Scott McKee]

Success has many interpretations when referenced in the context of musky fishing.  A successful musky trip is not always one that ends with numerous or big fish caught.  Success in musky fishing can be learning a new technique or spot, raising or losing fish, or something as simple as spending time on the water with friends.  Over the past two days I had the privilege of fishing with two musky dignitaries, the CEO of the east river and my wonderful girlfriend.  My last two trips differed greatly in terms of our success in its most common usage, but both were overwhelmingly successful outings.

On Tuesday, Mike McKie, the President of the Georgian Bay Musky Association and our brilliant guest speaker at Tuesday night’s meeting, joined Carrie and I for some musky fishing on our beloved Niagara River.

After a brief troll, I had a hot follow on my first cast throwing a Perchbait in front of Strawberry.  It came in really aggressively, but darted away upon seeing the boat.  A hundred yards downstream I moved a mid-forty inch fish on the same Perchbait.  This fish chased and drifted away boat side as well.  We’ve had reasonable success trolling back through areas with the same lure fish that provoked a follow, so we gave this a shot.  This was not one of those times where we’ve connected.

Back to drifting and gunning Perchbaits.  I switched from orange belly perch to a slightly quieter half white belly perch, half Ferris walleye bait.  I stumbled upon a technique a few weeks ago while casting the weed bed just downstream from the Huntley.  While joking around with my little brother, I was halfway through retrieving a Depth Raider when my brother unleashed one of his terribly hilarious quips, as he is prone to do.  The gut busting laughter he sent me into forced me to stop my retrieve.  When I resumed with a quick twitch, a nice 40” smacked my bait.  I gave this retrieve a try, pausing my lure when it was at its deepest point, just before I would start my figure eight.  The result was another nice 40”.  She hit just after a noticeable long pause.  A few casts later I landed a 38”.  On the next drift a 42” blasted a white Perchbait.  A few hours later Mike landed a stout 40” on a night shiner Perchbait.  To end our day, I landed a dink that hit and fought like weeds, using my new favorite obvious pause retrieve.  Color didn’t seem to matter.  The fish were actively chasing.  After chatting with John Pensyl and Josh Ketry, Josh tried chucking and pausing Perchbaits, and he connected almost immediately.  They then rattled off three quick fish to 42.5” jigging plastic.  When they are eating, they are eating.

Five fish on four different colored Perchbaits is a good day in almost anyone’s book, but what made this trip was the conversations Mike and I had regarding our two clubs and future plans for the Niagara and Georgian Bay fisheries, as well as the usual sports and musky fishing talk.  Mike is one hell of a guy, and I think he is the perfect man to lead the GBMA into the future.  Congratulations Mike on the GBMA’s success, and thank you for jumping on board.

By the way, this was the second time fishing the Niagara for Mike.  On his first trip he and Josh Ketry landed five muskies as well.  Ten fish on two trips is completely ridiculous.  Mike, if you need a place to stay in the states for a few weeks at the end of November, my couch and the passenger side seat in my boat are always available.

I’ve always wanted to share a boat with Jimmy Reynolds since I met him in 1999.  On Wednesday we finally hooked up, and headed out my boat with Joe Wilczewski.  The weather was a bit different from Tuesday’s calm conditions.  Yesterday featured wind most of the day and rain after dark.

We started by casting big crankbaits in UN3 and 4, and telling stories, talking muskies and discussing our two WNY musky clubs.  We didn’t see a thing.  At 9:00 AM, Jojo’s work duties forced him off the water.  We dropped him off and trolled for the next 3.5 hours from UN3 to UN6 and back without a sniff.  We picked Jojo up at 12:30.

Back to casting, and trolling and telling stories and jokes.  Working our way down to UN7, we finally connected with a fish.  Jimmy landed a 36” just off the channel by Tonawanda Island.  Take a guess what he caught the fish on?  Perchbait?  No (but Jimmy does own one).  Believer?  Nope.  Depth Raider?  Uh uhh.  It was a Mr. Toothy, of course.  You should see some of the Toothy’s Toothy has!  Wow!  The fish hit just before dark as the wind shut down briefly and the rain started.

We continued to troll upstream in the abyss.  When the rain picked up, we ran to UN4.  We trolled upstream on the Grand Island side.  When we made our way between the two islands the wind really picked up.  I decided I didn’t want to attempt dropping Jojo off at Sheridan in 30 MPH west winds, so we called it just before the stuff hit the fan.

Inasmuch as Mike McKie is the perfect man to lead the GBMA, Jim Reynolds is absolutely the right man to lead the New York Chapter of Muskies Inc.  He lives and breathes musky fishing.  It’s in his DNA.  Jim is a walking advertisement and the physical embodiment for the sport.  Thanks for jumping on board Jim and Joe!

Twelve hours with one fish is a far cry from five fish in six hours, but Jim, Joe and I had a blast fishing together.  Fishing with friends, both old and new, can always said to be a success.  Good luck out there, everyone.  See you on the water Sunday.

[jojo wilczewski]

Good day
In infamous the words of George Baily ,
"a man who has friends has everything"
Jojoout

[John Jarosz]

what I always told my sons was: "Going fishing isn't about catching fish." How true those words really turn out to be and your report says it all. A good, enjoyable story, Scott, & it gets us to what fishing really is all about.

It certainly is worth publishing it in the next newsletter (hint, hint).

[Jay Nannen]

Great story Mr. President!  This club really is about more than putting fish in the boat.  I have made so many great memories and made so many interesting friends on the Mighty Niagara.  Thanks for pulling us all together and leading the way.

[Josh Ketry]

Good stuff.   Literally 30 yards into the drift after watching team McKee vs Mckie annihilate 3, we light one up on a crank.   Thanks for the info! See you all out there this weekend.... p.s. Is there a Muskies INC tourney on Saturday?

[Scott McKee]

Yes, Josh. Chapter 69 is holding a tournament on Saturday.

[Capt. Larry D. Jones]

Perchbaits seem to be the ticket in the river & harbor.Last night at 9:35 pm up Buffalo Creek I caught a chunky 42" muskie on a firebelly perch perchbait trolling 3.0 mph.
Very well said Scott it is all about time on the water with old & new friends taking in the wonderment of time on the water and catching fish just adds to all the fun for all.

[Scott Kitchen]

Anyone interested in trolling the Harbor tonight from say 5 PM till 10 or 11, give me a call or text 939-0006.

[Stephen Glassic]

With the current weather forecast it looks like the MI Chapter 69 tournament might have to be postponed. The decision will be made about 6PM and will be posted on LOU. I will give an update here later.

[Josh Ketry]

The water was very dirty today.  I don't see it improving with the current forecast before the weekend is over.

[Stephen Glassic]

Tomorrow's MI Chapter 69 tournament has been postponed to next Saturday.