This is my first ever report,even though i've been on a few fishing forums for many years i feel this one is worth talking about.
the day before we head out i check over the boat to make sure all is ready for sunday morning.i notice a trailer tire is flat,but also sitting oddly like a bad balljoint would look like on a car. turns out the bearings had grenaded from a previous trip.when i pulled the hub cover off the bearinf were all stuck to the grease in the cap.ive never seen anything like it.i was very lucky it didnt roll off hub n all. so now its last minute running around the city looking for the parts.long story short i get it all fixed up ready to go by 6pm.
me and my buddy headed out to balsam lake from hamilton/burlington sunday morning and drove through heavy rain.the rain was hard on and off and the day wasnt looking good. when we got to balsam the rain was coming down and people were all getting off the lake. when we launched the boat we notice the plug is leaking bad. pull the boat out to drain and plug it as tight as we could,launched again,leaking worse....sigh. back out,new plug goes in (i carry a few) leaks still. lucky for us one dude who was getting off the lake had silicone hi-temp sealer he uses for a rad leak. we goop it on the plug,insert,launch ....success! the very second we start the motor the rain comes down so bad and hard we couldnt even see,but we motor on anyways. after about 15 min of that the rain slows and starts spitting lightly. i was jigging a bulldawg when i thought i snagged some weeds,so i lift up again to get it free when i feel a tug.....oh! i pull agai and zip! there goes my drag and the rod bends like mad. i yelled to my buddy ' i got one,get the net!' he is a muskie guy so he is keeping me calm reassuring me i got him its ok,as i was scarred he was gonna spit the hook. the fish shows himself as he jumps completely out of the water.i just about crapped myself with excitement haha. he did another 2 or 3 jumps out of the water with crazy head shakes before we get him into the net.this fish didnt want to stick around,would not stop shaking his head even on the boat. he jumped out of my hands and i picked him back up and hugged him for a quick pic before he jumped off the boat. i didnt measure it because i wanted to get it back in the water asap. no need to revive this guy because as soon as his head came within a foot of the water it jumped and swam away quickly.my buddy thinks it was 43-44inches easy. so nothing crazy but still my first ever muskie.
a HUGE thank you goes out to Hank here on the forums . he put me on the fish and lure suggestions and all it took was 20 min. thanks hank!
after that the wind picked up,the bite was really slow. my buddy had one spit his hooks and caught a pike.other than that no follows.
heres the pic,we were both soaked and standing in a few inches of rain water in the boat.
first ever muskie, balsam
