20-May-1995 - 21" Tiger (sublegal)

Sometimes the easiest way to catch muskies is to try to catch something else. Such was the case during the Musky Tale Resort's annual "Northern Encounter". As usual, I didn't even get my name on the tournament board, but I did get a chance to catch an unlucky musky. A bunch of us had given up on northern pike and were looking for crappie in a small clear lake that had produced good crappie in a previous spring. Beetle spins were the pike bait of choice during the tournament and I was idly tossing one at all the cover that came within casting distance from the boat. I got bopped near a small tree that had fallen into the water, and low and behold it was a musky.

We checked it out. The musky season hadn't opened yet and the fish was of sub-legal size anyhow, but we took a picture and a measurement, and the fish took off as soon as it touched the water.