Autumn used to be a simple time of year for me; I came home from Alaska, the leaves began to change, and I divided the days between splitting fire wood, bird hunting, painting, and writing. That all changed when my friend, Kip Vieth, introduced me to musky.
My first day out was disastrous (read about it here), but in true fashion, the next day, I found a horseshoe in my pocket and one of my fishermen, who had never caught a musky, landed the fish of a lifetime!
To say that I was hard-bit by the musky bug would not be an exaggeration. To say that my autumns have never been the same would be an understatement. To tell you that my wood pile has been neglected, patrons wonder when their paintings will arrive, and my editors are pissed-off would be accurate.
In an attempt to scratch my new-found itch, Lisa and I decided hold an annual three-day fishing trip, focused exclusively on musky. This past September we held our fourth annual, “Musky Madness”, near Hayward, Wisconsin, where we gathered some of the best local musky guides, and turned them loose with a handful of very fortunate fly fishermen.
It was the best time yet! Below you will find a collection of images from the trip.
We landed 14 fish in 3 days, the largest just shy of 50 inches, and all but a couple were over 40 inches. Most impressively, most fish were caught by first-time musky fishermen!
Fly fishing author, John Geirach, joined us again and after many years of trying, landed his first big fish… a beautifully evil 46 inch female!
My good friend and photographer, Mike Dvorak, was in my boat as we followed our fishermen in search of perfect photographs.
If you’re interested in joining us next year (September 22, 23, 24 – 2017), please let us know!
