Rain, Rain, Rain, Musky, Rain, Rain, Rain

I am not a big fan of big rain. It’s not much fun to fish in, unless your seeing and catching muskies. Then it’s more than tolerable.

Last Friday was perhaps the most rain I have fished in for a long time. It was heavy for probably 6 of the 9 hours we were on the Rideau and constant for the other three. Everything everywhere was soaked by the time the day was done. And yet the team came off the water in the dark enthusiastic and full of energy.

I put a Shadzilla on Colin’s line to start the day as they have been getting reluctant fish to strike of late. A couple casts in I look to the front of the boat to see Colin giving his bait a CSI inspection. Sure enough some nice slashes and holes are present on the new bait as there was an apparently successful hit and run by an enthusiastic esox. Fish 1, Colin no score.

We had a number of good fish follow over the day which seems to be a sign that the females are starting to recover from a late spawn and a minimal appetite and energy phase that follows the spawn. Females lose up to 1/3 of their body weight in eggs. Males are caught with much more frequency at the start of the season it seems the past couple of years.

Trolling produced a nice strike and a not so beautiful aerial LDR (long distance release). Andrew was holding on to the rod at the time and the gutteral noise he produced as he watched his rod double over, his fish go airborne, and his lure separate from the fish was indeed sad. Still once you feel a musky slam a trolled lure with the rod in your hands, it is something you don’t forget.

After having a big fish show up very unfairly in the middle of Colin’s story only to catch him in mid punch line and off guard. It was Muskies 2, Colin still eating donuts. It was time to get serious. It was time for the white blade of spring and it didn’t take long before a fish finally went in our net. Now nobody was wet or cold or suffering from bathtub wrinkled hands. We were just happy.

This is third big rain trip in a row that has put fish in the boat for us, so you don’t have to stay home when it pours. Just dress for it.

Back out on Wednesday to see if muskies like sunny days on the Rideau.