First Tiger of the Year! 40"x17"

[dougw]

I had the day off work, so I decided to wet a line. I knew the weather wasn't favorable, being 36 degrees outside and winds pushing 21mph. Water temperature was 41 degrees. I arrived at the lake about 1:45. While launching the boat I started talking with a guy and his 11 year old son who were there fishing. They didn't have any luck and were just itching to get on the lake in a boat. So I asked them if they would like to join me, which they did. The kid was so excited!

The water was very choppy with the high winds. Not wanting to anchor and let waves keep bashing the bow and getting us wet, I opted to keep the nose pointed into the wind and troll with them. We did so for about an hour before the young lad was cold and getting wet. Feeling bad we hadn't gotten a fish, I took them back to the dock and they went on their way home. They asked if I needed help loading my boat, but I told them I was going back out to troll some more. Surprised, they bid me good luck and left.

I got back out on the water figuring I would at minimum learn some of the structure of the lake with my new depth finder. I came around one rock outcrop, and got hung up. After retrieving that lure I again started to troll again, taking a little wider path around the outcrop this time. I was in 25' of water, figuring my lures were well away from the rock outcrop. Watching the one pole, I saw it start to drag and start to strip line again. Dang I thought. I hit the rocks again. Kicking the boat into neutral, I picked up the rod and began to reel it in. The wind was pushing me about 2mph backwards, and it wouldn't be long before I was over this "rock".

Then, all of a sudden the reel really started stripping line. This was no rock! I immediately started tightening the drag, so I could fight the fish. Once I had her coming towards me, I saw her come right out of the water! God only knows how much I wish I had the camera in position to commemorate that dance she gave me! I fought her for about a minute or two, pulling her into the net finally. I got her in the net just in time to hit the throttle and keep myself from being shoved into the rock outcrop.

I was taking a lot of spray over the sides of my small boat, so I left the net in the water with the fish patiently waiting inside. I nosed the boat towards shore, and grounded myself so I could take care of her without hurting her, or capsizing my boat. Upon inspection of the situation I realized she had completely engulfed the 10" Swimmin' Joe swim bait. This worried me as I soon discovered she had hooked a gill raker. To my surprise though, only one hook was holding her, and that actually came out without a struggle. Not so much as a single drop of blood came from the gills which made me feel even better! I do not believe the hook caused any damage, as she was still doing well after the extraction. What a relief that was!

I let her rest in the net for a minute while I too took a short break and set up for a measurement and a quick picture. I am so glad that I had installed a mount to hold my camera. I had also taken the time while the boat was in the garage to mark out alignment of the camera, so it would take a good picture. This saved me a lot of time dealing with the fish by myself. After setting the camera, I hit the button then pulled her from the net. I positioned myself just in time to get the shot. The camera took three photos, with 2 second delays between photos. This actually was a surprise to me when I looked at the pictures! I got the first shot of me holding her (the photo attached), and then two more of me turning to release her. What a pleasant surprise, especially since those two photos turned out good as well. I made my measurment and slipped her back into the net so I could get a girth measurement as well. After that, I removed her from the net and held her tail for a few seconds before she gave me the tail kick that she was ready to go. Off she swam without a doubt no worse for the wear, but likely a little less apt to strike a lure for a while!

I fished for a bit more, but ultimately decided to go home since I had gotten a little wet, and was starting to get cold. I was happy I made the trek to the lake that day. This is the first fish for Chapter 60 for the year, and I have now put the bug into everyone's ear to go out and wet a line.

Happy Fishing!!!

[img=http://washingtonlakes.com/Photos/37446837_IMG_0292.jpg]First Tiger of the year![/img]

[Lucius]

great looking muskie Doug. congrats on your and chapter 60's first muskie of the year.

[dougw]

Thanks Lucius! Have you gotten on the water yet?

[Rosann G]

Congrats on a great fish. congrats on the first Chapt. 60 fish this year.

[dougw]

Thanks Rosann G!

Not sure if anyone noticed. See the yellow spots on the fish? It's not a bad picture, those spots are there. I asked Bruce Bolding about them. Here was his reply:

"The yellow spots are simply an anomaly that no one can really figure out. I have seen them many times, primarily in adults. I have asked around and the best guesses are just production of some pigment in the skin for an unknown reason. They are nothing to worry about and don’t seem to be harmful to the fish or a sign of an trauma. Maybe they are “age spots” (I’m getting a few of those myself… L)."

That was the first fish I have seen with those markings. Wish I would have been in a better situation to take some photos of the spots.....

[Lucius]

yeah I have been out 5 times already. All have been shore fishing as I need to get a new and improved trolling motor now that I have built a platform on the front of my boat and carpeted it. I caught a trout last friday, but I have not caught anything since!! Nice to see you guys catching the esoxs!!

[Fish-N-Fool]

Nice MUSKY Doug!!!!!!!!!! Way ta go , I wish I could get one like that.
I got a couple Pike myself today but none quite that big. Piking was pretty slow on the ol PO today but got a few bites.

[muskyhunter]

Nice fish Doug.
Those yellow spots are not as uncommon as thought. Back in 06' me and my son both caught Tigers that had a few yellow spots. On Tapps. I caught a few more last year on Tapps that had the spots too. Younger fish. I think they hit the Staples easy button and bought a few highlighters.
Way to go man!

[cudaman]

nice fish, tangled with a mid 40s fish today next week is a full moon

[fishnislife]

Nice catch man. Great looking fish.
Keep'em coming.





fishnislife

[Natebg1]

Doug,

Great Tiger!!! I bet you had to be just thrilled to be locking onto one this early in the year. I guess it is true, good things happen to those that are willing to wait it out and keep fishing. Good for YOU!!! That is AWESOME, now You and I need to get out sometime and catch a few whether it be here or over on your end. Have a good fishing season and keep in touch with how you are continuing to do. I know Doug AKA Sparky and I missed You at the Pend Oreille Tournament a few weeks ago, but we did have some fun and ironically enough out of all the lures that I used, my personal homemade lure was the key ticket to patterning the Pike. Funny how that sometimes works, I guess sometimes experience really does pay off when you know what you are doing and how to do it. Take it easy out there, hope to see You all some time soon, maybe at a tournament if possible.

Nate

[KUP]

Congrats again, Doug.
I hope that is just a SMALL sampling of what is
in store for you this year![biggrin]
You deserve it... that had to be a cold day, brrrr.
WTG, Chapter 60![thumbup]

[dougw]

Thanks guys!

KUP, I am going to put my time in this summer and hopefully this is just a small sample of what I hope to catch! This fish is just a start of what I hope to show you this summer!

[sickbayer]

Nice fish but what do they taste like?

[dougw]

Nice fish but what do they taste like?

Quite honestly I don't know what they taste like. I can assume they taste something like pike, since they are half pike. If I ever catch a legal tiger muskie, which I decide not to throw back, I will let everyone know. I doubt this will ever happen, since I don't plan on keeping any tigers. The only way I would consider it would be if I KNEW it was not going to survive for someone else to have a chance to catch it. By that I mean, I hooked it hard in the gills, or it completely inhaled my hooks making a release impossible. As I have seen in someone else's signature, "A muskie is too great a fish to not let someone else catch it!"

Doug