Tiger Musky on Merwin and Tapps

[Natebg1]

Well I am finally back from a nice adventurous week of fishing between Merwin, Tapps and Black Lake with my family. It has been a great week to say the least, certainly did a ton of traveling but the stories are what will be even better to look back at.

It all started Friday the 12th going to the Chapter 57 Tournament on Merwin with Sparky, of course it wouldn't have been complete without first stopping off at Cabelas for a few items and a special Hat to make it all worth the trip. Usually the way things go with Tiger Musky Tournaments is a long day of casting with very few follows and even less hookups. You could say this day certainly didn't start that way. Within half an hour of casting Sparky had hooked into what we believe is the same fish He ended up catching later in the day in the same exact area (41.5 inches) What a beast She was!!! I still believe that is also the same fish I also had hooked an hour before the tournament ended, but lost after 2 head shakes and a roll. The only negative was that she was caught after the tournament was over, but at least we went back out for the Dinner bite and were we ever glad we did! You could say Persistence paid off BIG TIME!!! After netting, measuring, getting a picture and releasing her back to her home, it was on for my shot! Since we both knew where at least 2 more were at we couldn't resist, so we jetted over to the spot and not within 2 or 3 casts, my Tiger Fight was on!!! She wasn't a 41.5 inch beast but I will certainly settle for 30 inches, at least now I can say the Monkey was off my back, thanks to the Cabelas Hat and a Great Hookset!!!

After stopping back at my place Saturday night to take care of a few things for Sunday, it was back to fishing first thing Monday morning at 7 a.m. sharp with my Son and Grandpa on Lake Tapps. Since I knew where a few Tigers lurked I hit those spots first, no luck, oh well I kept remembering to be persistent and keep confident in what I was doing. I had built a pattern from Merwin and knew that if I just stuck to the game plan it would all work out. Well sure enough, by 10:00 a.m. I had landed a decent 28 incher and Grandpa had finally got to see his very First look at a real Tiger Musky in the wild, man was He thrilled!!! That made it all worth the short trip to Tapps. Since I had to get back home to pack up the Truck for Camping, I pushed out from Tapps at Noon and was getting ready for the remaining adventure. Finally by 6 p.m. that night the family and I were back on the road straight to Black Lake and Columbus Park Recreation in Olympia, what a great place to bring the kids and family for some enjoyable camping and fishing! We ended up spending 2 nights there and even better was that we all went out together to catch some great Perch and act like we were all kids again, giving each other a hard time about who was going to catch the next Perch! Of course the old man had to show the young bucks how it was done first with my daughters pole none the less since she was so persistent on using mine instead since she was set on mine being the better rig. Well finally after a few Perch in the boat with her pole, my daughter was begging for hers back, then my wife and son had a little competition going and before long I was in on it and then the whole family was jockying for fishing position as to what hole to cast at next. Granted it was Perch fishing, but even some tournaments I have been in haven't been this competitive! I guess it runs in our family, I am just glad that we were all there to enjoy it together, I can tell you that we will certainly be going back and definitely plan on staying a lot longer. Well I guess now it is time to start preparing for Curlew and then ending on Famous Lake Merwin one last time!!!

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