BlueEye

I got home from the honeymoon in Aruba late Friday night, had all day Saturday to settle back in and then headed out on Sunday to try my luck on Chautauqua. I had my brother and Joe with me and we decided to try some casting. Water temp was 55 deg. It wasn’t long before my brother hooked up with a good fish casting a 8 inch LEO jerk bait. The fish followed Todd’s bait all the way to the boat and Todd went right into a figure 8 and it followed it but wouldn’t hit. Todd then did a quick cast back in the direction the fish swam off to (only like a 15 foot cast) and as soon as the lure hit the water the fish crushed it! It was really sweet to see. After a short battle, Todd landed his first ever musky. The fish measured 38â€, a quick photo and back she went. After that we headed over to Bemus Bay where again Todd hooked up! There he was doing a figure 8 after every cast, just like he saw you doing and this time he had one following deep on lure that hit right at boat side on his figure 8. Todd quickly hit the “free spool†level on his reel and played the fish by thumbing the reel. He landed the baby musky after a short battle and couple jumps. This guy was small (still had spots on him!) but Todd’s technique through it all was impressive for a first timer. Again the fish came on the same LEO jerkbait. Feeling slightly discouraged watching my kid brother totally out fish me at my own game, we moved spots up around Pendergrast. Todd again with the same LEO hooked up on a good fatty! After a good battle, he landed the fish. The fish was 40†long and had some impressive shoulders on her, nice healthy and FAT! All three of Todds mukies were released unharmed and swam away immediately after being unhooked. We did have to cut the hooks out of the big girl to prevent any disfigurement. All were released in perfect condition to thrill some other lucky anglers some day. Todd ended the day with 3 muskies and he was working the bait as hard and as fast as anyone I have ever seen. So hard and fast infact, that he actually snagged a sunfish right through the side using that LEO on one cast – it was pretty funny! This is the second trip in a row now my brother has "caught" a pan fish on an 8" lure! Despite getting totally out-fished in my own boat by my younger brother, it was a great time that I wouldn't trade for nothing! My new boat ran great and I can't wait to get back up there and try again! Oh and the honeymoon was awesome incase you were wondering

Zach - That's what I like to hear! Let me know when you start making jerkbaits...... I will be your biggest customer! Chad

Glad to have you Larry Make yourself at home

Hahah - thanks Larry! We leave for Aruba on Friday and after that I will give the new the boat a workout on Chautauqua! I can't wait for both

That's great to hear groups like yours exist as an option for college students. I would have surely joined had I known about it back in my college days (2000-2005). Thanks again for sharing Paul! Chad Lapa, MS Information Technology (IT) RIT - GCCIS

Nice Paul! Congrats on the catch - I happen to be a fellow RIT alumni myself. I had no idea they had a "Bass Club" there. In typical RIT fashion (always thinking outside the box), I see the "bass club" is great at Pike fishing

Hahaha - thank you very much guys.... I am sitting here now shaking in my boots as the big day approaches.... I hope I make it!

Hahah - Zach that pink backpack was my brother fiances that she used to pack his lunch in for him for the trip the night before. I wish I had such cool equipment as Todd to help pick up the ladies Water temp was 64 in the north end. Will probably cool down a little after all this rain here. Hope this helps! Chad

Happy Birthday Bill! Hope you and the family have a great one

Well its now only 2 days before my wedding and I am shaking harder that one of Zach’s crankbaits! Speaking of which, thank you again Zach for the AWESOME wedding present (see picture below). Katie and I were thrilled and I was told specifically by the future wife that I was NOT allowed to use this lure for fishing but rather to save it. I told her the lure would mean a lot more to me if had some teeth marks in it so she agree that I could use it if I wanted. In an attempt to ease my nerves and get my mind off current events, I decided it would be fun to head out fishing with my buddy, Mike Sperry, for a day. I took my younger brother (Todd) along and was really excited for him as this was his first time ever going musky fishing. Mike and I are casters by heart and I knew Todd would be in for a long day of casting and was interested to see how well he would hold up. He did FANTASTIC and infact out casted Mike and I in terms of total time (but not total fish . While Todd couldn’t get any hooks into any ski’s this time around, he did manage to catch a fish SMALLER than his lure – a truly hard feat to accomplish if you ask me! It wasn’t long after Todd boated that beast that I got my first rip of the day tossing a big bucktail. The fish hit in about 2-3 feet of water as I casted towards shore. I didn’t get 2 turns of the handle on before the strike. Once we got the fish in the net (38 incher), we noted that some old scared over hook marks giving away the fish had been caught before and reminding me again why I love musky fishing so much. Here was a fish that now most likely made the day for myself and someone prior to me and was released again unharmed to hopefully make the day for another lucky angler down the road. It’s no wonder why the size and quality of the fish in that lake is some of the best you will find anywhere in the world. We fished everywhere yesterday from the Bridge all the way up to the flats and I could say that we were able to raise fish in every spot. Mike landed another small guy (30 inches) and we had several bigger guys (mid-40’s) to the boat but unable to get hooks in them. One of the highlights of the night was when I forgot to pay to attention to my lure at the boat and pulled it out of the water too quickly only to realize there was a 40†fish following deep on it that I never saw. Well I pulled my lure out of the water to make my next cast and the fish was so hot after it that it actually came ENTIRELY out of the water 2 feet and did a back flip right at the boat. I could have touched the fish as I was looking at it almost eye level. It scared the heck out of me but was amazing to see and something I won’t forget anytime soon. We ended the day with 2 fish and 5 follows. The fish are certainly on the feed now and I am hoping the weekend tournament sets up well for everyone. It seems like both a trolling and casting bite are on right now depending on your preference. Best of luck to each of you fishing the tournament and wish me luck as I discover what it is I have really been fishing for in life this Saturday This one has been following my bait for a while now and it’s time to get some hooks in her – she is a certain derby winner!

Good question nbajack. I have never even thought to implementing such a feature - but let me look more into it. I will let you know what I find out and if it is easily do-able. Thanks again! Chad

Nice going Ed - great looking fish!

Welcome Murr - glad to have ya!

Hahaha - you guys crack me up! Come next weekend, I will have come to the realization of what it is that I have really been fishing for all along Had to throw that in there just incase Kate DOES ever find this thread!

Brad - I took off next Wednesday to try my luck down there with my brother and Mike Sperry. My wedding is next Saturday so this trip is for my mental health and to ease the nerves. I will let you know how we do. It will be my brothers first ever muskie trip so I am excited to get him out there. This will only be my 3rd time on the water musky fishing all year.... I'm in the same boat as you with respect to crazy work lately. Wish me luck Chad

Enjoy your day Mark! You deserve it buddy

Nice going MacDaddy! Glad you were able to put some big boys in the boat this year

Skills with a rod and camera GREAT photos and thank you for sharing!

Hank - You can have the day off today Thank you for all that you do here on LOU - I would be hard pressed to run this adventure without you and all the rest of the moderators. Enjoy your birthday sir Chad

Great rainbow! Congrats and welcome to LOU - make yourself at home

Very nice GMan! Congrats on the two fish. Tried our luck out of Sandy today and went 2 for 3 but only small kings. Nice to see you guys were able to get the matures to hit.

Enjoy your BDay John!

Welcome aboard Terry! Glad to have ya - make yourself at home

Welcome to LOU Scott! We are glad to have you - lots of great guys here. Make yourself at home

That is a great story mccoy! I can't believe he never made a single cast before getting his first muskie! Bravo