BlueEye

Larry - I believe it. This hawg came in that same area. The length was one thing but what impressed me the most was the girth and shoulders on this fish. Just the coolest thing - got my heart racing real quick I'll do my best to keep the stories coming and I am sure the other LOU members will do the same. Hang in there ol' buddy - it won't be long till you are back on the water again. Then you can show us how to put some of those hawgs in the boat! Chad

Hey Larry! The trip was good but had the potential to have been GREAT! Mike and I decided we were going to try the casting routine this time around with the hopes that we could find some fish holding the last the green weeds before they die off and the fish move to deeper water again. The day started with me hooking up on my 3rd cast! After a short fight, we landed the fish and had a quick release. The fish was mid 30's. It came on a jointed X-Rap (Black/Silver Shad). A few casts later Mike has a nice one follow to the boat (upper 30's/low 40's). Couldn't get him to take. This was all around Pendergrast point. We then headed down to Chautaqua Bay and long point. Couldn't get anything going there except Mike had a school of small mouths following his 9" Perch bait back to the boat every cast for a while in Chautauqua Bay. They wouldn't hit the bait, just swim along with it - it was pretty funny to watch but no muskies. We then headed up to Lighthouse point and started throwing a 6" Sledge Hammer (black). I was really impressed with this lure (over a similar LEO that I was throwing) cause it always "backed up" when I paused it instead of just floating straight up. The action on the Sledge Hammer was very impressive and it wasn't long after I tied that on that I hooked up with another. This one was low 30's and was quickly released to grow bigger. After that is when things started to get exciting........... With two fish already caught and a couple more follows, we headed back to Pendergrast Point and tried casting some more. It didn't take long before we had a beast (Mike guessed it to be upper 40's) follow the sledge back to the boat. He was really hot on the bait and followed it for a couple figure 8's but missed the bait every time he went to strike. Exciting as it was we couldn't get any hooks in him. Thinking that would have been our last sighting for the day, and pretty satisfied already with the number of fish we had seen and boated we were ready to call it a night. We tried a few more casts and sure enough "the beast" appears. I saw the biggest muskie I have ever seen in Chautauqua following inches behind my bait. Aside from its incredible length (Mike guessed it be 52" or 53"), it had some shoulders on him that rendered me speechless! He followed for a figure 8 or two and then swam away. Mike switched quickly to his 9" perch bait and tossed in the direction the fish swam away towards. Mike's first cast and the beast strikes at his lure (T-bone) and I thought we had him but we never got the hooks in. At this point in time I could hardly walk I was so excited and heartbroken at the same time. He would have made for an amazing replica mount........ but thats fishing for you. Capt. Mike has put over 70 muskies in the boat this year and he claims that was easily the biggest fish he has seen all year by a long shot. So to all you guys headed down there this coming weekend..... I can say from first hand experience yesterday that there is something that lurks in those waters around Pendergast point that will make any fisherman lucky enough to see him or hook him a very happy man! Best of luck!

Nitro - I will be down on Chautauqua tomorrow fishing with Mike Sperry. Gonna try some casting this time around. I'll post the report when I get back. Should be fun. Chad

Thanks for the tips Larry and glad to see you back on LOU! Hope you are feeling much better. I might be heading up to Chautuaqua again to try some casting with Capt. Mike Sperry. I want to learn a few more things out there and I know Mike has been doing great lately. He did 11 muskies this week and had 12 follows so maybe he will share some of his insights with me on our next trip up there. Could be as soon as tomorrow possibly but we will see.

Joe and I made it up there this weekend to try our luck and found a much, much different lake than the one we last fished a couple months ago! The surface temp in the north end of the lake (Mayville) was a constant 53 degrees and the temp around long point to Tom's point was 51 degrees. Didn't find any bait, temp breaks or consistent marks anywhere on the north end trolling. I hit all holes and points and couldn't get a rod to fire. Finally found some bait around Long Point and Tom's point. Fished that hard and only heard of two fish taken from there from all the other trollers we talked to this weekend. Nothing from the north end. Trolling was definitely not the answer. We fished a half day on Saturday and half day Sunday morning. Our Sunday morning trip started off with us catching an 18 foot boat occupied by a grandfather and his grandson. They were stranded out in the middle of the lake after their boat broke down. Both of them exhausted from trying to paddle in. We ended up giving them a tow back in on the stipulation that the grandson promised to go out and try again with his grandfather after he got the boat fixed They both happily agreed. After talking with a good friend (Capt. Mike Sperry of Chautauqua Reel Outdoors), he mentioned that the fish were all tight to the weed beds and shallow. He did good numbers of them casting. Chalk this one up as a learning experience for us. We did mark a whole lot of walleyes though and had walleye fisherman all around Long Point both days. Hopefully I will have another chance to make it down there sometime later this year. I know a bunch of LOU guys are thinking of heading down around Halloween so maybe then I will give it another shot. Despite our limited success, we had a great time out there and I couldn't think of anything I would have rather of been doing

The October cycle! Very nice - congrats!

Very nice old man! Glad you learned how to post the pictures Way to go out there!

Happy Birthday Rod! Take the day off my friend and have a cold one

Good deal Tim. You might want to consider adding this event to the LOU Calendar. I know lots of people on the site are "subscribed" to the calendar and will receive an email every time a new event is added to it. This will certainly help you get the word out more. Cheers, Chad

Welcome aboard Andrew! Glad you found us - I am sure you will find plenty here to use on Lake Superior! Enjoy the site

I found today that a good friend and LOU Pro member, Capt. Larry Jones, was admitted to the hospital since Sunday 10/4 and is not expected to be released until Thursday 10/15. For those of you who don't know Larry, to put is simply he is a great asset to the fishing community and one of the few guys I have ever met so willing to share any information he has. We look forward to seeing you back out on the water soon Captain! Joe and myself will be headed down to Chautauqua this coming weekend to try our luck out there. Anyone else on LOU going to be out? Chad

Welcome aboard Paul - glad to have you! Enjoy the LOU!

If you haven't ever seen this, it is worth a watch.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=POdOBXOXQts

Welcome to LOU Jerry! Sit back, relax and make yourself at home

Wow Steve - great pics! Thanks for sharing..... I will have to put a trip down there on my "things to do list" cause that looks like a great time!

Great looking pics! Thanks for sharing and glad to have you onboard the site

Received my order in the mail today and my initial impression was positive. Was very impressed with the paint job (white perch and tonka walleye). Considering a trip down to Chautauqua next weekend to give them a test run. If I make it down there I will post how things went and additional thoughts on how the new Tuff Shades ran.

Take the day off Billy! You deserve it - have a very happy birthday

Wow thanks for sharing! Anyone know what the record musky out of Chautauqua is?

Good luck Has Been - be sure to let us know how you do. What are you targeting?

Zach - For Chautauqua lake I would think all white is definitely a natural color considering the number of white perch/bass that I have caught out of that lake. I recall last year still fishing by the bridge catching one white perch after another and having musky guys trolling 30 yards on either side of me C

Thanks for the headsup Bob ........ now if you had to pick ONE color (your favorite), what would it be? Link to Color Chart: http://www.tuffshadlures.com/id6.html

That is very interesting guys. By the sounds of it a slower (4.0-4.5) with a more natural (black/silver, perch) presentation was the ticket this year to producing bigger fish. I wouldn't have normally thought anything of it but when every single fish on the bright lures was small and every single fish on the natural stuff was big...... then you start asking yourself these questions.

This year we have made a couple trips to Chautauqua and boated a good number of fish. One generalized observation that I have noticed is that EVERY single 40"+ inch fish came on natural looking baits (Natural Perch) while EVERY single fish under 40" came on bright colors (Fire Tiger, etc). Has anyone else had a similar experience?

Larry - Welcome aboard LOU! We are glad to have you and its always really cool to get someone with experience and a record of great conservation. That is what this site is all about and I am sure you will fit right in Cheers, Chad