For the most part when I take folks fishing, we are always cramped in the boat. Everyone wants to squeeze just one more person on...Well, my new boat is definitely out of place up here in the midwest and it is definitely gonna turn heads, but you can definitely squeeze one, two, three, six, or even eight extra people on...she is a 2008 21' extra wide center console carolina skiff dlv bay series with a 8' cobia lookout tower.
Today was the perfect day to get her in the water for the first time... Windy, Cold, and about 6 more people showed up to fish than originally planned. All 9 of us piled in and off we went! Jake scored first with a little hammer handle pike, a couple small smallmouth and largemouth came boatside, and then a nice rainbow trout...Then we hit a school of stripers and every one hooked up a couple times...thats kinda chaotic when you got 9 people fishing....I actually do love the chaos...
Then Caleb brought the biggest striper of the day into the boat on a #4 mepps in 22' of water:
Moving along down the lake into the southwest corner out of the wind, we hook into another big fish...this fish was different though. Stripers peel alot of line, but this one was pulling a little different than usual. Out of the corner of my eye, I knew something was up and it was gonna happen fast so I yelled for the net to be ready well before we would usually need the net for a striper battle... Yep all you diehard muskie fans, I get the excitement of a toothy critter, but a striper half the size will pull 10 times harder and longer than a muskie....Caleb was fighting this beast perfectly!
So anyhow we had one chance with the net before our 8 lb line would be sheared by the muskie teeth and with a big lunge Justin was able to get this beast in the net before the usual 'pink' at the boat...
This next picture is a little graphic, so if you are a diehard muskie nut you might want to cover your eyes. We just had to see what was inside this fish. I had visions of a small rainbow trout or two, I know Justin was thinking maybe a 1/2 dozen yellow perch...maybe some 10" smallmouth bass...you know how you always kinda fear the worst:
Turns out the only thing inside this fish was a bunch of eggs. Now before I get too much flack for killing such a beautiful fish with enormous potential, part of my management plan is to remove all muskies over 28" from this lake. Put em in, use em while they are a good tool and remove em when they arent useful any longer....
So moving on to other things, lots of cool stuff happenin! Ive been teaching Mae and Noah and Drake how to shoot their new red ryder:
Drake is gonna be the worlds best fish farmer some day...its in his blood, he is a workaholic fish addict and proud of it!
I will be filming several fishing shows with Doug Stange April 23-25 that I am super excited for! I can't wait to show off our fish here in Central Illinois to not just you guys, but to the world!!
Here are some of my favorite pics. These are actually all from the same lake...
This week I helped film a little commercial for a new product called the fish bomb. The little snippet will be used in Walmarts on little DVD players next to the product for sale. Also will be on the Outdoor Channel potentially as soon as a week or two:
I also spent a little time with Jared fishing a blue catfish lake we created. They are doing awesome, I can't wait to grow these babies to 40 lbs!!! In a 4 acre pond...
We also threw 10 albino cats into this special lake as well, they too are looking awesome:
Last fish pic of the day. Chris Rock caught this monster bass a couple weeks ago. He has a trophy bass lake on one side of his dam and a trophy bluegill lake on the other. His trophy bass lake is doing awesome, but the bluegills have kinda gotten a little out of control on us on the trophy bluegill side...I guess when you catch a probable top ten Illinois 2013 bass you can overlook the bluegills not quite being trophies.....(that will soon change though).
So anyhow I just signed a super awesome deal with Purina Mills to become their aquatic ambassador for their Aquamax line of fish food! I'm gonna be doing quite a few big speaking engagements educating their dealer network and their dealers clients about their complete line of fish food as well as many other lake and pond management topics such as aeration systems and algae control!
But let me leave you with this thought...To grow a big fish you need to provide that fish with good nutritious food to eat from the moment its born throughout its entire life...the first year of a fishes life can be kinda especially rough out in the wild. One of the best tools for consistently producing trophy fish is to raise those fish in a sanctuary or hatchery pond and then introduce them to the wild with a huge jumpstart in life....
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