Rod Thief

As I promised, I heard this great Musky story from a friend, Tim Hansen.

He and some friends and family take a long weekend in October each year and do some serious Musky fishing in the Rhinelander, WI area. They had a great trip this year (October 9,10, 1nd 11th) and landed 8 out of 20 hook ups, mostly on suckers. But, one fish had quite an adventure.

One of the anglers in the group had a sucker soaking next to the boat in about two to three feet of water. He had placed a tackle box on top of the rod to secure it. Suddenly someone noticed that the rod was gone and there was no sign of it in sight. Not only did the miss the Musky, the unlucky angler was now missing a three to four hundred Musky rod and reel.

A day and a half later, someone in Tim’s group spots the end of the cork handle of a rod bobbing on the surface in the middle of the lake. They motored over to try to pick it up and the rod popped under. They made another pass but this time they cut the motor and drifted in on it. They used a net this time and got the reel by the rim and pulled it up. Suddenly, the fish took off and the fight was on. After a good battle, they landed the fish and luckily it hadn’t swallowed the bait and was actually barely hooked.

The Musky, a 46”er, was the biggest of the weekend. It was quickly released after a quick photo.

Not only was the 46”er a memorable fish, but quite the story to go along with it.

Tight lines and smooth drags...

Marc