_{After a dozen casts into the cold November waters of Elwood Reservoir, I experienced my first hands-on thrill with one of Nebraska's coming-of-age muskellunge.}

_{My passion to catch muskies began decades ago in remote northern waters of}

Muskellunge, Esox masquinongy, are lean predators that ambush their prey. This young muskie could grow to be more than four feet long.

_{Many muskie anglers agree that a missed strike or a silent shadowing of your lure to the boat makes a successful outing. And, as I repeatedly cast hefty plugs season after season without catching a muskie, I was reassured that merely seeing one of these legendary predators near my bait could legitimately be counted on the plus side of my muskie-hunting ledger.}

_{Although Nebraska is not recognized as a notable trophy muskie state - a status commonly granted to Minnesota and Wisconsin - it has produced some big muskies over the}

Rocky Hoffmann, the author, had cast big lures for muskies for years, but until last fall had never caught one.

_{Since that trophy catch, every time I have fished at Merritt for walleyes or panfish, I have always spent an hour or two pumping big lures with treble hooks through the water. Sometimes on the way home to North Platte, I detoured into the Valentine National Wildlife Refuge and waded along the reed-spiked shoreline of Watts Lake, throwing surface lures with propellers on both ends at an elusive target.}

_{Until a few years ago, Merritt and Watts were the only muskie lakes in Nebraska, and even in those waters muskies were an incidental species usually caught by anglers fishing for something else. I shuddered whenever I heard of a supersized muskie taken by a crappie fisherman using ultralight gear and a jig.}

_{Say it ain't so, Joe! Muskies are supposed to be caught on nothing less than big wooden lures with glass eyes, preceded by 12-inch steel leaders. The lure should have faded stenciling reading Heddon, Dowagiac, South Bend, Mud Puppy or Cisco Kid. It should be riddled with tooth holes, badly in need of paint and armed with bent or missing hooks. That's how muskies should be caught. At least that's the way I wanted to catch a muskie.}

_{The problem was that I had not caught a muskie - even by accident - and with the species present in only two Nebraska impoundments, it seemed my odds for success ranked with winning the lottery.}

_{The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission had stocked a number of lakes with tiger muskies, a hatchery-bred cross between northern pike and muskellunge, producing some big fish in lakes such as Oliver Reservoir in Kimball County. Anglers have caught tiger muskies at Lake McConaughy, Red Willow and other impoundments, but although tiger muskies are formidable}

Young muskies are usually 12 or 13 inches long and nearly a year old when they are stocked in Nebraska reservoirs.

_{Until recent years, biologists had difficulty establishing true muskies in Nebraska waters. Small, young-of-the-year muskies were previously stocked each fall, but the odds were long that a stocked, two-inch fish would grow 25 times its length to become a 50-inch lunker in the wild.}

_{Commission fish production specialists are now using methods developed by leading muskie states that improve survival rates after stocking. Each year in early-July the Calamus Fish Hatchery receives three- to four-inch muskies from an Iowa hatchery. The fish are fed minnows at Calamus and grow quickly. In early-October, their feeding rate is increased, and excess rainbow trout fingerlings are sometimes introduced into their diet. At that time, the inventory is split, and half of the advanced muskies are transferred to the North Platte Fish Hatchery. Both hatcheries hold the muskies over winter for stocking in March and April when the muskies are usually 12 or 13 inches long. By carrying the muskies through their first winter in a hatchery environment, their survival rates in Nebraska lakes have significantly increased. Muskies are now being established in several lakes across the state, including Elwood Reservoir.}

_{In May 2002, Lexington fisherman Steve Hay hooked several muskies that were almost at the 40-inch minimum keeper length while slow-rolling large spinnerbaits along Elwood's shoreline in search of walleyes feeding on spawning alewives. Normally an open-water species, alewives travel to shore to spawn when the water reaches 60 degrees and predators such as walleyes and muskies follow them.}

_{Last May, Hay and I fished for muskies at Elwood using the same techniques that he used successfully a year earlier. Convinced that muskies occupy territories based on habitat and feeding opportunities, we visited the same sites where Hay had caught them. His}

Biologist Brian Sweet collects muskies in a raceway at North Platte Fish Hatchery for spring stocking.

_{Soon after our hunt for muskies began, a big fish hammered Hay's spinnerbait near a submerged point. After a fierce battle, Hay released a wiper, another Elwood predator. A few casts later, his line was again jolted by a solid strike. This time the attacker was a northern pike. Although the northern put up a valiant fight, we had our sights set on the godfather of the pike family, and we fished on.}

_{From early light to twilight we cast toward the shoreline, where exposed cottonwood tree roots often provide eerie cover for big fish lying in wait. Our effort resulted in wipers, northern pike, largemouth bass and one walleye, but no muskies. It was a good fishing trip indeed, but it was incomplete. Where were the muskies that Hay had found the previous spring? The answer was apparent in that we caught only one walleye. That, plus the few alewives we saw following our spinnerbaits to the boat, indicated that most alewives were not spawning yet. No prey, no predators.}

_{I returned to Elwood to fish for muskies on three other occasions during late summer and early fall, employing the techniques suggested by the nationally known muskie fishermen, who write about their experiences in popular fishing magazines. I watched the Saturday morning television programs that showed huge muskies being caught by anglers using those very techniques. I investigated spring patterns, summer patterns, early fall patterns and late fall patterns. Time was running out as I fished my way through the seasons without a}

Among the trees, Steve Hay of Lexington casts for muskies at Elwood Reservoir.

_{The cold nights and warm days of late-October rekindled the muskie fire within me, so I called Dan Ferguson in Elwood. Ferguson, a professional fishing guide and always gracious host, was helpful, knowledgeable and he gave me a few pointers about his experiences with Elwood muskies. Ferguson believed that when water temperatures dropped into the mid-50s, muskies would pull back to the shoreline where we would have a chance to catch one. A cold front was moving in, promising a few chilly nights ahead. He suggested that I meet him at the boat ramp the following Monday.}

_{Over the weekend, I busied myself gathering a selection of the kind of lures I wanted to use to catch one of these fabled predators. I strung 25-pound test line on open-faced casting reels that I mounted on 6�-foot, heavy-action rods. When these fish grow larger in Nebraska lakes, I'll go to heavier test line, not to deprive them of any chance of winning the battle, but to give them every chance to survive after being released. The faster a big fish is brought to the boat and released, the better chance it will have to survive the ordeal. That means heavy line.}

_{Survival also requires quick hook removal and minimal handling. I have crushed all the barbs on my hooks for years to make them easier to remove. It's a tough job to do on the three sets of heavy-duty treble hooks on a typical muskie plug. The task requires a good set of pliers and a strong grip. To be effective the barb must be totally closed. Any visible light between the barb and the hook means the job is not complete because the barb will still grab. A properly crushed barb will back out of a fish's jaw with little effort.}

_{Another plus to barbless hooks is that powerful, big fish can bury a hook deep into a hand, arm or leg. It's not pleasant to imagine having a solidly hooked muskie thrashing about with a second set of barbed treble hooks impaled in your hand. The drawback of going barbless is that with the right moves, a fish might twist and turn its way to freedom before it is brought to the boat. An angler must be on top of his or her game and not allow any slack line during the fight.}

_{I also put a fish cradle with the gear for the trip. A cradle is designed to handle big fish without injuring them. A span of netting between two boards, the cradle is positioned under the fish in the water and closed around it. It is a hammock of sorts, and it gently restrains a fish while the angler unhooks and measures it. Most cradles are marked in}

Muskie hunters arm themselves with several heavy-duty rods and reels, plenty of strong line, and a variety of big lures.

_{During the weekend the weather had cooled significantly, as had the water. Ferguson said the weather change improved our chances of hooking a muskie. We talked about muskies as we motored down lake at five miles per hour, Elwood's speed limit to protect the shoreline from wake action. We headed for sites where Ferguson had visually marked muskies either from strikes or follow-ups, or where he had caught one in the past. He, too, believes that muskies, especially large ones, stake out a territory and can be caught again near the same location if care is taken to safely release them.}

_{Deep in a narrow bay, Ferguson lowered the prop of his bow-mounted electric motor into the water and positioned the boat for casting. He had seen a large muskie in the area early in the spring, and he hoped to find it again. He set us up for short casts to the shoreline over structure that might hold a fish. We each made eight to ten casts, then Ferguson turned the boat to approach the opposite shore. On my second cast, POW! The fish struck with}

Watching for spawning alewives near shore, Hay casts a large chartreuse spinner in hopes that a muskie will strike.

_{"I lost him," I blurted out in disappointment. "I totally screwed up!"}

_{The combination of my errors and the evasive tactics of this experienced fish had caused me to make a mess of my big chance. I had fished for years for this opportunity, and when it finally came, I blew it. As I rapidly reeled in the swirls of line floating on the water, I suddenly realized that miraculously I was still attached to the fish. It charged past the boat twice, going deep once but never breaking the surface. I managed to force it to the boat for Ferguson to cradle. He was holding my first muskie.}

_{The Ojibwa tribe first named the muskie, "Masquinongy," meaning ugly fish, but it was anything but ugly to me. Although I did everything I could to lose it, and it did everything possible to lose me, it had lost this battle. In the cradle, the barbless hooks on the six-inch Cisco swung free from the fish. A quick photo, and Ferguson was holding it upright in the water, steadying it by the tail, as he revived it for release. The muskie stiffened, and Ferguson released his grip. It was off with a forceful slap of its tail, soaking both of us in}

Muskie lures of past and present (clockwise from far right) include muskie bucktail spinner, muskie jerk bait, Heddon Muskie Vamp, Cisco Kid, Heddon Muskie Flaptail, and Roberts red-and-white Mud Puppy.

_{At another location a half-hour later, I hooked another muskie about the same size. This time I did everything by the book, and so did the muskie. It beat me cleanly the first time I brought it past the boat. A violent head shake and it was free. We did get a clear look at it, and that was good enough - maybe better than landing it and risking injury to the fish. We fished hard for the rest of the day, but saw no more muskies. Ferguson caught several largemouth bass and wipers, while I caught a northern pike. Each time a fish struck one of our}

Dan Ferguson holds up the muskie Rocky Hoffmann caught for a quick photo before releasing it. Fish should be out of the water for only a few seconds, and should never be held around the gills or with fingers in the eye sockets.

_{Although the state's largest muskies probably are still in Merritt Reservoir near Valentine, other Nebraska lakes will soon be in contention. Some of Elwood's largest muskies should measure in the range of 45 or 46 inches this year. To put that in perspective, 80 percent of all 45-inch muskies weigh about 28 pounds, according to standard relative inches-to-pound tables. The five additional inches required to make a 50-inch trophy fish adds about 12 pounds. Now we're talking a 40-pound fish. That's huge. That's state record category, and biologists believe muskies will grow that large in several lakes they have targeted for the muskellunge-stocking program.}

_{Muskies are currently stocked on an every-other-year basis at Elwood Reservoir, Merritt Reservoir near Valentine, Calamus Reservoir near Burwell, Fremont Lake No. 7 and 8, Timber Point and Wagon Train Reservoirs near Lincoln and Cottonwood-Steverson lakes north of Hyannis. If muskies are to be kept by anglers, they must measure 40 inches or longer. Traditional muskie fishermen have set a precedence of releasing all muskies. Regardless of individual philosophies on catch and release, proper handling and release techniques must be learned and practiced when size limits are mandated.}

Hi Thomas,

Fishing ain't my thang!  The only time I've ever gone fishing
was in a dam on our farm when I was 4 years old, and that
with a bent pin and string.

Have a wonderful week,

Jen

            Great Article Brother Thomas,

Jim and I love to fish. As a matter of fact I'm a fisherman's widow for most of this month. Jim and his bestfriend are on a fishing trip this week and next week.

I always find your forums very informative

Thank you!

Your Sister Bev