Muskellunge

Yesterday was a good day of fishing.  Ruoxi and I headed down to a popular lake south of Peoria (I won't say the name to be courteous to the guy who suggested we go there), we cast lures from a dock for a couple hours, and I caught my first muskie.

We started off fishing a shallow weedy part of the lake.  Ruoxi was using a shad-like swimbait and I was using an orange and silver spinner.  After about 45 minutes without any bites, we moved to a dock where the water is deeper and less weedy.  Ruoxi switched to a worm on a small hook and caught about half a dozen bluegill, and I kept throwing the spoon.  The guy next to us was throwing extra large muskie lures and mentioned that he had a few follows.  A minute or two after he said that, I was doing a slow intermittent retrieve, when I felt weight on the line.  At first I thought it might just be a tree branch, but then I felt a head shake.  I checked to make sure my drag was moderately loose and started reeling in.  Honestly, the fight wasn't that long.  After a couple minutes we could see the fish.  Muskie!  The guy next to us grabbed his net, and a minute or two later we landed the muskie without any issues.

Muskellunge (Esox masquinongy) - new hook & line species #243

This is a species I've wanted for a long time.  I remember watching them stack up at Wingra Dam in Madison to spawn back in 2008.  Took me long enough to finally catch one!

Huge thanks to Eric for helping out with the net!  Eric caught his own muskie about half an hour after mine.  It was pretty cool to see two big fish in such a short amount of time.

Thanks to Jared for suggesting the spot.  Glad you got to make it out later in the day so we could meet in person.  It was good to meet your son and brother as well.  And of course thanks to Ruoxi for being a good sport even though it was a little cold and windy. :)