I feel pressed for time in many areas – mostly work stuff. Believe it or not I’m already preparing for my 2024 Show Tour. Delivering high quality new presentations and updating the old takes lots of work. I’ve built up numerous new photos and stories to incorporate into my PowerPoints from this great year of fishing.
Then there’s ordering my famous coffee mugs and beer steins to have on hand at all my gigs. Booking airfares and etc. Plain and simple, there’s a ton of preparation needed and I don’t have much time due to some huge trips you’ll hear about soon.
On the other hand, I’m also feeling pressed to get out and enjoy our Wisconsin fall. Especially after being away a month. I can’t watch the leaves fall from my office window knowing its prime musky season. So when Granny suggested we grab the Striker Raft and the Ruby Van and head out, I didn’t think twice.
While temperatures are a cool 40°s, the wind forecast for Wednesday and Thursday were minimal. We headed to our favorite WI camping spot Tuesday night and at 7 am sharp we were inflating the Striker and rigging musky rods. Earlier this summer we spotted a hefty musky here and landed a Jr.
Granny’s hands don’t handle the cold well. This works for me because early fall mornings she prefers to put on the gloves and row. Its her way of keeping warm. My hands don’t feel cold till its below zero so as she steered us down the slow meandering river I fired away with my 9-weight Winston.
Things warmed up enough for Granny to get plenty of casts in by afternoon. Conditions seemed perfect for musky but the only fish we consistently caught were pike. And mostly small ones. Our targeted muskellunge eluded us. Nonetheless it was a wonderful day on the water just taking it all in.
Towards the end of our float there’s a staircase of rapids. Its fun navigating the raft through the rocky fast water. Below each water froth is a deep hole. I broke out my 6-weight and a Clouser and managed a couple cigar size walleyes. Though small, this guy had his full dorsal defense in action making him quite pretty. Obviously he’s doing his best not to become a muskies lunch!
It was a fine fall day on the water. So good I believe there will be more this week. Perhaps I can get my work done via the “all-nighters”. To end this enjoyable day we lit up the fire and had a feast of Brats and onions. A great way to get warm before a cold night of camping after a cold day on the water!
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