Monday, April 4, 2011

"Time on the Water".....Quote #13


"I know darned well that if all I wanted was a big fish on my wall I could have gone after sailfish and taken care of the matter in one weekend. Earlier this year I was watching one of Johnny Carson's guests...tell of the big sailfish he caught. I don't remember all the details, but I do remember thinking to myself, "This is fishing?".....
Let's say I did want a sailfish. I'd hire a guide with a big boat and let him cruise along with some baits dragging in the water while I sipped mint juleps and buried my head in Hemmingway's The Old Man and the Sea. I'd tell him to let me know when I caught one. Now let's say Johnny Carson wanted a 30-pound musky. He could come up here and hire a top guide, say Joe Bucher, for a few days. He'd probably hear a few good stories, get sunburned, rained on, windblown, a lot of sore muscles and maybe a couple of muskies. But no 30-pounder. He could have hired Bucher every day of the season so far and still wouldn't have taken a 30-pounder. He could have hired him every day of last season with no better luck."

-Bill Gardner

5 comments:

  1. "I'd hire a guide with a big boat and let him cruise along with some baits dragging in the water while I sipped mint juleps and buried my head in Hemmingway's The Old Man and the Sea. I'd tell him to let me know when I caught one".

    This description sounds pretty nice to me. It sounds a lot like fishing for walleyes and lakers on Eagle Lake. "Hey Joe, my arms a little tired from hauling in 30" lakers. Would you mind taking that one?" "Hey Joe, my glass is still half full, would you mind reeling in another pesky 6 pound walleye?" "You want me to net another one before I finish my sandwich?"

    It's a tough job, but someone has to do it. Before commiting to musky fishing you have to grapple with the following question: Do you like catching, or do you like fishing? And seriously folks, after a few days of lots of "catching" a day of fishing for muskys can be refreshing.

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  2. Andy, you and I need to do some "fishing" on Eagle. I laughed out loud on this one!

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  3. Teal river... are you one of the musky anglers in camp that third week in August?

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  4. Andy, I have previously brought the family to VBL the first week of August. This year we plan to be there the second week of June. Perhaps my wife could see me making a visit later in the season to chase muskie!

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  5. Teal river,

    Last year the missus was very kind and let me stay three weeks at vbl. Two weeks in the spring one one week late in August. The live work scale took a dramatic shift in the opposite diection this year. I will only be up late in august and I think Gord is close to full that third week. I would strongly encourage vbl guests to experiment a bit with the seasons. I love fishing the lakers in shallow early and will miss the day of jerking perch. In a week of early fishing you almost always catch a few accidental muskies. Later in the season, the fish are deep but concentrated and tend to be bigger. I love jigging for the deep water lakers and whitefish. There are also excellent opportunities for big pike in the cabbage.

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