The sun emerged from behind a cloud to heat my black jacket enough for me to feel the warmth penetrate to my shoulders, providing a clue that I was going to get a bite soon.
I was fishing a stretch of Shenango Reservoir shoreline where the sun would create warmth whenever it broke through the clouds blowing in from the north. I know when I’m feeling good, chances are the bass are, too.
I was rigged for bass, of course, when the second volunteer of the day emerged from the shadow of a big tree trunk lodged on the sloping bottom. To my relief, the fish didn’t take my bait.
At more than 40 inches in length and probably pushing 25 pounds thanks to the abundance of shad in that part of Shenango, the muskie that decided to pass on my lure would have been a handful.
I know. It wasn’t my first rodeo. For big-game anglers, muskie and northern pike are the pinnacle predators. For a bass guy like me, they are fun, too, but only up to the point where we must retrieve our lures and hooks.
So it was that I was relieved that Shenango muskie didn’t get my bait. I’d had enough encounters this fall with fish whose jaws are lined with needle-sharp teeth.
Apologies to muskie specialists such as Chris DePaola of Austintown and Max Case of Girard, but my answer to those who inquire about the best way to catch muskie is to go bass fishing.
I have had more than 25 muskie and northern pike in the BassCat this year, and not once did I go to the lake intending to fish for them.
It’s not that I’ve never rigged up with heavy tackle and giant plugs. I was reminded of this recently when I came across a box in which I’d stored Creek Chub Pikie Minnows, a surefire muskie catcher back in the day.
This year at West Branch, Lake Milton, Pymatuning, Shenango, Chautauqua, Lake Wilhelm, Presque Isle Bay and the Ohio River, I battled snaggle-toothed muskies and pike after they snatched my bass lures.
Something about unhooking a muskie or northern gives me pause. Walleye have sharp teeth, too, but most anglers learn how to avoid getting slashed before the fish are in the cooler.
Northern pike and muskie are another story. Almost all of us who have fished waters where they live have experienced bloody hands and fingers.
On my recent steelhead trout trip on Conneaut Creek, John Breedlove of Girard hooked and netted a muskie of nearly 40 inches. He’s handled thousands of fish in his years on the water, so he knew to avoid the teeth by reaching with needle-nose pliers to free his plug.
Fishing friend Ted Suffolk on one recent trip with me proved his pike prowess by hooking four northerns on the square-bill crankbait he was casting for largemouth bass.
My relief that my Shenango encounter this week didn’t result in a hook-up was inspired by the fish that ate my $15 crankbait a week earlier while I was casting for smallmouth bass. I knew I was in trouble when I couldn’t see the lure as I dragged the fish boatside.
It took me several minutes to retrieve my expensive plug from the midst of all those teeth. As the pike darted away from the boat, I checked my fingers.
No blood. But I know it’s only a matter of time before a pike or muskie gets its revenge.
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