My Life is Complete...50 incher Baby!!

Hidehunter · September 23, 2012, 09:16:09 AM

Still on cloud 9 this morning. Picture isnt the best and doesnt do her justice. Its a snapshot from video since selftimer crapped out on me. Having trouble uploading video to youtube. If I get it I will post it up to. Exact Measurement was 50 1/8 inches. She was wore out so didnt get a girth but she was heavy.

Got her on one of my own baits to which made it even better...Big girls Love Pink

coyote101 · September 23, 2012, 09:28:09 AM

WOW! that is a beauty.

Congratulations on reaching the 50 inch milestone.

Now onwards and upwards.

Pat

Coulter · September 23, 2012, 10:29:55 AM

That's a dandy...nice going!!! That's even better catching her on one of your own lures. She's a beaut

Steve

Hawks Feather · September 23, 2012, 10:48:08 AM

Congratulations and catching it on your own bait made it even better.

Jerry

HaMeR · September 23, 2012, 10:48:27 AM

That's a bigun for sure!!!!!!!!! She woulda yielded steaks!!!!!

iahntr · September 23, 2012, 11:20:44 AM

Congratulations !!

FinsnFur · September 23, 2012, 11:31:17 AM

That right there is awesome Denver

How long did it take to get up to where you get a hold on her?
Do you ever keep any, and eat them? Muskie are good eating.

Okanagan · September 23, 2012, 01:17:33 PM

Double wow! You da man! Are you going to write a book on how to catch muskie? Get a ghost writer and do it!

Hidehunter · September 23, 2012, 02:00:32 PM

Lol I dont know how long I fought her, was pretty excited through it all. I have never lost a musky in my boat (knock on wood) so I have never cooked one. I would never kill one on purpose. there has been times I have spent countless days on the water tryn to catch one and I wouldnt see a fish. There are not alot of them so I just do my part to make sure there are some still here when my daughter gets a little bigger to catch them. I preach C&R every chance I get. Actually after I caught the big girl a bass fisherman caught a 30 incher and it took a while to get her in and she was very stresses and was just lying on the surface and wouldnt go down deep. I babysitted that dang fish for 2 hours before she went deep lol. Ya never know though, that may be my daughter first 40 incher. The 50 incher would have been older than I am.

FinsnFur · September 23, 2012, 06:10:15 PM

I envy ya for those practices and beliefs.

Now tell us...were you talking to her? Cause it looks in the picture like your saying, "Yeeeeeah baby!"

shaddragger · September 23, 2012, 09:22:03 PM

SWEET! That's a good 'un!

Frogman · September 23, 2012, 09:57:22 PM

WOW!!

Jim

Dave · September 24, 2012, 04:52:18 AM

Congrats on that monster!
Did your attitude and fighting tactics change when you saw the size of her? I know when I have a fish I think is a trophy, I start babying everything and (yes, JIm) maybe even talk to em a little bit.

Hidehunter · September 24, 2012, 10:54:09 AM

LOL i gotta get the video uploaded. the pic is actually a snapshot from video. 'yeah baby' is exactly what i said. You have some kind of hidden talent there Jimbo.

My fighting didnt change at all really. Their boney mouths can spit a hook back atcha n blink of an eye. only thing was i made sure not to rush the netjob and my heart was beating considerably faster lol.

FinsnFur · September 24, 2012, 07:52:23 PM

There's no hidden talent. I just know the feeling very well.

Todd Rahm · September 24, 2012, 10:27:07 PM

That would be a cool wall mounter, coming around a log chasing that lure!!!

Congrats on your 50 incher and good luck persuing the 55 incher.

I think I want to retire as your neighbor.

possumal · September 25, 2012, 03:38:30 AM

Hidehunter, that is just too cool for school! I feel real proud for ya, brother. She had to nearly jerk your armpits out of socket. Double WOW!!

Anybody with appreciation for people doing the right thing has to be thankful to you for all your points of attitude, i.e. C&R, never killing such a beauty, etc.. I have to admit it really releases precious memories of all the great times I shared with my late brother, Floyd. He loved fishing so much that it made me love it too, even though hunting was always my preference. He loved hunting too, especially rabbits with the great beagles we had back then. Plenty of game and good dogs, cold weather, and great companionship to share are hard to beat. As to the fishing, I fondly remember trips we made to Center Hill Reservoir and Smith Mountain Lake, where smallmouth up to 5 lbs. were caught in the jumps until your arms got tired, not just from fighting what I believe to be the gamest fish in the water, but fighting wind with a small kicker motor and wooden oars in a heavy wooden rental boat. Sometimes, you wouldn't see over two or three boats all day and they were serious fishermen too. No C&R back then, but still the fishing remained excellent, no better than that, unbelievable. Dale Hollow and Cumberland in its prime were equally great for smallmouth both at night and daytime in the late fall months into early winter, usually kicking into gear about Thanksgiving. They'd go on a tear on crank baits like the bomber and gradually switch over to doll flies & pork rind or spinner baits as the water cooled past prime time. Ray Scott and the BASS and tournament promoters can rave all they want to about how great the fishing is today, but they really don't have a clue how much better it was back then.
Enough of that as I get teary eyed when thinking about my brother. I miss him as much now as when he first passed away, and don't see it getting better anytime soon. I know he would be first in line to congratulate you on your milestone accomplishment. Nobody can ever take that memory away.

Hidehunter · September 25, 2012, 11:12:22 AM

Awesome Memories Possum. I recently lost a fishing buddy last month. He wasnt my brother but a good friend and an excellent outdoorsmen. He always got bigger bucks and bigger fish than me lol. He was young at only 23 and fresh out of the police academy. He wanted to be DNR but changed his mind because he knew he would half to work all hunting season lol. He had been a State Trooper for about 6 months and he pulled over a man for wreckless driving. The man ended up being a worthless crackhead and shot my buddy through the neck and serated his spine. Thankfully the other troopers caught up with the POS and he ended up getting about 40 rounds through him in a gun fight but not before he killed another trooper (with a wife and 2 young daughters) and injured 1 more. It was big news around here because things like that just dont happen in WV. My buddy Eric seemed like he could talk to the muskies. The day after he died it startd to rain and I felt like it wasnt rain but Eric was fighting a 50 incher from up above and it was just splashing down on us. Eric had trail cam pics of about 180" buck he was gonna hunt this year to. Knowbody knows where his cams are because he didnt share that with anybody lol. i hope they take pics forever.

Maybe him and your Brother are swapping some fish stories right now.

possumal · September 25, 2012, 08:32:37 PM

Knowing my brother, Floyd, he probably drew your friend right to him, and they are casting a point or a weed bed right now. What a great thought, Denver, what a great thought. I know I must be the luckiest possum to ever inhabit this good earth having parents and a brother like I did, and then finding my wife, the best friend a man could ever have. I am pleased that you have that deep appreciation for your friend. He must have been a goodun.

Hidehunter · September 25, 2012, 09:00:46 PM

Your a good man Al...I get the feeling we have both stared at this screen today all teary eyed lol.