September 19, 2001Here are our BEST CATCHES of 2001
The Best Muskie : 46 inches, 26 pounds
Video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RyXxBDkIIQ0
I caught this fish on one of those days when I was out by myself in a rental boat on Shabbona Lake. I was drifting over a big weedbed, casting out to open water and retrieving a Poe's Awaker (top water lure) back towards the weed edge as fast as I could. This fish surfaced about 10 feet behind my lure and attacked it like a shark. It took about 3 to 4 minutes to get him landed on an 8 foot super-heavy action Muskie rig. With this fish, I won the "In-Fisherman Master Angler Award" for the Muskie species. Watching him take a top water lure made it even sweeter.
The Best Largemouth Bass : 18.5 inches, 3.5 pounds
This fish was taken on one of my "on the way to work" trips at Busse Woods. We had been throwing spinnerbaits for about an hour and we had to head in to work in another 15 minutes, so I bit the bullet and tied on a soft plastic minnow, tossed out to the weed edge and just let it die. After about a 15 second deadstick, this guy picked it up and headed for the deep weeds. After a quick photo and release, it was time to go to work.
The Best Walleye : 22 inches, 3.4 pounds
This fish was caught on one of my "on the way to work" trips at Busse Woods. I had picked up a couple of bass while slow-rolling a spinnerbait down a steep drop, then something happened. A fish grabbed on, not as strong as a bass, but much faster swimming. For the first 20 seconds I didn't know what I had on my line, but with a quick flash of the white-tipped tail, I got a nice surprise.
The Best Carp : 34 inches, 20.3 pounds
Video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2DtctffYXA
This fish was caught on one of my "on the way to work" trips at Busse Woods. We had been into the bass for several weeks, with a nice easy pattern. But then the carp decided to spawn right in the middle of our favorite hole. After a few frustrating bass trips, we decided to just catch a carp for fun. On my next cast after releasing this bruiser, I caught a 14.6 pounder. With this fish, I won the "In-Fisherman Master Angler Award" for the Carp species.
