u/Life-Mountain8157

Iridescent blue/silver Tiger Muskie replica of this beautiful fish I caught and released from a small 310 acres, deep glacier lake in the U.P Michigan. Lake is full of Northern Pike and walleyes. Lake was never stocked with Muskies to my knowledge, although Michigan did stock hybrids from Michigan fish hatcheries back in 1990’s
Maybe someone released Muskies into this lake.

Lake is full of northern pike and the walleye’s have the same blueish color. Never hooked a Muskie or had a follow before hooking this trophy.

This is Trey our bundle of pure joy.
He’s now 15 months old and 78lbs.
This is when he was 5 months old.

Caught this 30-1/2” Waldo on a 930 acre lake in the U.P Michigan.
Released her and noticed a spear mark on right gill plate.
Glad she survived, spearing should be banned.
Tribal Native American’s from Lac Du Flambeau hammer our lake every year.
It really is hard on the fishery, when spawning females are speared in the hundreds.
The harvest limit on my lake is 2 walleyes per fisherman. We release every fish we catch.

Trey,our 14 month old Golden Retriever.
Beautiful Sunrise 🌅 beautiful Boi !
He loves his early morning walks, and seems to get thru his days better. On bad weather days he’s more likely to act up without his mile walks.

My pal Jack who I got at 12 weeks old.
He was a huge part of our family for 14 years !
Healthy and fit, he ran and swam every day.
He would get upset when the lake froze in the winter.
He would run down to the lake when we drove up to the cabin, and leap into the water. He would swim for hours then collapse into deep sleep. He would get up early and run outside to go potty, then leap off the dock.
Never had him on a leash and he never ran away. He found a mother mallard duck nest in our yard and walked up to the door with her in his mouth “look what I found” I said Jack put her down. He did and she scrambled back to her ducklings 🐥. Jack you leave her alone, and he did. He would watch her and never grabbed her again. He had a soft mouth and never barked unless you came by the house at night.
Miss him so much. When he got sick it was brutally fast.
My daughter sat with him while the vet administered the medication to put him down.
I fed him some steak and his tail was wagging as he left. Very peaceful and he was just a cool pal to hang with. He loved the kids and would bed hop all night.
Lab owners know how special Labs are to families. Kids just loved him.
He would run to our neighbors house and wait by the front door with his newspaper, and get his daily treat. The 80 year old man never got rained on or stepped into snow for his paper.
My heart still broken, how I loved my buddy !

My Muskie fishing partner of 43 years Ray passed away this week after a long battle which left him wheelchair bound. I’m sad that he’s gone, but I’m glad he isn’t in constant pain anymore. This photo was taken after we fished for 10 hours in the rain & sleet in late November for muskies. We caught 3 fish that day, nothing huge just typical Wisconsin Muskies, 36” 38” and 42” all released. The lake froze over that night. It was our last trip up North before he lost the use of his legs.
We use to fish quietly for hours, not saying anything just casting and enjoying nature around us in the beautiful Northwoods.
He was a great net man and between us we never lost a Muskie netting them. Not many people can make that claim.
Did we lose fish during the fight, oh yeah many lost that way. But our record boat-side was spotless.
Just left his place and his son just gave me all his Muskie gear and hats. Ray left me his fishing gear in his will to me.
I had to pull over I was crying in the car.
I’m at peace that my pal is not suffering, just sad we can’t drag suckers in snowstorms before ice-up anymore. Or bitch about our reels freezing up at 10 degrees outside.
Those were our vacations every fall chasing old mossback Muskie !
RIP Ray.
Mac

My Muskie partner for 37 years Ray Dehn from Howard, Wisconsin passed away yesterday in his sleep.
Together we fished all over North America for ski’s.
We fished the Northwoods & the U.P of Michigan hundreds of times. Canadian waters of Eagle Lake, Lake of the Woods, Thaddeus Lake, Ontario.
Flett Lake NW Territories, Alaska, the Yukon.
North of Sixty.
His ability to catch fish especially walleyes was a skill he learned from his father.
A good net man and friend.
My heart aches, but my friend is now released from the pain he fought for years, as his body simply wore out. He was 92 and fished Muskies till his legs didn’t work anymore a few years ago.
He always released his fish, keeping only a
few walleyes to make our fish fry.
Take care my friend, see you on the big pond someday !
RIP Ray your net man Mac.