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Photos/Tales

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Musky Tales, Inc.
Attn: Photos/Tales
300 Millennium Drive, Unit 201
Crystal Lake, IL 60012

We ask that you keep your story obscenity free, non-commercial and less than 300 words. Musky Tales Inc. reserves the right to edit all stories received for spelling, punctuation and length while preserving the story details. Photos will not be returned. Please include shirt size, name and address with your photo - medium to 2xl available.

Ryan Berry's Tale

Ryan Berry's Tale
Story by Ryan Berry

Usually when my buddies and I head up to northern Wisconsin to spend a weekend hunting muskies, it’s usually zero or maybe one musky caught out of the group and that’s it. We recently made the trip and had a little bit more luck. There were four fish caught collectively, and I had my first two-musky day. We hit a lake in the morning and after a couple hours I landed a 40” musky. We headed in mid day, and the majority of the guys decided to sleep until we headed back out late afternoon. I couldn’t justify wasting my time sleeping when I was surrounded by so many good lakes. One other guy and myself hit the lake behind my buddy’s house. To mix things up we decided to cast the docks and try to pull out some bass. After about 30 minutes, I turned to my buddy and said “Man, that musky was a lot of fun this morning.”. WHAM!! I barely finished saying that and a musky practically jumped out of the water after my spinnerbait. It was a good fight because I wasn’t using my heavy musky rod, no liter, and a small spinnerbait. Luckily the musky net stays in the boat at all times. After about 5 minutes we netted the fish. We had no long nose pliers, but he was barely hooked so we were lucky. After a couple barrel rolls in the net, the lure shook free and our only problem was untangling him. We were able to do that pretty quickly, then he was back in the water. After a few minutes of assistance, the fish swam away wondering what the hell just happened. We didn’t have a tape measure, so we marked the fish on the oar. When we got back to the cabin, I had to run up to get the tape. After talking some smack to my buddies and showing them this pic, I went back to the boat and the fish measured 40”. Two 40” skis in one day. I’ll take it.

Ryan Berry
Morris, IL

Chris Willen's Tale

Chris Willen's Tale
Story by Chris Willen

It was a cold and raining off and on when this girl met the net. My good friend and long time fishing buddy and I were out on silver lake looking to get a few more muskies in the boat before the season was over and we got pretty lucky. We noticed this bruiser on the graph suspended off what looked like bait fish. So we tried to keep the boat over her with suckers over the side and I was rippin plastics trying to entice the bite. We were just about ready to call it a day when the unmistakable sound of the bait clicker started screaming. I grabbed the rod swung for the fence and we got her after a short 5 min fight. She was about 23 feet down in 30 foot of water. She measured 45 on the button.

Chris Wille
Grayslake, IL

Adam Bradbury's Tale

Adam Bradbury's Tale
Story by Adam Bradbury

My brother and I grew up fishing for Northern Pike in Montana were we have family. We live in Maryland and have been for the most part forced to catch bass for sport locally. About 10 years ago we learned that the area reservoir had been stocked with Tiger Muskie. This got us very excited in hope that we could enjoy the same Pike like experiences locally. We had never fished for Tigers before and quickly learned that the strategies used for Pike do not apply to their hybrid offspring. To make a long story short, we have been fishing that lake on and off for the better part of 10 years. Up to this year we had boated a total of three Tigers in the 5 – 10 lbs class. Better than a bass but not up to the quality of Pike we were use to. After 10 years of “practice” we’re finally starting to figure this fish out. In the past month we have boated three quality fish (not an astounding number but weigh it against the previous 10 years of casting practice…). The attached picture was my 2nd ever Tiger weighing in at 15 lbs and 40 inches – she was released. I will never fish bass on this lake again. These are magnificent animals. I was truly honored after 10 years to have this experience with my brother.

Adam Bradbury
Gaithersburg, Maryland

Michael Chisamore's Tale

Michael Chisamore's Tale
Story by Michael Chisamore

This musky was 48.5 inches, 26 inch girth, 40 lb 9 oz. She hit in 30 ft water, I was trolling at 18 ft. We had marked her (most likely) earlier in the day - sitting at the bottom. When she hit - she went straight up to the surface. I had a lot of line out, but when she came up, I could see her far out. At first I thought I had a smaller musky (we had already boated 2 in the upper thirties that day) wrapped around a log. But then she dove back down - taking line at will. I knew I had a real nice fish. When I finally got her in close, I thought I finally had my first 50 incher (huge head)...but I was more then happy with my first 40 pounder.
Still looking for my first 50 incher.

Joe Alfe's Tale

Joe Alfe's Tale
Story by Joe Alfe

2006 Spring MI Challunge on the Chain

The Muskies Inc. Spring Challunge on the Fox Chain started under cloudy skies as the full field of 100 boats blasted into the morning. Water temps were in the low 60's and the water on the upper chain was clear. Fishing was sporadic until 9 AM. Reports came in a flurry between 9-10 Am. During that time, 17 fish were boated, including 2 teams doubling up. We thought we were in trouble with no fish in the boat at 9:30. We were leaving Bluff, puttering through the channel going to Petite when we decided to turn and head back to Bluff. This channel is narrow and lined with docks, with a depth of 5 feet. As we slowly made our way back to Bluff, my partner, Southern Wisconsin guide Gordy Lindy, snapped on a jointed Rapala X-Rap (at my suggestion-this is one of my favorite downsized baits) in a Shad flavor, and began casting it out and slowly retrieving. he had about 10 feet of line out when I look back and see his rod bent over. I thought he snagged a dock but the fish surfaced near me. Gordy didn't see it yet, but my eyes popped out of my head when I saw the fish. It was huge, and very girthy. After a short battle and some net theatrics, the monster was safely in the net. What a fish! After Gordy stopped yelling and jumping around, which attracted 2 boats to assist, We carefully untangled the beast (she was tangled good, thanks to the others who lent a hand) and measured her on the bump board. She taped at just over 49" and had a 23" girth. This thing was girthy from her wide shoulders all the way to her tail. Weight estimation is 35-38#. She was also the ugliest looking fish. I say she looked like a pirate, with bloody wounds, scuff marks, tattered fins, and one eye clouded over. Arrg! She also had enormous snaggle teeth that showed even when her mouth was closed! "Avast ye scurvy dogs!" She seemed to say as she blasted back into the water. Even though 2 other teams doubled during the tournement, this monster won the whole thing on points, won the big fish pot, and set a Spring Challung record for largest fish ever. What an experiance!

Joe Alfe

**In an attempt to improve the quality of photos, color has been enhanced by Musky Tales, photos have not been modified in any other way.

Josh Ketry's Tale

Josh Ketry's Tale
Story by Josh Ketry

Ahh she looks good, doesn't she? She felt good too, especially the part when she swam away. But there is something about the picture that makes me feel kind of strange, almost dirty in a way. I didn't catch that fish, someone else did. Someone named Ray Graf, who was fishing from shore with 12lb test and a 2" silver spoon from Kmart. Yet I am the one in the picture holding her, not Ray.
Now I am sure you are wondering why I am holding Ray's fish. The truth is that I believe it was fate...
O n a sunny tournament day in 2005, teammate Hans Mann and I were making a final trolling pass near the mouth of our favorite canal when suddenly we both had a similar feeling: We had to troll into the canal . It was shallow in there (up to 9 feet) but we had to go in anyway. So we followed our guts, as we usually do and we trolled on in.
Along the sides of the canal are tall concrete walls rising about 6-7 feet above the water. As we trolled along, two shore fishermen standing up on one of these walls slowly came into focus. One of them was standing on a white bucket with a bent over rod, while another one appeared to be reaching down into the water with an extra long-handled minnow net.
Then a third fisherman came sprinting down the cement wall running toward us: "FISH ON!" He yells. "Fish On!"
I give him a funny look and then I ask, half jokingly, "What is it? A muskie?"
"Yeah." he says, coldly. "It's a muskie."
At first, I admit, we were doubtful. As a child I had fished from shore hundreds of times and I never even saw a muskie until I began targeting them about five years earlier. But just in case the guy was telling the truth, Hans and I decided to switch into rescue mode.
We bring in our lines as fast as we can, drop the trolling motor and shoot over toward the men on the wall. Both of us are thinking: Maybe this is it. Maybe it's a real live "Accidental Muskie."

Click HERE to read the rest of Josh's story....