The first left turn Otto made with his lure rolled the fish to the right and under the motor area. Otto made a rookie mistake in assuming immediately that when the muskie rolled in the opposite direction, she was gone. He pulled the bait out of the water. Pat and I have both had experiences like this and we know that sticking with big deep circles and sudden speed changes with a lure can and will trigger a strike. Otto gave-up too soon and lamented his “almost” trophy the rest of the day. So, we motored back to camp with heads hanging.

Actually I was kind of pumped – this was as close as we got to this fish and I knew she was ready for a photo shoot right now.  Pat and I were feeling sorry for the bow hunters by the end of the week. These guys were troopers. While we slept-in, they were stumbling around in the dark trying to get a jump on those elusive deer. All we had to do was roll out of bed by noon and then start casting.  They struck camp a couple of days before we did, but not before we exchanged cell phone numbers for future outings together. We said our goodbyes then Pat and I hit the water, while our friends headed home.

A few hours later we took a lunch break and came back to camp. And guess what we fond there? Deer! That’s right – three of them walking right past the bow hunters’ cabin. Of course, we just had to call them on the road to tell them what they were missing – and to let them know they could have bagged a trophy without even leaving the cabin front porch.