Our fortunes were much better – with one exception. We had located a pretty active muskie on a spot about fourteen miles from camp early in the week. She would follow lures of every kind like she meant business, but never cracked a smile. Every evening we’d return to the spot several times, raise her, and then she was gone. Sometimes we’d raise her three and four times with no luck. Bow Hunter Otto was particularly interested in our success even though he had never been muskie fishing before.

My partner Pat decided to sleep one afternoon, so I took Otto out to do some casting. We took off from camp straight for the spot Pat and I had been raising the big muskie all week. I figured that I had beginner’s luck riding with me and I would use that to my advantage. I had to give Otto a crash course in the operation of a baitcast reel and he of course threw his first two casts just like someone who is used to sitting in a deer stand.

Cast number one splashed ten feet in front of Otto and I had to hold-in a chuckle. “Nice and easy – let that big muskie rod do all the work.” I told him as he was undoing a bird’s nest in the reel caused by the wild first chuck.