On the day 5 muskies were landed, included one monster catch by Clark Rayner. Clark actually caught 2 on the day. This 49.25 inch monster and another at 30 inches.
While I didn't catch a muskie, I didn't get completely shut out. Thanks to Abby's homemade spinner baits I did manage to catch this 14.5 inch smallmouth, hook a second, and then I hooked another fish, that had some considerable fight and weight to it. I lost it before getting whatever it was to the boat, but it had about the same weight as the 26 inch striper I caught on Canada Day, so it may very well have been a muskie!
While I didn't place in the tournament, I did come out a winner in the raffle, taking home a couple of Muskie spinner baits! The tournaments have a morning and afternoon half with a lunch break / bbq in the middle, During the break they have a raffle with a lot of muskie lures available. I brought along and donated a number of sharktooths to the raffle which was recognized and appreciated.
The wind picked up just as the morning session ended and the afternoon was basically a bust for me as I spent most of it battling the wind and some 'interesting' waves. Even in the Predator which is fairly high out of the water, I got soaked as wave after wave came crashing over the bow. It was fun but exhausting as it took about an hour and a half to paddle what should have been about 20 min in calm conditions back to the launch.
Are you interested in trying your hand at Muskie fishing? If you are, then you should check out the Saint John River chapter of Muskies Canada. There are over 50 members in the chapter now, and everyone is very open and willing to help new members learn and be successful in their efforts. The local chapter's website where you can find out more and join up is here.
There are 2 more muskie tournaments this year, hopefully I'll be able to be the chapter's first member to land a muskie in kayak at one of them!