Every once and a while the gods shine on you and you land a big fish at a key time.

Musky fishing can be a long process, tossing cast after cast hoping to do battle with a giant.

It seems the moment you lose focus is the moment you get a strike. I have seen it time and time again.

Last Sunday my group had three muskie on only to lose them before we had them to the boat. One beast hit boat side only to run under the boat and shake off. That is muskie fishing.

As luck would have it, I had the opportunity to guide the camera man from In-Fisherman Troy Sepion. He was up to do some filming for the 2007 International Angler Young Angler championships. Lund had teams from all over the country and two teams from the U.S. competing for the international title.

The team from Minnesota walked away with top honours with a weight of over 14 pounds. It was by far the best AYA in history. I was honoured to be master of ceremonies for the event.

Michelle Trudeau, AYA's international director, did an outstanding job setting up the tournament. It was really a sight to see all the AYA decal boats leaving Kenora's Harbourfront. Local Wayne Wagner and his crew were a solid second place with a weight just over 10 pounds.

I drove around most of the day with Troy in the Lund special events boat. We decided to go catch some walleye after the tourney wrapped up.

We were soon boating walleye with the help of Gerry Kehler and one of his buddies.

I decided to get the big gear on and toss some baits to see if I could scare up a toothy critter. On my second cast the water boiled and I set the hook.

I was doing battle with my muskie while Gerry landed a five-pound walleye. After several strong runs I managed to land a beast that measured 50.25 inches.

This could be the best year for big fish that I have ever seen. It was the sixth fish over 50 inches in the boat this year.

The cowgirls bait have been scaring up all kinds of muskie this season. If you don't have this huge buck-tail in your box you need to get one. This is probably the best muskie bait I have seen in the last 10 years. It not only brings fish to the boat, it catches big fish almost every time out.

The number 10 blades create a vortex that draws the skirting out giving it a huge profile in the water. This bait is going to make muskie fisherman out of your average fisherman. With outstanding success ratios versus time on the water this bait will shatter the old saying that the muskie is the fish of 10,000 casts. I have been using the bait for the last 60 days and have seen more big fish than ever before.

I expect to catch big fish when this baby is in the water.

You can register to get a free shirt at the muskie mahem website if you land a 50-inch fish on their bait. Send them a picture and tell them what bait you landed it on and your shirt will be sent to you. I have already seen a few shirts being worn by lucky anglers around the city.

Till next week, keep your lines tight.

http://winnipegsun.com/Sports/OtherSports/2007/08/26/pf-4447121.html

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