The Simultaneous Sows
It was August 11th, 2005 at around 7pm that I experienced one of the most astonishing catches of my career: the capture of the "Simultaneous Sows." My friend Mark Pakkala, who operated The Fishin' Bum Bait Shop on Big Crawling Stone Lake, and I decided to go row-trolling for Musky that evening, so we set out at around 6pm under cloudy, misty skies on Big Crawling Stone lake, planning to fish deep water for suspended fish.
Mark and I decided to start our first trolling run over 70 feet of water, in an area of the lake that was teeming with schools of cisco. We set out six lines, four with planer boards and two flat lines, all armed with Grandma baits, then we started rowing. We trolled for about an hour before heading toward a small, mid-lake rock hump that I know that's not on any map. As we passed over the 22 foot crest of the bar, the lures on our two back lines started bumping bottom, causing both rods to bounce. As soon as the baits started running free, I made a sharp 90 degree turn with the boat, and less than 10 seconds later, one of the back rods snapped horizontal so violently that I thought it was going to be ripped from the boat! I grabbed the rod from the holder and knew immediately that I was into a heavy fish. A second later, the surface exploded about 100 feet from the back of the boat as a huge musky erupted from the lake, shaking her head wildly, trying to throw the Grandma bait! She stayed on the surface going crazy, thrashing back and forth like an alligator as I tried to keep the line tight!
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Things get interesting... Simultaneous Sows cont...
Meanwhile, Mark had his own problems: we still had five lines out and my fish was starting to spin our boat. He had to clear them fast! As he was bringing in the second rod, he suddenly shouted that he had another fish hooked! Then it was pure chaos. Imagine two very large fish, spinning our boat in circles with three lines still out! It was unbelievable! By this time, I had worked my fish to the side of the boat and she was going absolutely berserk! I under-judged my fish by a bit, guessing that she was around 35 pounds. She was so fat she looked short in the gin-clear water and I didn't want to put her in the net because we still hadn't seen Mark's fish. My fish fought on the surface - Mark's refused to come up, fighting with deep, strong runs. Finally, after a long battle, an enormous hybrid "Tiger" musky surfaced alongside the boat and I made a play for it one-handed, somehow managing to get it in the net. Mark immediately grabbed the net and swung it around the boat to go after mine. I have no idea how he managed to net my fish with a thrashing Tiger musky already occupying it, but somehow he did it. Then I was finally able to drop my rod and help Mark get the fish into the boat, which turned out to be pretty difficult. Combined, the two fish weighed over 70 pounds in the net, more than the world record!
My fish, a "true" musky, was 52 inches long and weighed 43 pounds, 3 ounces. Mark's hybrid musky was 50 1/2 inches long and weighed in at 34 pounds. They took 1st and 2nd place in the Vilas County Musky Marathon and mine ended up being the largest in the state of Wisconsin in 2005. Although Mark and I were targeting big fish when we caught the Sows, I have to admit that an enormous amount of LUCK went into this catch. Will I ever beat it? Who knows, but I'm sure going to try. I hope you enjoyed my story and good luck with your own trophy hunting. You never know when something crazy spectacular might happen!
*(Sow's pictured at bottom of page. ) Greg
Genesis of a Musky Guide
My love for Muskie's began at the age of 14 on Lost Lake in St. Germain, Wi. My family vacationed from Springfield, Il. every summer during the 3rd and 4th weeks of June, staying at Quiet Comfort Cabins, a quaint resort owned by famed, 50 year veteran Musky guide, Marv Heeler. To say that I admired Marv is putting it very mildly. Anyway, that summer I witnessed a guy in a nearby boat, that was pitching what I later learned was a Suick, catch a 44 inch Musky! I was hooked! I had to catch one! It took me two more summer vacations, but I finally nailed it, a 33 1/2 incher that hit my black bucktail. Two days later, I caught a 45 1/2! ( pictured) That was all it took. I was 17 and knew I wanted to be a Musky guide. I continued coming to the Northwoods to fish Musky through college, where I studied Biology and Zoology, then in 1985, I finally made the move to St. Germain and fulfilled my dream. Marv Heeler took me under his wing, mentoring me and helping me cut my teeth on not only the St. Germain lakes, but many lakes in the Boulder Junction and Sayner/ Star lake areas, as well. The picture is of Marv with a 44 1/2 incher that he took on his all-time favorite lake: Big St. Germain. The fish won him 1st place in the Greater Wisconsin Musky Tournament held annually in St. Germain, Wi. Marv was truly one of the Grand Old Guides of St. Germain. Thanks to Marv, I possess over 85 years of combined knowledge on a number of the lakes that I fish and I'm truly grateful. He didn't just teach me lakes and their fascinating lore, he also taught me guide etiquette. He taught me to be a professional.
Chapter Two
In 1987, I moved my base of operations to Minocqua, Wi. and joined Tommy's Fishing Adventures, run by Fishing Hall of Famer Tommy "Tadpole" Zinda. My lake repertoire continued to expand to include the Minocqua Chain of Lakes, the Arbor Vitae's, the famous Flambeau Chain, as well as numerous others. In 1990, I left Fishing Adventures and joined Strictly Walleye Headquarters in Minocqua, owned by another Fishing Hall of Famer, Greg Bohn. There I had the privilege of working with some of the best fishing guides of the 1990's, all of us working together to make us all better fishermen and guides. I was also a frequent contributor to the fishing industry during that time, working sport shows, giving seminars and writing fishing articles. Something else special happened in 1990: I boated my first Musky over 30 pounds. This fish ignited the passion that I have to this day for pursuing the true giants of the species. Since 2000, I've been guiding independently, but do business out of Dewey, Catch'em & How bait shop, located across from the Paul Bunyan's in Minocqua, Wi. I continue to work hard to help people, of all ages, catch their first Musky, or beat their personal best. I'll teach you all I can about this magnificent fish and hopefully put one in the boat! If Muskie's aren't your thing, I also enjoy guiding for Walleye, Smallmouth Bass, and Northern Pike. How many lakes do I know now? Good question? I stopped counting years ago at around 130. Good luck fishing!
Past & Future Musky Guides
What started it all!