Monday, March 10, 2014

The Cave gave us a Run for our money.

With reports of 25" of ice on Webster and no open water in site, the reality of Musky fishing in Indiana anytime soon may only be wishful thinking. Is this winter ever going to end?  I think I went thru more 2 cycle oil this year running my snowblower than I did all of last year running my boat. My patience was running thin. Then last week, while online googling the definition of  polar vortex, I received a I.M. from fellow Chap #49 member, Adam Wallace. His message was short and to the point. It read "this weather stinks... road trip?" Road trip! Yeah, that's what I need, a road trip. Nothing like an impromptu road trip to cure cabin fever. I typed back "Hells yeah! Where to?" Adam had it all figured out. Cave Run, a quick little trip to Kentucky and back, piece of cake. "It's like going to Wisconsin." Leave Friday after work, drive all night, fish all day. Come home Sunday. Man, did that sound good, just like the old days. When we would just jump in the car and go. But wait, I probably should've cleared it with the Gestapo first. Thank goodness I am married to a woman who loves fishing as much as I do and understands the wintertime Jones one goes through when one is a Musky junkie. As well as understanding the concept of "the road trip." Thanks, Jeanine, I promise you can go with us next time.

So off we went, in pursuit of Ky. Muskys. We left Kosciusko County by 7:00pm and arrived  by about 2:00am. We got a little shut eye for a few hours and then headed to the lake. With  time to spare, we decided to stop in at Crash's Landing, the local pro shop. It turns out they just opened for the year and we were their first customers of the season. The store was damp and musty and had that just opened for the first time smell to it. But it provided us with all the hot lure's we absolutely had to have for sucess on the Cave.  A C-note later and we were on our way, toting our new weapons and a parking pass while wearing our Crash's Landing fishing hats! We launched the boat and set out in search of warmer water and baitfish. A quick ride to a sunny wind blown cove and we were in business. We found the warmer water and the bait, but finding the Musky was a little harder. A few more coves and a few more hours turned up the same results. The Muskys were about as hard to find as a (insert tastless and insensitive airplane joke here). The water, at 42 deg., was up four feet from summer pool and was really muddy. Clarity was only about a foot. At least the weather was good, maybe too good. With temps in the high 50's and sunny skies, it made for a wonderful day to be out on the water. We even got a little sunburned. What a difference a few hundred miles can make.

It was nice to have a change of scenery, a new lake with new challenges. Different baits, unordinary presentations and  strange water conditions may have caught us out a bit, but it was still Musky fishing. That doesn't change much.

Although, what seems to have changed is the "road trip." Long gone are the days of the full cooler in the back seat, next to the briefcase of cassette tapes. No one was hanging out the window screaming "Whoo, Cave Run." We slept in a motel, with warm beds, not in a pickup truck with a cold, rusty bed. Nowadays, Red Bull replaces the Red Label. Heck, we even had gas money to get home. But, it's all good, we  had a great time. Drinking and driving is for Richards, and no one wants to be a Richard.

So next time you get a case of cabin fever, send somebody a text, post a request for a "road trip" on Facebook or start a thread on the Club's forum. Road trips are a blast, I can't wait for the next one. What's even cooler, now, I can actually remember what happened during the weekend! Well, most of it, anyway.
Jim "Muskieless in Morehead" Welsh

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