I’ve got to tell you, I’ve just returned from my first fall trip to Lake of the Woods in Ontario, Canada; and my knees are still shaking! I’ve spent countless years, chasing fall muskies in Northern Illinois and all around the Northwoods of Wisconsin, but never in Canada, not in the fall. No I’m sorry to say all of my Canada trips were taken during the middle of the summer. Every July, at least 10-12 of us would make the run up to various places in Canada like Vermillion Bay, Georgian Bay and Lake of the Woods to search for that elusive 50 incher. We certainly saw our share of 50 inchers in the summer, some even as big as 54 inches! It was only two years ago that I finally hit my biggest, a 49.5 incher in the middle of July! What a fight that was! Following a quick photo, she was released to fight again. I look at that photo nearly every day, and can remember the details surrounding that event; just like it happened yesterday! That moment continues to be one of the most memorable releases I have ever had.

Roll the calendar forward to October 9^th, 1999. My partner Willie Pesina and good friends Jeff "Package" Lowe & Frank Bottiglieri (Frank’s Custom Rods in Bartlett, IL) arrived at Bill & Cindy Sandy’s brand new Blackhawk Island Musky Camp; eager to view the new digs and bang some huge fall muskies! A quick 10-minute boat ride from the Northwest Angle put us right at Billy & Cindy’s brand new floating docks. Each slip was lined with rubber bumper strips and came equipped with it’s own outlet for charging your batteries! No worries here about ruining the paint job on your beautiful boat or not having a full charge in the morning cause you’re sharing outlets with 20 other boats! The entire perimeter of the docking facility was illuminated by landscape lights and was visible from the water for at least a mile away! It was very comforting when coming back home under a veil of darkness, to see the lights of the piers waiting for you! The cabins were just built this spring. Each full size log cabin was hand hewn. Each cabin had a loft with cathedral ceilings and was lined with tongue & groove knotty pine. Our cabin was an 8 man, equipped with 2 full baths! Everything in it was brand new & top of the line! Bill & Cindy’s hospitality was second to none. During the week we ate home made bread & muffins, homemade soups and best of all homemade cookies! Cindy is a tremendous cook and made us feel right at home. We even had some birthday cake to celebrate Billy Sandy’s birthday on Friday, our last night in camp.

Enough about the amenities, let’s talk Muskies! The weather early in the week was unseasonably warm with 2 days of temps in the low 70’s! For the balance of the week, we saw temperatures in the low 40’s with rain & wind, perfect musky conditions! We trolled weed flats as well as steep rocky shorelines that included points, islands & rock bars; truly classic fall structure! We spent our first two days with famed LOW musky guide Bill Sandy. This soft-spoken, hard working musky fanatic is the best musky man I’ve ever seen. He works the contours & drop off’s with ease, as he knows virtually every piece of lake structure intimately. He constantly worked us in and out, over the top, and down the sides of every major rock hump, rock pile and saddle in the area. We trolled 10 inch Jakes in Glitter Perch, Fire Tiger & Tennessee Shad patterns for most of the week, and man did they produce! The first day out with Billy, he hooked up with a fat 47 incher. I was amazed at how absolutely thick these fall fish were. Until now, I had only seen this kind of girth in musky magazines! In our first two days of trolling, Frank Bottiglieri got 2 beautiful fish. His muskies measured 47 & 48 inches, both going over 30 pounds. I followed shortly thereafter with a huge 48.5" hog that went over 32 pounds, and another fine 47.5" that tipped the 30-pound mark! We also caught some really nice thick Northern Pike throughout the week that ran anywhere from 30-44 inches, all sporting their plump fall midsections! Later in the week my partner, Willie Pesina matched his personal best with a dandy 42 incher that ran well over 20 pounds.

The one that everyone will remember was caught & released by Jeff "Package" Lowe from Island Lake, IL. On Thursday night, as the sun began to fade into the lake, casting shades of red & pale pink into the evening sky, Frank boated a nice 40 incher. By the time they CPR’d (Catch, Photographed & Released) her it was dark.

 "What do you say Jeff, how about heading in?" asked Frank. "How about making one more pass down this shoreline?"Jeff said. Less than 5 minutes later, Jeff’s 10 inch Glitter Perch Jake came to a bone jarring stop. In the complete darkness, Package had no idea what he had just hooked into. "Man she really feels heavy, she’s got to be at least 40 inches", Jeff shouted, above the spray of water. Frank yelled to him, "get her up to the top and let’s see what we’ve got". After what seemed like an eternity, the behemoth surfaced, all 55 inches of her!

As they slid the massive fish gently into the net, neither one knew at that time how big the fish really was. It was only after they had cut the hooks out and Jeff tried to lift the huge fish out of the net, did he realize how heavy this musky was. "Man, I can barely get this fish up" Jeff gasped. Frank got the measuring stick on her and together they laid the fish down. While Jeff pinched the tail he asked "Well, what do we got? "Double nickels" Frank whispered in awe, barely audible. "What did you say" Jeff exclaimed, "I thought you said double nickels"? "I did", said Frank, "this baby is 55 inches"! Jeff’s knees immediately became weak at the news of the fish’s length. "Oh my God, Frank" he gasped, " let’s get a photo of this big girl & get her back into the water ASAP"!

Frank snapped the memorable photo as Package strained to hold the big fish upright. The fish’s huge head and massive 25-inch girth told the two that this was one healthy eating machine. As soon as the flash of the camera went off, Jeff lowered the monster into the black water. Before he could utter any thanks, the musky’s gigantic tail moved a 3-foot tall column of water into Jeff’s face and instantly the fish was gone! In the total darkness, Jeff muttered "I can’t believe what just happened here". Still numb from the experience, he sat down and stared blankly into the night. The silence of the moment was overpowering. "You just won the lottery," said Frank retracting the pole into the net, "you just won the lottery!" At this point, Jeff could not fathom that he had caught & released the musky of a lifetime! It wasn’t until several days later that he realized the significance of what he had accomplished! This fish will surely rank as one of the largest releases in 1999, in the entire country!

When the final weekly tally was completed, we; including friends Bob Nielsen & Kevin Segebarth who had joined us later in the week, had caught & released 31 muskies. Ten of these muskies were in the 40 inch class and six of the 10 were between 47-48.5 inches! Mixed in were numerous muskies in the 30-39 inch range along with at least 10-12 Northerns in the 30-44 inch range. All of these fish were sporting their massive fall girths and all were released to fight another day!

If you’re looking for the musky of a lifetime, wait until the fall and give Bill & Cindy Sandy a call at their Blackhawk Island Musky Camp (218) 386-1099. A huge log cabin main lodge will be built this winter; which will include a full size kitchen & dining area to accommodate American plan guests in Y2K! The main lodge will be open along with the other 5 cabins when the musky season opens next June. You can bet we’ll all be back next fall trying to beat Jeff Lowe’s "double nickel" musky!