Lucky Wisconsin Angler Sets A New Fly Fishing World Record
On October 16th, 2008 Hayward, WI angler Brad Bohen aka The Afton Angler caught and released a 51.25" musky while fishing the Chippewa River. This fish was verified a new catch and release world record by the Fresh Water Fishing Hall of Fame on January 6 2009.
Here is how I recall that catch:
That fish was taken as part of a very unusual double musky on the fly catch...fellow angler Derek Kuehl and I were fly fishing with guide Tom Greenup of Ashegon Lake Resort on October 16th 2008 out of his driftboat. I am also a fly fishing guide and Derek invited me along on the trip after his original angling partner cancelled out.
It was a difficult day of fishing. We started out the float at around 9am and had only one small northern pike to our credit by 2pm. All three of us are avid river anglers and we knew that we had an opportunity at a really nice fish if we kept at it all day long.
Musky are like that - they make you pay for the privilege of playing with them. Many, many float trips are defined by a slogan we use Zero to Hero - meaning that one never knows when the stars will align and that one brief moment will turn a seemingly fruitless day into one that will stay with you for all your remaining days.
Tom kept a nice fishing pace on the oars and continually directed us to work different spots with our presentations. Derek was in the front of the boat and I worked out of the rear. Two seasoned fly rod anglers can cover a tremendous amount of water if they work in tandem.
We had moved a couple of decent musky that day and I will admit to having two really good strikes that I kind of farmed out! Lets just say that even a professional fly fishing guide can get a bit rusty if he puts in too much time on the oars in lieu of the rod...
All of us understood that the stakes were high. October 16th is a magic day on the calendar of any serious musky man. It was a rare privilege for the three of us to share such good water on a prime day together and we all wanted to make something really special happen.
I recall making a long backhanded cast to a very average looking piece of water just on the top side of a long rapids. I was using a big orange fly I tie specifically for river musky called a Beauford. Beauford was doing it's thing...darting, flashing, shaking out there in the current when I caught a glimpse of a huge fish behind it.
I exhaled slowly, "Oh boy fellas! There's a big one out there behind my fly!"
Derek had just made a cast of his own downriver ahead of the boat and looked over with Tom at where my fly was. No doubt about it - a really big musky was back there hunting my offering. It was a tense few moments as the mighty fish made first one passing swipe at the fly and then a second as I kept the retrieve alive and steadily moving towards the boat.
Our hearts were in our throats as we all watched spellbound at the event unfold. I know all of us will keep the memory of the moment alive in our anglers minds until the day we die.
I have witnessed hundreds of musky attacks in my days guiding and fishing for them. This was one of the largest fish I had seen follow a fly that hot but I was running out of room to make something happen. This is where Beauford took center stage. That fly is just a killer in many situations but it really earned it's keep that day as I was able to really slow down the retrieve and stall that fish out.
It was like a high stakes poker game and the bluff was on...just outside of the end of the right oar I let that big orange fly kinda hang out there in the current. Fluff, glitter, glitter...that big ol musky coiled up and I just gave one last Twitch...then she reared back and pounded it!
That fly just disappeared into her massive head like a piece of popcorn getting sucked up by a super powered vacuum cleaner. Gone!
Fish On! We all knew it was a good hook up as the big fish came up and did a violent headshake on the surface and then stayed on as she made a powerful run away from the boat. We all came together knowing full well we had a world class fish on and each one of us would have to play a role in bringing her to the net.
Little did we know...
As I stated earlier we were in a pretty bland piece of water just above a rapids and just after I had made the fateful cast Derek had thrown one out of his own. Derek would be the net man now and as he went back to the task of getting his line and fly in the boat he made a couple of strips when all of a sudden - WHAM!
The water just exploded downstream of the boat as another giant musky clobbered Derek's fly.
"Musky Double" He hollered.
I thought it was some kind of twisted joke he was pulling until I looked up and saw that he was indeed struggling with what appeared to be something the size and mass of a pit bull terrier. If that was not enough to witness - the fish made quite a disturbance in the river just as the water fell over the edge of the flat into the rapids.
I still to this day admire the oarsmanship and gunfighter cool of Tom Greenup in that extraordinary moment. Tom made all of the right moves and like a true pro kept the entire situation from going down the rapids and possibly down the drain. He heaved on the oars and rowed us up out of harms way...all the while making merry-go-round moves with the boat to keep the two angry and game fish from crossing paths.
I'll bet there were at least a thousand things that could have fouled us up but it was just our day. Derek has landed more big fish in the past four seasons than any other single fly angler alive I wager. He did a yeoman's job on his fish - it was a prime hot musky and under normal circumstances would have been the trophy of the season.
But we all knew the caliber of the fish that had struck first and we were all in this one together. Derek just conjured up his fish fighting mojo and made short work of a really game beast. The first pass that the fish made that was nettable Greenup slipped the mesh under it and hauled it twisting mad onboard.
All the while I had been fighting the big gal and was just playing a conservative card - keeping her in check and attempting not to panic her into some sort of wild run. It worked and again taking my hat off to Tom Greenup for his world class display of cunning and cool we still had a shot at her and a better than average shot I judged as Derek alligator wrestled that mad one of his up in the front of the boat.
In seemingly no time Derek was up and proclaimed himself ready to net the old toad I was messing around with.
"O.K. Chief I'll bring her about..."
The big old musky had a bit of fight left in her but most of the theatrics were over by this point. We all had adrenaline in our veins at this point and I firmly believe that if she had gotten free one or all of us would have jumped in and been able to swim her down.
It did not come to that thankfully. She was beat fair and square and once Derek slipped the net under her and hoisted her heft aboard we all let out a sigh of relief followed shortly by a series of war whoops!
Nearly 100" of river musky in the boat at the same time! Derek's fish taped at just a hair under 45" and mine went 51.25". Now that is just a thrill of a lifetime. Getting recognized as the official catch and release world record for the 36# tippet class by the Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame was an honor but really was anticlimactic to such a memorable and lasting experience.
I will always cherish that time out with two wonderful fishing buddies on a supreme Wisconsin river chasing those incredible creatures we know and love as the musky.
Thanks for reading!
Keep your boots wet.
Brad Bohen
The Afton Angler
www.BradBohen.com
aftonangler@bradbohen.com
See you out there...
Brad Bohen
The Afton Angler
guide@muskycountryoutfitters.com
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