Like many of you, I consider the muskie opener as the 'real' fishing opener. No longer do we have to fish for something else to pass the time. This past Saturday was the official kick-off to the madness of 2010, and I'm proud to say that we started it off on the right foot.

Fellow guide partner, Young Ben, and I hit the water very early in the season. 3:00 AM to be exact. A busy schedule for the two of us meant that if we wanted to get any significant amount of time on the water that we'd have to get out there early. Shortly into our season we had the first nibble. An explosion in the darkness that caused Ben to prematurely set the hook. I followed that up with a few good chuckles and that is when we were reminded what specie we were pursuing. It seemed fitting to have it start that way, and it certainly got the juices flowing.

As if we didn't have the perfect sign to start our season, God blessed us with a muskie sunrise that we'll never forget. The canvas was covered with every color in the rainbow and I'm sure if you were on the water then you know what I'm talking about too. For a while we seemingly forgot what we were on the water to do. We stopped fishing completely.. With every second we were in even more awe and couldn't get over the brightness of the sky. The water was calm and if there weren't trees in the distance, you wouldn't have been able to tell where the water ended and sky began. Sheer beauty. To make it even sweeter, once we finally started casting again, we got to watch our first muskie bulge the surface and create a wake behind Ben's lure from the start of his cast to the finish. I could have ended my day right there and I'd have been happy. The muskie didn't strike, but the day didn't end there either.

A little while later I was given the opportunity to join the crew on KFAN Outdoors for a live report on the water. I have been lucky enough to be a regular guest on their program and we chatted about what we were experiencing on the water. During this time, Ben had two more giant muskies come boatside and nearly gave me a heart attack while conducting my interview. You can check out the full interview here. Thank you Billy Hildebrandt and Bob St. Pierre for another opportunity!

Shortly after the interview Ben had to go to work and my partners changed. I dropped Ben off and Bails and Hennen jumped aboard. I was bound and determined to get the slime in the boat. As it turned out, Hennen was just the man to do it. About 30 minutes into his muskie season he landed the first toothy critter of the year. A dandy 44 incher that put the icing on my muskie opener cake. While I would have been satisfied to just be on the water for that perfect morning, I will admit that the muskie in da boat made me smile a quite a bit. A great start to the 'real' opener.. If this is any indication, I'm very excited for what is to come. Stay tuned - It's going to be a great season! Until next time, keep on livin' the dream!

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