and put a little slime in the boat. This time of year the water temperature in the morning is usually warmer than the air giving rise to varying degrees of mist. I slipped away from the dock at Indian Trail Resort just before the sun crept over the Eastern horizon and cleaned out the shoreline of the resort using only a trolling motor on very slow speed. This is a practice that is ignored by many Muskie anglers as they motor off to their favorite Chippewa Flowage Muskie water…sometimes the fish is as close as your own "front door". The water temperature was up to a respectable 64 degrees and at that temperature every lure is a potential Muskie producer. Muskie anglers have had success with everything from plastics to surface lures. Since I was covering the shallow shoreline, I decided to use a Topper to emulate a small varmint patrolling the shoreline for an easy meal. I am a supporter of the concept of ‘matching the hatch’ as part of a hunt strategy and anyone who has fished in the early Spring has observed that behavior for the animals that make their living at or close to the shallows. The shallows are also the first place where emerging weeds will provide a Muskie ambush cover. As I rounded the point of the resort shoreline heading toward Bay 1, I was getting ready to pull up the trolling motor and head on down the road. I thought to myself, "Just a cast or two more to be sure that I fished the shoreline clean". As the Surf Master hit the water, a Muskie exploded on it. In all honesty, I never had time to even set the hook. Lucky for me, the Muskie
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