caught his trophy. The taxidermist called me later and asked me if this guy was serious. I told him that I didn't know, but I do know that he never booked another guide date with me and I later learned that he quit musky fishing after he caught that fish. That happens more than you would think. I have had many clients that were new to the sport who caught trophy muskies early in their fishing career. More often than not, these people quit the sport but on the other hand, my experience has been that fishermen that fish for a long time before catching their trophy keep on fishing. Another way to catch a trophy musky is to learn as much as you can from books and magazines and apply it to the lakes that you fish. John Gierach made the observation in his book "A View From Rat Lake" that the other way to catch the big ones is to actually fish for them, which is something that most of us don't do. We continue to hope for big fish while fishing for little ones. Some honestly believe that trophies don’t rely on their talents, but that is true of only the worst fishermen. Most know how to catch big fish but are just not up for it. Dick Slieght has said pretty much the same thing when I interviewed him for my book "All Pro Muskie Guides". His comment was that while all fishermen wanted big fish, very few were willing to pay the price. The fact is that across most of musky country you're going to have to sacrifice action if you want to catch a trophy.
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