Lake St. Clair with Jim & Gino: Day 3 Part 1: BIG MUSKIE

[Duplex]

Spoonpluggers,

The action continues on St. Clair as we continue catching quality smallmouth bass. As Buck has stated, sometimes other fish got in the way. We caught those also.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UxlBfkLE0w

Jim

NEXT WEEK: Cast or Troll: what do you prefer?

[tom p.]

Awesome!!!!

[Fran Myers]

That is amazing. It's all I can do to not curse.... It'll be a rare day when this again.

Fran

[Bink]

I hope when I'm old as dirt like you two I can get around the boat like that!! Gino looks like like a teenager netting all Jim's fish. Great job!!

[Steve Craig]

That was really nice of Gino to let you catch all those fish!

Really great video to say the least!

[Duplex]

Spoonpluggers,

There certainly have been a number of comments regarding Gino’s performance, at the helm and on the net, during the St. Clair outing. It’s probably a good time to give you the back story on our trip.

George Schauner has been my fishing partner since 1998. Over the years we’ve had many memorable trips resulting in some outstanding catches. Last year, he decided to relocate to Florida and this left me in search of a new partner. You’ve seen the videos of Bink and I fishing the cooling lakes and I’ve fished with Bob Roels, Phil Szafranski, Frank Cipria, and various friends and family members. Each, in their way, was deficient. Bink was particularly notable for his becoming apoplectic at the sight of a banana; that and his inability to film and net a fish at the same time caused him to be cut from the list.

I was starting to get desperate when Gino asked if he could intern on my next trip. As an intern, he would make the motel reservations, do all the driving, research the lake and fishing conditions, provide necessary equipment and keep it maintained, handle the boat, and net the fish. He was also expected to do something regarding his Italian accent, which I found annoying. I mean, I’m Italian but c’mon already. We got into a number of arguments in the boat because I just couldn’t understand what the heck he was saying. A couple of times, I almost slapped it out of him.

To make a long story short, he did an adequate job; even though he did try my patience. I made it a point to explain to him that in order to catch a fish; you must first be able to net a fish. A concept we argued about constantly. “Please let me catch one, please let me catch one”; if he said it once, he said it a thousand times. I tried to explain to him how important it was to be able to net a variety of fish, both big and small. “What if you lose or forget your net? Can you land a fish by hand?” I must say he was up to the challenge, though I was disappointed by his reluctance to lip the muskie rather than gill it. Look for him to net more smallmouth and a big walleye in Day 3 Part 2.

Overall, I have to grade him out at a C+; a grade Bink, with all his “youth”, could never hope to achieve. Unfortunately for Gino, George has decided to cancel his relocation plans.

Gino, I just want you to know that it’s not you; it’s me. And that accent!

Ciao a tutti,

Jim

[Fran Myers]

Jim,
Hearing you and Gino banter brought me back to to when my grandparents and great grandparents were alive and never a kind word spoken between them. Yelling, swearing, etc...most of the time. It was very comforting for me.

As long as you're giving Gino the business, maybe you should get some too. OK...

The first day totals were...

Jim/Gino. - 16
John/Fran. - 28
Brett/Nibal. - 70

My question to you Jim is: How many fish of the 16 did you catch?

I got to tell you, the fishing was great but the company was and is the biggest reason I go on these trips and I really enjoyed being around you. Thanks for coming.

I should also say that John and I both suspected there would be Muskies caught. We figured one or two small ones. The fact that you and Gino caught most of them and all the big ones really brings a smile to me. I know Gino prefers Musky fishing so EVERYONE got something out of his trip.

This trip is so rare and unusual in so many areas that I'm not certain what we could do to get close. I know the potential is there in the Bass Islands. Obviously going back to St. Clair is an option but with the structure situations the way they are, if the weather got bad - we might get a skunk.

Anyway, thank you for the films and pictures. I know my friends around the world absolutely love them.

[Steve Craig]

LOL!

In that one pic of you above with the big Musky, it looks like poor Gino is crying so hard he had to remove his glasses to wipe his eyes!
Shame on you for catching that Musky and making him cry!

Steve(aka The Bad Apple)

[John Bales]

The reason that Duplex caught most of the musky is because they did more trolling than anyone else. For those of you that don't know, this is the first time that Jim Duplex has ever had a casting rod in his hand. He does a little casting in the pond at his house but that is because they won't let him put his boat in the pond. Most of our evenings were spent back at the hotel teaching Jim how to cast out in the parking lot. He actually did pretty good for his first time of casting. It is difficult to get into a school of fish if you don't cast and Jim learned that on this trip. Good job Jim. John