Lyons, tigers, and bears

Contributed by Matt Powell


It was a slow day on Pinewood Reservoir above Loveland. We had seen a grand total of around 12 fish, none of which wanted anything to do with our streamers and 20 lb mono. Normally, over our numerous trips to this tiger musky haven over the past month, a few fish had at least humored us with a follow but nothing even close to what had occurred today. On our walk back from patrolling the banks in search of one of the elusive predators, my friend Joe spotted a large tail protruding from a shadow cast by the spillway. I made a dumbfounded sub-par cast to where I imagined the fishes nose to be and started stripping, stripping....nothing. As my streamer approached the bank, I saw a massive olive torpedo speeding towards my fly in my peripheral vision. It hit the fly and I prematurely set the hook. My heart was beating like a snare drum and gazing at the situation, a voice in my head told me to keep stripping. He smacked it once more and I was careful not to make the same mistake twice...FISH ON! The brawl lasted around 10 minutes and resulted in yelps from Joe and I that could be heard all across Larimer County.

The toothy behemoth measured a hair over 40 inches with k-9s that were easily a half inch long. I never understood watching the musky fishing videos and hearing from musky connoisseurs how one fish days were considered "epic", but now I know. A new pursuit and a new style of fishing always gives me a diffrent perspective on the game and for that, I thank you mr. tiger musky.