Musky tale comes to happy ending
True story of lost, found and returned fishing gear
HAYWARD - Once upon a time, an Illinois resident with a passion for musky fishing in northern Wisconsin lost his favorite rod and reel.
Kerplunk, it went, right over the side of his boat.
Four days later, a Wisconsin man with an equal love of muskies snagged a line while fishing the same water.
As he pulled the line in hand-overhand, he was surprised to find a rod and reel at one end and a 47-inch musky at the other.
The fish was “CPR’d” - caught, photographed and released.
But the finder didn’t stop there. He was determined to locate the gear’s rightful owner.
It took nine months, but his efforts were successful.
Fishing is legendary for producing tall - sometimes fictional - tales.
But this one, verified and true, has not even an ounce of exaggeration.
It had a happy conclusion Wednesday as the two men met for the first time on the shores of Lost Land Lake near Hayward.
Joe Weiss of Spooner exchanged the rod, reel and lure with Jerry Ewert of Crystal Lake, Ill.
“Thought it was gone forever,” said Ewert, 60.
The story began Oct. 9, 2017, when Ewert, on vacation in the Northwoods with his wife Karen, went fishing on Lost Land Lake.
Although an experienced angler who has caught more than 50 legal muskies in the area, Ewert decided to try trolling for the first time.
He repeatedly snagged weeds with his lures. Then, while on another trolling pass, he heard a loud “bang.”
Ewert looked back to see the rod holder had broken off and the rod and reel disappear into the water.
“I circled back to look for it but it was long gone,” Ewert said. “Embarrassed, I ended the day down one pole and reel and thought trolling was a really bad idea.”
Ewert didn’t know what caused the rod holder to snap, but he assumed the culprit was a clump of weeds.
Unbeknownst to him, the “what” was animal, not plant.
On Oct. 13, Weiss and his friend Tom Poquette of Spooner were fishing on Lost Land Lake when the float on one of their sucker rigs sunk beneath the sur-
face.
As Weiss, 66, reeled it in, he found it connected to the rod, reel and trophy musky.
It was a first for Weiss, who has caught and released more than 200 muskies in Wisconsin and is president of the Spooner Musky Club.
“Unbelievable,” said Weiss at the time. “Just when you think you’ve seen it all, you haven’t seen it all.”
The gear included a Shimano Calcutta baitcasting reel, a 6-foot Shakespeare rod and a lipped crank bait.
The reel alone costs about $210. Some who found such an outfit would have kept or sold it.
In addition to sharing the story with
the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and other media outlets, he took out a “found equipment” advertisement in a Hayward-area publication.
“I know if its was mine I’d want it back,” Weiss said.
Nine months passed without a credible lead, however.
Then, in early June, Ewert got on his computer and did a Google search for “biggest musky on Lost Land Lake.”
The top article to come up was the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel piece published Oct. 19, 2017.
Ewert read it with interest and put two-and-two together.
“Wait a minute,” he said. “That could be mine!”
He contacted Weiss on the email address provided in the article and the two then talked by phone.
Ewert correctly identified all the gear and Weiss said, “come get it.”
The two met Wednesday a few hundred yards from the spot the fish was landed last fall.
Weiss handed Ewert the gear he hadn’t seen in nine months. Weiss had cleaned the reel and spooled it with new line. He’d also placed two new treble hooks on the lure.
The two lingering questions - who lost it (Ewert) and how long the fish had been attached to the gear (four days) had been answered.
Ewert said he was born on Friday the 13th and some call him “Lucky.”
The fact was not lost on him that Weiss found the rod, reel and musky on Oct. 13.
“Feeling very fortunate, for sure,” Ewert said.
Any references to Lost Land Lake must now include the story of the lost, found and returned rod. And a tip of the cap to the high morals of an angler who made an improbable find twice over.
Both anglers said they hoped the 47-inch musky, likely a female, spawned this spring and is still swimming in the lake.
“That would be the best thing of all, to have her helping keep the musky fishery strong for the future,” Weiss said.
Weiss said he has yet to catch a musky this year.
Fishing karma surely has a big catch in his future.