He almost lost a muskie, then he dived in to catch it
Kevin Snyder of Baden lost his job a few days before the COVID-related layoffs. To ease his mind, he met with friends at one of their favorite bank-fishing spots downstream from the New Brighton Dam on the Beaver River.
Targeting walleye and hybrid striped bass, he switched from soft plastics, jigs and jerkbaits to a 4inch yellow perch Bomber. He made long casts, upstream and parallel to the bank, reeling slowly and jerking the rod in cadence. The line suddenly tightened.
“It initially felt like a heavy snag,” said Mr. Snyder. “Then he ripped 25 yards of line off my reel like it was nothing, darting from side to side effortlessly before finally making an incredible leap clean out of the water.”
He tightened his drag, slowly working the muskellunge toward the shore.
“He made another leap before my buddy tried grabbing the fish at the bank. [It] started thrashing and finally snapped the line,” he said. “So without hesitation, I dove in after it.”
The muskie measured 3 inches under the 40-inch minimum size limit and was released healthy.
Last week at the same spot, Mr. Snyder was drifting live shiners under a float when he set the hook on a Northern pike.
“I literally watched the perfectly camouflaged fish seemingly just appear next to my float as it turned its whole body sideways and inhaled the shiner,” he said. “Another drag-ripping battle with no steel leader to prevent its razor sharp teeth from clipping the fluorocarbon. Once we wore each other out and I got it to the bank, I handed my rod over to my friend, sprinted to my car to grab my net and then sprinted back.”
The 34-inch Northern, well over the legal size, also was released. Mr. Snyder said it is his new personal best. Both fish were caught within 5 yards of the shore in the late afternoon.
Gary Smith, regional fisheries manager for the state Game Commission, said few Northerns are netted in surveys of the nearby Ohio River. The agency stocks adolescent muskies and tiger muskies in the Three Rivers area but not Northern pike, which spawn early when waters reach 40 degrees. Spawning Northerns unable to make it past the New Brighton Dam might scatter eggs over the shallow rocks in the tailrace.