After getting to bet at a reasonable hour, I woke up at 6:30 and watched the sun come over a foothill just east of the reservoir.
I had always wanted to make myself get up early to go fishing, and it just so happened I was already up so I got everything ready and set off for the lake.
But just as I looked down the steep hill to our lucky fishing spot from the day before, I though I saw a person already there.
I looked again and it was a deer, contently feeding on the tall grass in the early morning. I watched him for a few minutes until he scampered away and I was off to the lake.
Using weights and balls o' fire to fish the bottom--the same way we had all the luck the day before--I caught a smallish 7" rainbow trout right away. It was much slower than I thought it would be though, and moved down the bank towards the dam a bit where I had a little more luck.
My brother Alex joined me around 9 a.m. and he must have been my good luck charm because I landed a 10" cutthroat trout right after he arrived. Soon thereafter, he caught his first fish of the trip, an 11" rainbow.
At 10:30, we went back up to camp to pack everything up, and as soon as we did, we got back down to the lake.
This time, we went over to the inlet, where we immediately saw many giant Tiger Muskies swimming and floating alongside one another.
It was quite a sight as all the muskies we saw were at least 24" long, though the size limit to keep one is 36". I can see now how the state record--43"--tiger muskie was caught out of Pinewood and I'd love to catch a keeper one day.
We fished for three hours in the inlet, with no luck. It's why they call the tiger muskie the "fish of 1000 casts."
But, Alex very nearly landed one as he dangled his rainbow colored Kastmaster in front of a patrolling muskie, who went for it, but decided not to take the lure.
Tip: If you're fishing for muskie, make sure to use a steel leader so they don't snap your line with their thousands of razor-sharp teeth.
After roasting in the sun for three hours at the inlet, we headed home, happy at the new fish we saw for the first time ever and excited to get back to Pinewood for another chance at landing one.
Read about our camping/fishing trip at Pinewood Reservoir on Day 1 and Day 2 as well!
