Painting a leaping muskie

Begins with a black pen and ink sketch.
This work is a variation of one of my earlier paintings  titled "LUNGE ON THE WING".

The large canvas has the main colours and shapes roughly brushed in.

More re shaping and adding of details including a boat in the distance.

The shoreline marsh and redwing blackbird and water splash details.

The finished art " Leaping Muskie of Pigeon Lake" and  me standing beside it.

Walking a muskie like a "dog"

Artwork copyright Charles Weiss 2015

The moment you consider what a muskie is really wanting to biting in the middle of a the season you immediately think of a lure that creates a lot of surface splash appearing to be vulnerable. A "walk the dog" style retrieve is exactly what is needed. Repeated quick taps on the rod tip of a heavy action fishing rod. the lure to consider is a "Skid Stik" or a Zara Spook style top water design. The first hook
should be back toward the middle of the lure and the lure floating in the water should be tilted with front line connection poking out of the water. the lure should twitch quickly from left to right and cause a repeated series of splashes. Watch behind the lure for a possible rising wake of a following muskie or northern pike. Striking fish will sometimes be quick and startling at other times the fish will follow right to the boat side, keep the lure moving and consider a large figure "eight" or oval maneuver with the lure. Sometimes the the following fish will bite, sometimes it will just continue to swim around and around and eventually swim away. It will probably continue to be in the area. keep trying with repeated casting or move away from the spot and try again later in the day.
Striking fish will create a sudden startling hit with a splash , raise the rod tip to set the hook when you feel the weight of the fish!