A Living Muskie Legend: Bob Brunner

Bob Brunner, Legendary Muskie Guide of Lake St. Clair with big fish.

Legendary is an honorary distinction bestowed only on a few fishing guides each year. It is an acknowledgement that a person has attained legendary status: a man who has made a visible impact on fishing over a period of many decades.
Bob Brunner of Utica, Michigan, was awarded this distinctive honor several years ago by the National Fresh Water Fishing Hall of Fame in Hayward, Wisconsin, when he was inducted into the Hall as a Legendary Guide. Competition among people who lobby for their nominees can be intense, and those who are granted this high status by the Hall's voting committee are richly deserving of such an honor.

Brunner has been a muskie fishing guide on Lake St. Clair for many years. And he does his fishing in a most uncommon way on that great body of water near Detroit: he chooses to cast rather than troll for muskies, unlike 99.9 percent of the other muskie anglers on that fish-rich body of water between Lake Huron and Lake Erie.

He kids and jokes with people, but anglers are advised to pay attention and learn.

"I've fished Lake St. Clair since 1929 and caught my first muskie in 1931 when I was six years old," Brunner told me. "Dad and I fished the lake every Sunday for many years, but now at the tender age of about 90. I still have people asking me to teach them how to cast for muskies. I rarely troll for them because I feel I can get my clients into much bigger fish by working the weed beds where trolling is very difficult to do in an effective manner."

Lake St. Clair is, beyond any doubt, the best muskellunge lake in North America. There are more muskies per water surface area here than anywhere in muskie country. This is why Brunner chooses to guide on this shallow lake. The chances of catching one of the big girls is better on Lake St. Clair than on any other lake that holds these game fish.

The largest muskies of all – the big girls – are always females. Male muskies do not grow as large as the female, and big girls is what he fishes for.

"I have never run an ad and I'm still booked most of the season," Brunner said. "People come from all over to fish with me because they know I work hard to put them on big fish. If a person is willing to travel 50 or 2,000 miles to fish with me, it's my job to put them on a big fish so they will hopefully catch the muskellunge of a lifetime.".

He loves to fish for most game fish species but muskies are the love of his life. That is one reason he has written numerous books about how and where to catch Great Lakes muskellunge. Brunner has developed a strong cult following among muskie anglers, and his methods differ greatly from those guides who troll.

Make no mistake about itL Brunner wants people to fish. That means fishing hard.

"I want people to be able to catch these great fish and enjoy life as much as I have," he said. "My books are not all about muskie fishing but some of them are focused just on these great fish while some cover other species as well. I believe my book "Casting: The Feast Or Famine Of Fishing" is my best work. It explains where to fish, which lures and methods to use and where to use them."

Sadly, most of his books are long out of print and are very collectible. I have a few duplicate copies, if anyone is looking for a copy. I don't duplicates of all of his books but do have several of the highly sought-after titles. Contact me via email at Dave Richey.

Brunner says his best times on the water are those spent teaching kids how to fish. He enjoys kids on his boat, but as long as he can put someone into fish, he's in his glory.

His first business card said "On-water lessons available at reasonable rates." His first two clients were a father and son for the boy's 14th birthday. After they spent a few hours casting around several Anchor Bay areas, the kid hooked and landed his first muskie. It was a fat 40-incher caught on a spoon and the boy was hooked for life.

"I knew then that I had to get more children and their parents out to try for this great game fish," he said. "So here I am, many years later, and still trying to get kids and people involved in this sport. I have been releasing muskies since the early 1970s.

"When I teach someone how to catch fish I feel I'm doing what the Big Guy wanted me to do. The look on a kid's face while he tries to reel a 48-inch muskie to the boat is something that words can't describe. It makes me feel warm and fuzzy to see a child so happy because he caught a fish where I said one would be. I feel blessed to have helped so many kids land their first muskellunge."

Brunner feels that muskie fishing has exploded over the past 15 years and it is hard to keep up with the many changes. He feels saddest that now his life's journey is nearing its end he won't be able to fish the many other great muskie hotspots that he has fished over the years.

He has guided many great fishermen over the years. He's the real deal.

"I have met some really great people in my life and some have taught me some very valuable lessons," he said. "Two are the Richey brothers -- Dave and George. We lost George nearly eight years ago to cancer, and he was a great person and a skilled fisherman.

"George fished with me once a year for over 10 years. He taught me that we are all the same, and he was great company on the boat. He was one of the very few anglers that could beat me casting for the big girls."

There is no doubt about it: Bob Brunner was well qualified for induction into the Hall of Fame as a legendary muskie fishing guide. He rightfully deserves this recognition, and I look forward to fishing with him this fall for one of his "Big Girls."

We keep trying to make our mutual schedules fit. It's hard with two busy people.

I hope we can make our schedules fit. He is a special person in my life of muskie fishing. The fish in the photo above is of Brunner's biggest muskie, one that weighed about 50 pounds.

It's obvious that there are more small muskies than big ones, but the one thing about muskie fishing is it is addictive. Catch one big fish, and doing so may turn an angler into a die-hard fisherman that lives for the next vicious strike from one of Brunner's "Big Girls."; It's a risk than many anglers are prepared to take when fishing with this Legendary Muskie Guide.

For more information - Contact:

Bob Brunner
2435 Dawes
Shelby Township, MI 48317

• Phone (586) 254-9209
• email: MuskieBobBarb

Posted via email from Dave Richey Outdoors

Forget the deer: go fishing

Rivermouth fishing can produce winter steelhead like this one.

It's hard to imagine but there are some Michigan folks that don't hunt deer. Some wouldn't do it under a death threat; some wouldn't do it because they don't like to hunt; and some simply find their outdoor pleasures elsewhere. And that is fine and dandy with me.

Some good friends prefer fishing. My buddy, Steve VanAssche of Harrison Township, is a muskie fishing guide. He is out on Lake St. Clair every day, weather permitting, until the lake freezes up or the season ends. He is a hunter, and loves deer hunting, but the job is the job, and he fishes muskies as often as possibleto pay his bills.

"The fishing isn't as fast for muskies in November or early December as it is in July," VanAssche said, "but the fish are bigger, much bigger. It's the time of year when fish weighing 30 pounds or more are caught, and it's a time when an angler can tangle with a giant muskie that can weigh well over 40 pounds.

Anglers can always go fishing right now. No ice but the Great Lakes & some rivers are open.

"So far this season there have been several muskies over 40 pounds caught in Lake St. Clair. Last year, on a dark and overcast fall day with flat-calm water, my friend Brad Goldhart caught a 38-pounder. It was his biggest muskie, and a fish that size is the catch of a lifetime for most people."

VanAssche feels the likelihood of catching muskies improves dramatically during the fall but the weather can be dicey. He runs charters through Dec. 15.

For more information on late-season muskie charters, contact VanAssche at 38344 Elmite, Harrison Township, MI 48045. Phone (586) 524-2827 (cell phone) or (586) 783-8985 (home before 10 p.m.).

Another friend, Mark Rinckey of Honor, is a river fishing guide. He's been hammering steelhead most of the fall in the Betsie and Platte rivers, and business has been good up until a couple of weeks ago. A friend and I fished with Rinckey some time ago, and we landed eight steelhead and one mint-silver coho salmon in four hours of fishing. The largest fish was a 16-pound steelhead.

There’s always the opportunity of steelhead in streams open to year ‘round fishing.

"I enjoy deer hunting but spring and fall are the two busiest seasons for a river fishing guide and I simply can't take a day or two off to go hunting," Rinckey said. "It's a very busy time of year, and fishing has been good. I look for excellent steelhead action into late-December unless the rivers freeze over."

Some anglers feel it's too cold to fish for steelhead but it's no colder fishing than hunting. Wading the river keeps the blood flowing and helps anglers stay warm. He has had times where 20 to 30 steelhead are hooked in one day, and there are very few places in North America where that kind of steelhead action can be found. Of course, huge catches don't happen every day but the likelihood of catching a fish or two is very good.

For more information about a wade-fishing river trip, contact Mark Rinckey at (231) 325-6901 in the evening until about 9 p.m.

Jack Duffy, a charterboat skipper at Leland, doesn't deer hunt. He works as a carpenter during the off-season, and  walks out into the surf to cast out his spawnbag.

"I don't care whether I catch a fish or not," Duffy said. "I catch plenty of fish during the charter season. This fishing is just for me, and if I catch one or two steelhead, I consider it a great day. There are no telephones on the water where I fish, and it's a chance to fish an area where I've caught steelhead for over 40 years.

"It's just a great feeling to bait up and run a spawnbag along bottom where the river current meets the lake. I kick back, relax, drink some coffee, watch my rods and enjoy the quiet solitude if I'm the only person there. If the area is crowded, I enjoy watching the others. It allows me to do what I used to do before life got so hectic, and I really enjoy late-season fishing."

Duffy doesn't guide for steelhead anymore, and he usually fishes alone. He feels he has earned the right to fish his way, and I admire his patience. He is a great river-mouth angler, and his skills are legendary.

Duffy favors solitary fishing at this time of year.

It's just too bad he doesn't hunt but that is forgivable. Perhaps I'll just sneak down one day this week and relive some of our memorable fishing trips while fishing and relaxing with him. Or, what is sometimes even better, we don’t talk.

Neither of us is anti-social, but sometimes when good friends share a day fishing, there is no strong need to carry on long conversations. Both of us have been around long to recognize the signs, and we just kick back and enjoy the day together. It’s rather a unique experience.

Posted via email from Dave Richey Outdoors

Your favorite outdoor pastime

I'm an outdoor writer, and if we base that on the large number of writing and photography awards on my walls, a decent one at that. I enjoy writing about all types of fishing and hunting but I always could use a little bit of help from my readers.

Send me an email at <dave@daverichey.com> and tell me what you most like to read. Is it bear hunting, and some of the hair-raising pieces I've written about my personal bear-hunting experiences over the past 40 years?

Or, might it be bow hunting for whitetail deer? It's my favorite passion, but I also want things to be appealing to you. I realize that it's impossible to satisfy everyone, but with 55 years of hunting and some 250 or more deer under my belt, I can write all day about whitetail hunting techniques.

I want to hear your thoughts.

How about salmon fishing? It's still the big deal on the Great Lakes these days, but all isn't peachy across the state. The Lake Huron salmon fishery isn't quite as good as it once was , and this year the action has been good on Lake Michigan. Will it hold up or not? Let's hope so.

Walleyes have ripped the top off the container holding the biggest angling attraction in the state, and snatched it away from salmon 12-15 years ago. Walleyes are easier to catch, taste wonderful on the table, and they match the moods of those people who don't care to bounce around on the larger Great Lakes.

Where does duck and goose hunting stand on your list of things to do? Do panfish (bluegills, crappies and sunfish) rate high marks, and how about stream fishing for steelhead?

It seems that steelhead fishing (and catching) has slowed a bit from its manic pace of 15 years ago. Do you still thrill to the cold water tightening your wader-clad legs in the spring and fall, and do you enjoy the frosty nip of steelhead in mid-winter below power dams?

Fall salmon fishing in the rivers can be a hoot, and these tackle-busting fish can stir up a bunch of fun for anglers who learn how to catch them with bait, fly, plug or spinner. Hook a 20-pounder in heavy, fast water, and you are in for a long-distance fight that could cover a quarter-mile of river.

Is it salmon or steelhead fishing in our Great Lakes tributaries?

How about hare, rabbit and squirrel hunting? These game animals are what most hunters grew up chasing after. They still rank high marks among hunters.

Let's face it: I don't know anyone who doesn't enjoy wing-shooting for ruffed grouse and woodcock. It's easy to factor ringneck pheasants into that equation too, and to a lesser extent, quail during an open season.

This state needs a mourning dove season again, and even with a season, the nay-sayers would still have plenty of doves cooing during the day, spattering decks with their droppings, and scaring smaller song birds from the feeders. Other states have dove seasons, and their bird populations have not declined nor disappeared, and it's time for Michigan hunters to take some of the birds that we raise.

For a money-strapped DNR, a dove season could help. Studies prove that hunting really doesn't affect bird numbers in this state, and most states south of Michigan have a season. The idea was soundly trounced in recent years, but perhaps it's time for the state to study the matter again.

Most of you know I love muskie fishing, and I enjoy writing about this type of fishing -- one man, one fish, who will win? In most cases, the muskie almost always wins. It's those occasional days when the Muskie Gods smile, and grant us a good battle with a big fish, and that really turns me on. I have never kept a muskie, and don't plan to start now.

Do you enjoy my occasional rantings about how the Traverse City area is growing too fast? It is expanding in all directions except due north, and one wonders when and where it will stop. Perhaps when Cadillac, Honor, Kalkaska, Northport and other small cities become Traverse City's suburbs.

Ethics and poaching problems are major issues for me. How about you?

How about my occasional pieces on the ethics of fishing and hunting? We, as anglers and hunters, must impose our personal code of ethics on our outings. We can't be winking at the fish and game laws, and continue to feel these laws are made for everyone but us. People must study their own brand of ethics, and see if it fits in with those of society.

I spent many years writing outdoor magazine articles, 25 books on fishing and hunting, and 23 years were spent writing about fishing and hunting for a major daily newspaper. Few people would write to the editors and tell them what they wanted. Now, the only boss I have is you folks, and many of you do write. I still would like a sense of direction or I'll continue to do as I've done for nearly seven years with this daily weblog.

Which is to write about what I think you would like to read. I try to keep my daily topics timely, but some input is certainly welcome. Which of you is willing to take five minutes to write a note with your thoughts?

And, don't forget: I have over 600 books for sale and more than 800 outdoor magazines dating from the early 1920s, Looking for a birthday, Christmas or Father's Day gift, outdoor books and magazines make a great gift.

Bring 'em on, and don't be bashful. I wouldn't ask if I didn’t want to hear your opinions.

Posted via email from Dave Richey Outdoors

One never has enough fishing-hunting books or lures

There are more tackle boxes in my basement storeroom that any sane man needs. Every one is almost overflowing with fishing lures, so why should I need more?

It's a bit like fishing and hunting books. A man can never have and read too many fishing or hunting titles, and I'm as guilty of buying more of each than I will probably ever need.

There are four huge tackle boxes filled just with muskie plugs, and a smaller one that holds some smaller muskie lures. I've got some 10-inch muskie plugs and great huge spinnerbaits in the big boxes. However, every year I see someone with a Bobbie or Eddie bait or a Suick painted in a color I don't have.

It doesn't mean that the other guy's oddly colored Suick hasn't worked for him. It could, and there I'd be without one painted in that strange color that every muskie fishermen needs to own. Sadly, seldom do they produce fish, but against all odds, they could!
 
There are two more beastly huge tackle boxes filled with nothing but salmon spoons and big salmon plugs. I own most colors of J-Plugs, Dardevle, Silver Streaks and other fishing spoons, but I keep bumping into newer sizes with different paint and  tape patterns that seem to beckon to me with eyes that look deep into mine and seem to whisper "Buy me and take me home!" It's the old siren song.

A big red-white Dardevle produced this big Isle Royale pike.

The eyes have it. I've been adding stick-on eyes to my lures for many years, and now more and more lures are being made with prominent and well-colored eyes. I think eyes make lures more appealing to fish but wonder if they really produce more fish.

OK, how about Herring Dodgers? I have two smaller boxes filled with them. There are red ones, white and yellow ones, chrome plated, some home-painted a dull black color (don't laugh because they work ... sometimes), half silver-half bronze, chartreuse models, and some with dazzling tape and some without. There are small ones, large ones, those of normal size, and Hoochies. Got me some of them too.

If we're going after lake trout I tote 50-60 different sizes, shapes and colors of cowbells and perhaps half that many different colors of P-nuts. Another tackle box is filled with various trolling weights for inland trout lakes, and some stainless steel needles to sew shiners onto my hook.

Dardevles are a favorite Canadian lure.

One tackle box is loaded with more Dardevles in a variety of colors although my best pike fishing comes with two color combinations -- red with a white stripe and silver back or yellow with five red diamonds and a brass back. There are other pike spoons and plugs in the box, and although most of my largest pike come on the two colors noted above, there are another two dozen other patterns for when the pike get picky. And then there is a box of spinnerbaits in several sizes that work for muskies and pike.

Oh my, I nearly forgot. One box is filled with body baits like Rapalas, Rebels, FasTracs, Long A Bombers and other similar lures. They too are in an infinite variety of great colors, and some have never been in the water but boy, do they look pretty.

Still another box is filled with wood FlatFish and Tadpollys from my guiding days when I used the dropback method on the Manistee River below Tippy Dam or when trolling Manistee, Pentwater or Pere Marquette lakes for late-fall steelhead. The FlatFish come in two varieties: those with the tiny treble gang hooks or with two larger hooks. In that box are extra hook hangers for the small treble hooks that I prefer to use.

I'm a big fan of vertical jigging on the Detroit, Kalamazoo, Saginaw and Tittabawassee rivers, and there are two heavy tackle boxes filled with jigs weighing from 1/8 to 1 ounce, depending on the depth of water and current speed at each location. Half of one box is filled with oodles of grub bodies and twister-tail bodies in a rainbow of colors.

And as nice as freshly painted jigs look in their trays, I often scrape the paint off and use just the bare lead and a lip-hooked minnow. It works!

One small box holds nothing but Mepps spinners, and another holds nothing but weight-forward spinners like Erie Dearies. Another small box is nothing special except it contains lures purchased when I was 15-17 years old from the Wanigas Fly Shop near Saginaw, Michigan. The shop was owned by Art Neumann, a co-founder of Trout Unlimited, and it holds a bunch of small trout-size spoons that are rarely seen these days except in a lure collection.

A body bait produced this big Georgian Bay, Canada walleye.

Then there are some collectible Heddon lures that I normally leave home, and other scarce Creek Chub Pikie minnows, etc. And did I mention two small boxes of ice fishing lures?

So, do I really need several more lures? Probably not, but once one or two new lures wink at me and catch my eye, I go into a feeding frenzy until I have them. Many times, after such a cabin-fever purchase, I try the lure once and take an active dislike to its action, color or lack of fishing-catching abilities.

Someone once told me that fishing lures catch more anglers than fish, and I suspect that is quite true. However, gazing upon tray after tray of various colors and sizes of lures makes me feel good.

So, why not, honey? All I need is two or three more $20 muskie lures. There are still a few Suick colors I don't have. You never know when one of these odd-ball color combinations will tempt a trophy muskie.

Posted via email from Dave Richey Outdoors

Some Fishy Excuses

It's mid-winter, and two long hours on my snowblower this morning left me with a sore back and an article idea. And, for whatever the reason, I dreamed up this story idea. It's as timely now as during  any other season.

I've chased muskies in many widely-spaced locations. Most of these trips have been in Michigan, Wisconsin or Ontario, and I've sampled the pleasures of these great game fish in other states as well.

I fished for, caught and lost muskies in Kentucky, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, New York, Quebec and several other places. I'm always fascinated with some of the lame excuses anglers, myself included, have uttered for losing big fish.

 

Someone who is a known angler, and is trying to protect his sterling reputation may call a lost fish "a professional release." Another one may call it a "long-distance" release. Both may have some elements of truth to them, but often other reasons cause people to lose a fish.

Landing big muskies like this demand skill some luck.

We've heard all the common excuses. People have been known to blame too much sun for weakening their line, and one guy offered up the excuse that storing his reels with heavy monofilament near the furnace said nearby ozone weakened his line, which caused him to break off on a big fish one day in Ontario's Lake of the Woods.

Anyone who has cast all day with big jerkbaits or spinnerbaits speak of having a sore arm and wrist from the tiring repetitive exercise of continuous casting. They blame their missed fish on a weak wrist. "My wrist didn't have enough strength left to set the hooks properly." O-o-o-o-K.

Most muskie addicts I know use their whole body to set the hook, and not just once. My tactic is to pound the hook home at least twice.

There are thousands of reasons why people miss muskie strikes. The major reason is people often are asleep with their eyes open. They've become lulled into daydreaming by inactivity and begin nodding off while fishing. They come back with some hair-brained excuse such as:

I laid my rod down with the lure in the water to fire up a smoke. (A good reason to quit which I later did.) Many others are midway through a cast, and as the lure leaves the rod tip, they notice the snap swivel is still open after switching lures. Guess which cast the biggest muskie of the year will hit?

Don't fall asleep with your eyes open while muskie fishing.

You've noticed the line is frayed, and figured: "Hey, the fish aren't hitting. I'll make another cast before tying it again." So, that's when a muskie hits and when anglers lose the lure and the fish. Sometimes, though not often enough, the muskie isn't hooked. He opens his mouth and the lure bobs to the surface, giving anglers time for a spiffy quote. "Boy, look at that. She give me my lure back."

I was fishing Tomahawk Lake in Wisconsin one time, and my buddy and I were working a weed line. I was working a jerkbait, and he was buzzing a spinnerbait, when a muskie was spotted behind my jerkbait. The fish smacked it as it rose to the surface, and I set the hook.

The fish didn't have the lure, and that deadly missile with hooks came flying out of the water at my friend's face who was turned slightly away. I stuck out my hand to keep the big Suick from hitting him in the face. That buried two hooks in my hand, and I muttered some not-nice words while he pulled the hooks out. We poured some iodine in the wounds, put Band-Aids on them, and went back to fishing. Muskie fishermen are tough, and sometimes a bit nuts.

Landing any muskie by hand is a good way to get hooked in the hand or arm.

Another guy and I was fishing at night once for Northern muskies in a Michigan lake, and there can be a coincidence between casting after dark and getting a backlash. He was working on what appeared to be a huge backlash (a.k.a., professional over-run), and his muskie-size Jitterbug lay idle on the surface 20 feet away. He pulled on one of the loops, and it twitched the lure and the line, and the Jitterbug jittered on the surface. A big muskie slammed that lure, gave a vicious yank, and the line broke.

So who is going to believe a guy who says a big muskie hit while he was untangling a backlash? No one except someone who has had it happen to them once or twice.

My wife barely had this Lake Of The Woods muskie hook when it was landed.

I was fishing on a trolling boat on Michigan's Lake St. Clair for muskies one  time, and we were using Homer LeBlanc's method of keeping lures in or very close to the prop wash. One rod on each stern corner is a "down" rod, and it has a heavy weight to keep the lure about six feet behind the boat in the most violent part of the prop wash.

I was bored, and decided to hold the rod instead of leaving it in the rod holder where it belonged. I was looking around at all of the lines when a muskie hit my lure and nearly yanked me overboard. The fish took out 50 yards of line and stayed deep, the sign of a big fish. We eventually brought in all lines, and stopped the boat so I could fight the fish.

Fifteen minutes went by and the fish stayed deep, and then the line started to rise in the water. The fish rolled on the surface, and we'd already landed a 30-pounder and this fish was bigger than the earlier one. It stayed 30 feet behind the boat, and then it rolled on the tight line, and the hooks fell out.

How big was it? Thirty-five pounds, probably, and it could have been even heavier. I looked around, everyone looked at me, and no one spoke until I broke the lengthy silence.

"How can someone have a muskie on for 20 minutes only to lose it right behind the boat and just out of netting range? It must have sprung the snap swivel or broke off a hook."

Yeah, sure, everybody looked away and we began setting lines again as I checked the lure. There were no sprung or broken hooks and the snap swivel was intact. The whole secret to this muskie fishing game is to come up with an original excuse that no one has heard before.

It never works but it makes us feel better if we have a "lost-fish" story prepared ahead of time for just such an occasion. Just make it original, never offer up a story that been used for so many years that even such famous guides as the legendary Homer LeBlanc of Lake St. Clair fame wouldn’t dream of using it.

Posted via email from Dave Richey Outdoors