I recently fished a smaller muskie tournament on Leech Lake here in northern Minnesota. It is called the Don's Muskie Classic and has been going for 15 years, and it brings in some very dedicated muskie fisherman. It is put on by the New Leech Lake Campground
www.leechlakecampground.com It is a two day tournament that averages about 60-75 boats in the second weekend of August. I have fished all kinds of tournaments in my life from junior high until present and have seen every kind of tournament fisherman there is. The arrogant, the silent but deadly, and the guys that are just out there to be out there. In this tournament I came across the new generation of tournament fisherman. A young man named Kendall Hill, and I tell you this is one of the greatest fisherman I have had the pleasure of meeting. He is a mere 10 years old, and has the dedication of an old tournament veteran. Kendall has been fishing with his Dad since he could walk and talk. He has a wealth of knowledge that his Dad has shared with him in the years that they have been fishing together. His Dad is a well known muskie guru in his area, but he seems to be one of the most modest Dads I've met. First, I should start out by explaining the type of fish we are talking about for those who don't fish muskies or would maybe like to. Muskies are known as the fish of 10,000 casts, and sometimes I think it's probably more than that. These fish are the most aggressive freshwater fish, and the most finicky. It's kind of a love-hate relationship between muskie fisherman and their prey. It's a fish that will try your patience to no end. They will follow your bait right to the side of your boat and turn away and sink into the deep. Its almost like they are teasing you, and I swear they grin and wink when they do it. You have no choice but to cast,cast,cast until you almost go numb in the head in hopes to see that fish again. You keep throwing because that next cast might be the one that will hook you up with the king of freshwater. Now keep this in mind when you think about Kendall, a 10 year old. The average ten year old has an attention span of about two minutes and if nothing happens they're bored out of their skull. This tournament that we fished was probably one of the toughest two days of muskie fishing that I have ever seen. There were about 60 boats in this thing, and there were only 4 fish caught in 2 days. We figured there were about 225 man hours into catching one fish. Now imagine Kendall, who weights about 50 pounds soaking wet, throwing these big muskie baits all day long in hopes of catching the fish that will put him on the board. He casted, and casted, and casted just like the big boys were and it paid off for him in the long run. He landed a 43" muskie, the same size as mine, in the late afternoon of the first day. Now there were only 3 fish caught the first day, Rod's fish was 46" putting him in first, mine was 43" to put me in second, and then Kendall pulls a 43" out of his hat putting him in third only because my fish was registered first was he bumped to third place. Now, when the results came in the second day and we found out who had what I was feeling pretty bad about bumping this little guy out of second place, but that bad feeling didn't last long because I found out who I was actually up against. Kendall Hill, the kid I like to refer to as the Muskie Prodigy, because I later got to hear him speak to the crowd and give up some of his personal muskie fishing stats. His muskie fishing stats would make some of the most dedicated, experienced, and hard core muskie numb skulls feel small in comparison. Kendall got up in front of the crowd, and modestly told the crowd what he has been doing on the water the past few years. Are you ready? Here they are, Kendall has boated over 76 "legal" muskies. A "legal" muskie in these parts is over 40 inches long, so he isn't counting the ones that are smaller. His personal best muskie would make Jim Saric of Muskie Hunter magazine, and also a member on this site take close notice. His personal best was a fat 54 1/2" fall muskie that he caught when he was only 7 years old, and he caught it casting just like the big boys. I have never been more impressed by another fisherman than I am of this young man. He is absolutely one of the greats, and he is only a modest 10 year old. Check out the folder under my page title "Kendall Hill-Muskie Prodigy" and you can see his fish in the "Muskie tournament" folder.
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