The trophy board

All catches are special, some are just a little bit more special. This page is dedicated to our angler clients that have hit one of the following fishing challenges of the remote and small rivers in the Upper Peninsula.

The Northwoods 5 challenge - (The single hardest challenge of them all) - Same day, same angler, same body of water - at least one fish in the boat of each species “Tiger musky, Musky, walleye, northern pike, and smallmouth bass.”
The Esox Grand Slam - (Very rare) - Same day, same angler, same body of water - at least one fish in the boat of each Esox species “Tiger musky, musky, and northern pike.”
Musky Grand Slam - (Moderately rare) - Same day, same angler, same body of water - at least 3 game fish in the boat with at least one being a musky species. A tiger or regular musky and 2 of the following: northern pike, walleye, or smallmouth bass.
20 inch smallmouth club - (Rare) - A bona fide 20+ inch smallmouth bass from a small river system.
The 3-foot club- (Rare) - A 36+ inch musky, tiger, or pike from a very small river system.
The (nearly) two-foot club - (Very rare) - A 22-24+ inch walleye from a very small river system.

The Northwoods 5

Ryan and Drew from Indiana - July 2020

Kyle and Barney from Traverse City - July 2020

*Rob and Robby from Detroit - August 2021, August 2022 (x2)

Ryan came up from Indiana to give our rivers a try. After catching a tiger musky within the first 5 minutes of the day I knew it was going to be special. Ryan continued his luck throughout the day and by the end of the day he was one species off from the Northwoods 5 challenge. All he needed was one musky to seal the deal - he was slinging a topwater lure when she bit and the dream was realized. Congratulations, Ryan, job well done! (Click on the photo on the left to scroll through his catches)

Kyle came with his father, Barney, to have a remote trip through the Upper Peninsula. The morning started off well with Kyle catching his first musky ever on topwater right next to the raft. After that Kyle continued his success with all esox species and a smallie of his own. Near the end of the day Kyle was down to one species left - the walleye. Stopping at a good spot I told Kyle, “You will either catch a fish or get snagged.” That’s when he popped off this beautiful walleye and completed the Northwoods 5 challenge. Well done! The only problem is I didn’t get them all on camera!

Rob and Robby had a stunning year in 2020 and they wanted to come back for more in 2021. Thankfully, 2021 didn’t disappoint. While Rob didn’t technically get a Northwood’s 5 challenge in the same day, he did get it within a 24-hour period as they came out with me two days in a row. So, I gave him the Barry Bonds treatment with an asterisk next to his name above. I think it counts - they fished hard and knocked out some great fish. The best was a double with a tiger musky and a nearly 19 inch bass. Awesome, awesome, fishing.

You might notice a resemblance to the gentlemen above… that’s because Rob and Robby struck Northwood’s GOLD again. Yes, two years in a row they managed to get a Northwood’s 5 over a 24-hour period. It isn’t technically a Northwood’s 5 but I give it to them with an asterisk. Check out the photos on the side - some real nice fish were caught! If you happen to notice a missing picture of a tiger musky…. that is because we didn’t get a picture of it. It was the LARGEST tiger of the year (possibly ever for me) and it happened to bust threw my net as we were trying to organize the picture. It was bizarre but the fish WAS caught and she was a beauty.

The Esox Grand Slam

*Adam and Geoff from PennsylvaniA - June 2020

*Steve from Illinois - July 2022

Rob from Michigan - August 2023

Adam came out with his dad for some special days on the water - while technically Adam did not officially hit the Esox Grand Slam he managed to get multiple musky and a tiger in the same day… the only fish that eluded him was the pesky pike. I give Adam an honorary Esox Grand Slam badge as he caught pike, musky, and tiger musky on the same bodies of water (just different days but in a 24 hour window) as he fished with me over a few days. Obviously from the pictures on the left you can see that he rocked it out!

Steve and Dwayne have rocked out some awesome trips in the last few years… yet this one from 2022 was probably the most exciting. Steve (in a 24 hour window) caught a musky, tiger musky, and pike. He absolutely crushed it. Check out the awesome pictures to the side. The most exciting catch was probably his tiger musky which had a dropshot weight and line already hanging out of its mouth - we proceeded to cut the other line and get the fish back in the water after a super quick picture. Thanks for the good time, Steve and Dwayne.

Rob and Robby came up and made the esox dream happen. It’s extremely rare to get the esox grand slam as you need pike, musky, AND a tiger musky. The pike and musky are hard enough but when you add in the tiger musky it just makes the entire challenge so very difficult. Rob managed to make it happen with a beautiful tiger - it smoked (if I am not mistaken) a boilermaker by Lee Lures. Love that bait and the tiger smoked it hard. It was totally worth it and made the trip for these guys a massive success. I’ve taken them out on the water for 3, 4, or 5 years in a row now and every year just gets better and better. Thanks, guys!

The Musky Grand Slam

Andrew from Michigan - August 2019

David from Ohio - September 2019

Barney and Kyle from Traverse City - July 2020

Landon and Chris from Wisconsin - June 2020, June 2022 (x3), & June 2023

Jake from Michigan - July 2020

Tim and Al from Illinois - August 2020 & July 2021 (x2)

Rob and Robby from Michigan - August 2020, August 2022 (x3)

Matt from Michigan - September 2020

Ben and Bodhi from Minnesota - September 2020

Adam and Geoff from PennsylvaniA - June 2021, July 2022 (x3)

Steve and Dwayne from Chicago - June 2021, June 2022 (x2)

Tony from Ohio - July 2021

Bill and Linda from Wisconsin - July 2021

Mike and Tony from Indiana - June 2022

Ryan and Randy from Michigan - June 2022

Jim from Minnesota - July 2022

Erin from Illinois - August 2022

Richard from Michigan - June 2023

DOUG FROM ILLINOIS - JUNE 2023

George from Wisconsin - June 2023

Fred from Iowa - July 2023

Steve and Bob from Chicago - July 2023 (x3)

Rich and Rowan from Michigan - July 2023

Bryant, Turner, and Rich from Maine - August 2023

JAKE AND CODY FROM MICHIGAN - AUGUST 2023 (x2)

Steve and Leo from Texas - AUGUST 2023

Andrew came up from lower Michigan to try for his first musky on the fly. Before we knew it he was hooked up and continued out the day with two more new species on the fly. Three new personal bests in one day - all on the fly. Stunning day, congratulations, Andrew!

David came out in September with a hope of seeing some of the UP colors and perhaps catching a fish or two. He came away with multiple musky, walleye, and smallmouth. Smashing success for an awesome dude. Congratulations, David!

Barney came up with his son Kyle in the hopes of catching a few species on the fly. He ended up tossing the same fly for three species - a tiger musky, smallmouth, and northern pike. He started the day with a beautiful 18-19 inch smallie that crushed his custom tied deer-hair bug with Cohen frog legs. That same fly went on to smack a topwater tiger and multiple pike. Congratulations, Barney!

Chris and Landon wanted a fun trip out on the water - and boy, did the great north deliver! In the first hour Landon had already landed his musky, smallie, and pike. Near the middle of the day we picked up a stunning double of two tank smallmouth. Near the end of the day Chris had a monster musky break off his snap swivel (fishing for bass) and then a bit later Landon had a follow from a large topwater musky. It was a great day for sure! Congratulations, Landon!

Jake was looking for an adventure… and did we find it! 10 hours of hard fishing put us on 7 moved musky. However, the musky kept swerving us hard and we couldn’t get one in the net. Finally at the end of the day we hooked into this 40 inch musky that was hanging in less than a foot of water. The section was fast and shallow and I had to jump out of the raft to run down the fish with the net. Success and congratulations, Jake!

Tim and Al mentioned how they had never caught a musky. They fished with me for a few days and it was a huge goal of theirs to make it happen. Needless to say, but we made it happen. Tim picked up a musky grand slam on his second day after just THREE casts of his rod. The first three casts he ever took for a musky. Upon netting the fish he told me he was happy and didn’t need to fish for musky any more. An absolute legend, congratulations Tim and Al!

Rob and Robby had two very special days of fishing - they managed to do something that I’ve never done. They caught 12 fish in just 14 casts from the raft. Rob had the lucky touch, lucky lure, and lucky day as he caught 9 fish (nice ones) in 10 casts. They went on to catch a small tiger musky and also a musky on the other day. The musky that Robby caught hit his topwater Rover with more aggression than I have ever seen - it was spectacular! Congratulations, guys!

Matt wanted a remote trip with the chance of fish on the side - we MADE that happen! Matt ended the day with three topwater musky, pike, smallouth, and walleye. He caught fish on the fly and on spinning gear. He ended the day with a 43-45 inch musky that smashed his smallmouth lure. It was incredible. Everything about that day was perfect. Congratulations, Matt!

Ben and Bodhi wanted some fun on the water - we went out for a short trip to see if we could round up some fish before a storm rolled in. Ben managed to get a musky, smallmouth, pike, walleye, and even a lonesome crappie. The white 4-inch wacky senko was the winning ticket that day. Congratulations, Ben and Bodhi! Bonus pictures from the next trip they had with me!

Adam and Geoff strike again! These two excellent anglers came back in 2021 for some special memories. They caught some great fish - 20 inch bass, nice musky, and a beautiful tiger musky that is my favorite fish from the last few years. They both made it into the musky grand slam over their few days with me. These guys are straight bosses when it comes to fishing - just rockstars. Thanks guys for the fun!

Steve and Dwayne wanted to experience a remote backwoods trip and the north delivered. These guys cranked some very nice bass and a bonus musky that was hiding under a rapid in center river. We almost had another musky but she didn’t commit when we needed her to. Steve had his own GoPro running and we caught on camera some vicious topwater bass bites. Great time on the water with these guys! And a huge shoutout to Steve for introducing me to the caffeine shad!

Tony got out with me for the second time in the last two years. In 2020 he fished with gear and in 2021 he wanted to try his hand with the fly. We had a great morning of fly fishing and he picked up pike, walleye, and smallies on a CK baitfish fly. After that we decided to move on down river and target musky - he switched to conventional gear and caught two musky in our last thirty minutes on the water, BOTH on topwater baits. Tony has a great attitude and patience to fishing and deserved all the success he got that day. Thanks for the awesome trip!

Tim and Al made it to the trophy board again! In 2020 they had a blast and they were back in 2021 to attempt the feat again. Tim hit a musky grand slam on the second day of fishing with a beautiful 43-inch-ish (could have been bigger) fish. He and Al proceeded to get some other great fish over the next few days. They are definitely hooked on the Northwood’s experience! Thanks, guys.

Bill and Linda came over from Wisconsin for some remote water fishing - they just wanted a relaxed day on the water and we had that and so much more. They started the day with some double action with smallmouth and throughout the day continued to wreck the smallies on top. When our 8 hours was up we decided to troll the rest of the way to the takeout spot and Bill hooked into a musky on his trolled spinnerbait. That final musky was the ticket to a musky grand slam. Congratulations, Bill and Linda. Some awesome fish and memories made on the water.

Landon and Chris strike on the trophy board again! This year they both managed to get a musky grand slam and some amazing pictures on the water as well. These guys are simply FISHY FISHY people and they always manage to slay the fish. They are fun and make the day awesome for me. I really enjoy watching them get doubles and catch the big ones!

Geoff and Adam have no quit in them - they push hard for musky and they make success happen year after year after year. These guys are troopers. They can out fish anyone. Check out all of the fish they caught. They have been on this trophy board for 3 or 4 years running now. They are both extremely photogenic and know just how to hold and pose with a musky to get a lifelong memorable picture. Thanks so much, guys, for making the trek out each year from Pennsylvania. It means so much to me! I hope to see you again in the years to come!

Tony and Mike came up to the UP from Indiana and were looking to have a good time out on the water. I think it’s safe to say that we made that happen! The best moment of the 2 day trip was a triple that occurred. It was such a special moment and I am glad they had the opportunity to experience fishing like that. Tons of fun and they got a 20 inch smallie as well! Thanks, guys!

Randy and Ryan came up to the UP from lower Michigan and they wanted to experience a bit of the back country river fishing action. Thankfully the fishing gods produced and we had a ton of fun out on the water. They happened to catch a small tiger musky but it was the prettiest and most unique pattern on a tiger that I have ever seen. Check out the picture on the left to see what I am talking about. I doubt I’ll ever see a tiger musky with that beautiful of a coat again. Thanks, guys, for a great 2 days on the water!

Jim came over from Minnesota with nothing but fish on the mind - we spent three days on the water and experienced three extremely unique and different fisheries each day. On day one Jim caught a crazy nice musky, pike, and smallmouth to qualify from a musky grand slam. Stunning fish, Jim, it’s a GREAT accomplishment.

Erin, Tom, and Connor came out on a 2 day adventure that simply ROCKED. This fishy family wanted to catch musky and we made it happen. Erin especially wanted to catch a musky as she had never caught one and in one day she ended up catching four musky and making it into the musky grand slam. Congratulations, Erin. They were especially adventurous and were okay with trying a stretch of water that I had never floated before - it ended up being a massive success as Tom caught a musky over 40 inches and we nearly caught a huge tiger as well. I look forward to fishing with this family again in the future - who knows what fun and fishy shenanigans we will get up to next time!

Richard and TaeHoon decided to give it a go and try their hands for musky and other species. Richard wanted TaeHoon to catch a big fish and while TaeHoon never hooked into a musky, Richard did! He got a musky grand slam and the two of them picked up 30 fish during the course of the day. At one point we even had a chance at a monster musky but after a 10 second fight it ended up getting off. It was a pleasure to get these guys out on the water, especially as it was TaeHoon’s first time fishing on a river!

Tim and Doug came up to the Northwoods from the Chicago area. They were excited for two days (back to back) fishing for whatever we could get. They decided to do one day targeting smallies and the second day, after we had such a good day during the first, we went for muskies. We ended up getting Tim a 36 inch musky and Doug got lucky and caught pike, walleye, smallies, and musky. It was a really special day on the water and it was capped off at the end of the day with catching a musky directly in front of their Air-Bnb in some very shallow water that probably shouldn’t have held a musky. It was a lovely adventure for the guys and I!

Chris and Landon are back on this list for the 3rd or 4th year in a row. These two are fishing magnets, I’m sure I have written that already for them in this trophy page, but it’s the truth! They fished hard in COLD conditions, it rained, and was super windy in the middle of June. We had to bust out the ponchos to stay warm and our determination paid off with some great musky and other species too. Thanks guys!

George and Matt came up to the Yoop from the northern Illinois/Southern Wisconsin area. They were looking to try some rural small-river action. George on the fly and Matt on the spinning gear both balled out and picked up some great fish. The best fish of the day was a 40 inch musky that came on a 7wt pink custom-tied Swimmin’ Jimmy made by George. It was a miracle that we got the musky in as a 7wt is just not heavy enough (usually) to pull in a fish of that size. It was great talking fish and everything fishing related with these two dudes!

Fred and Bob came up for the third time in two years. Fred and I have had fun on a variety of different floats; however, he hadn’t up until this point caught a musky. This float gave him a chance to catch musky, smallies, and pike. We didn’t see any walleye but I know we went over a few. The water was up and it made the early trip a bit hard but we soon found our way to the fish and ended the day with 36 total fish. It’s always fun to take out return clients and show them new locales. Thanks so much Fred for coming out another year with me!

Bob and Steve came up from Chicago with one plan - to have a blast fishing and enjoying the time on the water. They ended up decimating the fish and catching the best tiger musky I have ever seen. This fish was legendary (seriously, check it out on the left) and it is probably the nicest fish picture I have ever taken. In one magical day we ended up with 65 fish. I love days like that, nothing but fun, fishy moments. And… it didn’t stop there, the next day they came out again and caught another 46 fish with 5 of them being musky. Seriously fishy anglers that fished hard and made it easy for me as the guide.

Rich has been with my now three years in a row - the first year he came with his sister, last year he came with his daughter, and this year he brought his son, Rowan. They both came ready to fish and started the day with some exciting doubles (with one angler fly fishing and one spin fishing). A few moments later Rich picked up a 20 inch smallmouth bass and from there it was basically non-stop action for the rest of the day. Near the end of the day Rowan decided to try for musky and within minutes of beginning to fish for musky he hooked into a monster. The fight took a few minutes and we finally landed the largest musky that any of my clients have caught in the last 5 years. HUGE congratulations to Rowan for catching this monster.

Bryant, Turner, and Rich usually fished in Maine but wanted to see what fishing in the UP is all about. They reached out to see if I could accommodate three anglers and with some flexibility on their part we ended up taking the raft and also a kayak. The guys fished hard and made some great casts and found a few different species. It was exciting getting these guys on fish and hearing their stories about fishing in Maine. I appreciated their excellent humor as it made the day extremely easy. Thanks to all of you!

Jake and Cody are serious fishermen and wanted a serious trip - these guys did not disappoint! They had musky as their number one goal for the day and we picked up 5 musky, 4 walleye, and 4 smallmouth bass. That is a perfect day on the water when targeting the big fish! At one point we even picked up a blue tinged walleye (which are pretty rare). They fished hard and showed the musky what was up and they BOTH got musky grand slams this day. Great job guys!

Steve and Leo are return clients that last fished with me circa 2019. It’s been 5 years or so and I couldn’t have been happier with the results of this trip. We not only caught fish, but also had a great time chatting and floating through a rural small river system. 8 hours on the water and we didn’t see a single man-made structure! Additionally it was very special for me as we finally caught a musky on this stretch of water which I have been trying to do for multiple years now. They both made extremely long trips to make it here (from Texas and California) so I am so glad that it ended up being worth it. Thanks, guys!