When she landed her first muskie in October 2017, Kristin Tanner had no idea it might win her the West Virginia Husky Musky Club’s trophy for the largest Elk River fish taken that year. Tanner became the first female in the club’s 49-year history to capture the award. Courtesy Photo
By: John McCoy, Staff Writer | Posted: Mar. 30, 2018 | Source: WV Gazette-Mail
In the West Virginia Husky Musky Club’s 49 years of existence, its big-fish trophy had always gone to a man.
Kristin Tanner changed that.
Tanner, 17, of Elkview, recently became the first female to earn the award given to the member who landed the year’s largest Elk River muskie. Her fish, caught and released last fall near Blue Creek, measured 44½ inches in length.
When she accepted the trophy, Tanner had been fishing for muskies just three years. The fish that brought her the prize was the first one she ever landed.
“I caught it on Oct. 16, 10 days after my 17th birthday,” she recalled. “I’d gotten a new muskie rod and reel for my birthday, and I was trying it out.”
In the true spirit of starting at the top, Elkview teen Kristin Tanner’s first muskie measured 44 1/2 inches and captured the West Virginia Husky Musky Club’s traveling trophy for largest fish caught from the Elk in 2017. Courtesy Photo
She gave the rod its first workout the day before, but luck wasn’t on her side.
“We were fishing up around Frametown, and I had a 40-incher come up and look at the lure. I did the figure-8, but the fish wouldn’t strike.”
Her fishing partner and mentor, Mac Myers, called her later to see if she’d be interested in giving it another try the next day. She eagerly accepted his offer.
“He’s the one that got me started muskie fishing,” Tanner said. “He heard that I liked to fish, and he offered to take me. On our first trip, we saw 11 muskies. I don’t know if I was his good-luck charm or if he was mine.”
Seeing muskies and catching them are two entirely different things. Even if one shows interest in a lure, there’s no guarantee it will bite.
When Tanner finally experienced that first bite, she got a close-up view of how suddenly it can happen.
“We hadn’t been on the water long,” she said. “I was throwing a Double Cowgirl spinner. I’d only made a couple of casts when I saw a fish come up behind the lure. I thought it was going to go under the boat, but it latched on just as I was starting to figure-eight.”
Tanner described the ensuing fight as “interesting.”
“I only had a few inches of line out,” she said. “It took and went under the boat. All I could get out was, ‘Mac, get the net!’”
Her brand-new muskie rig was up to the task. The medium-heavy 8-foot rod allowed her to lever the hard-fighting fish back out into the open, and the 80-pound-test line easily countered its weight. After a brief but intense close-quarters battle, Myers netted the fish.
That would have been the end if it except for a chance encounter with Jeff Hansbarger, a Division of Natural Resources fisheries biologist.
“I didn’t even know the Husky Musky Club existed,” Tanner said. “Jeff told me about it and I signed up. Then later, I got a notice to come to the banquet. That’s where I got the trophy.”
The trophy features a large wooden pedestal topped by the silver figure of a leaping muskie. Small brass plaques bear the names of previous recipients. Tanner’s plaque stands out; to commemorate the award’s first female recipient, club members had her name engraved on a red one.
The trophy will remain in her possession for a year — unless, of course, she’s fortunate enough to land this year’s largest muskie.
If she doesn’t, it won’t be for lack of trying. She said she can’t wait for the weather to break and for the Elk River’s water levels to come down a bit so she can go fishing again.
Reach John McCoy at johnmccoy@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-1231 or follow @GazMailOutdoors on Twitter.
