Rich Gallagher’s Guide Service - A.K.A. The Big Goomba

The first time I fished with Rich Gallagher, “The Big Goomba,” was about four years ago with Greg Wilczynski and Todd Berg. Greg had won a one-day guide trip that Rich had donated to the Mike Jackson Illinois Ice Championship on Channel Lake. Greg fished in Todd’s boat and I fished with Rich in his. Before the trip I looked up “Goomba” in the dictionary where the closest thing I found was “Goonda” (in India) - a ruffian or hoodlum. I pictured a big muscle guy logo on his truck and a big muscle guy wrestling a Muskie on his boat. I was half-right in my projection. His logo has himself riding on the back of a Muskie and he is built like someone who can handle throwing the big muskie baits all day long for days at a time - bulky. My first impression was great. It was a cold September day, not exactly the best time to fish for Muskie. We had a great time fishing as a foursome and the Tomato Bisque soup that Todd brought along was to die for.

I have a reputation for eating others’ uneaten lunches on fishing outings, so keep the cooler locked up. It must have stemmed from the days fishing with my Uncle Ron on Apple Canyon Lake. My Aunt Colleen would pack a serious amount of sandwiches and a six pack of coke. Uncle Ron would kid me about not bringing my own food and eat all of the sandwiches himself. I learned to eat up early on outings with him or go hungry.

So with the memories of the past, I looked forward to getting on the water with Rich again on a warm spring day in May when the muskie are more active and easier prey. We decided to meet at the Launch on Lake Catherine at 7am. None of the resturants were open on the lake yet so I brought my lunch along. I told Rich that Greg Wilczynski wanted to bring along Wojciech, his new friend and a writer for a Polish magazine called Zew Natury. Rich welcomed the idea. Greg was eager to use some new lures on the market by a Polish company named Salmo. Greg had previously fished with the owners of the company in Canada and witnessed the awesome power of the lures. He had a collection of Salmo muskie lures for all of us to experiment with. Again we would have a foursome attack on the elusive muskellunge. I don’t own a muskie rod so I decided to keep my fishing tackle at home. Although Rich welcomes you to bring your own gear, he has plenty of rods and tackle. Talk to his wife Margie. If he didn’t have so many lures, they might be able to fit another car in the garage.

When I arrived at the launch, Greg, Wojciech and Rich were already having a great time. I joined in and we listened to Goomba explain the plan for the day. He had a few insider spots from a friend who is also his fishing partner in tournaments. Having a guide to teach you the ropes has more advantages than just learning about the fishery and using the gear. Today the insider information was giving us the best chance to catch one of these monsters. It doesn’t take long to see that Rich has countless hours on the water when he launches into his pre-fishing plan for finding fish. Having confidence while fishing is half the battle in catching a fish that history tells takes 10,000 casts. You have to know the equipment, the way to work the lures, what color to use on a cloudy day, a favorite color for a specific lake, how to retrieve the lure and endless other things you might encounter while on the water. It’s clear to me while talking to Rich on the way to our first spot that his seminar attendants and radio listeners actually learn something. At one of his seminars he asked everyone to bring maps of the area so he could point out spots to fish.

Rich is not your typical guide. He writes for a variety of Internet web sites such as BigMuskie.com and is a pro-staffer for muskyFIRST.com, one of the largest muskie sites on the Internet. He is also the President of the Fox River Valley Chapter of Muskies Inc. in Elgin IL. The membership exceeds 300 members and they meet regularly on the second Wednesday of each month and feature speaker at the meetings. Rich has fished the PMTT, a professional muskie tour, since 2002 and has over ten top 10 finishes in muskie tournaments under his belt.

Feeling confident of Rich’s plan, we approach the south end of Channel Lake. In early spring muskellunge roam the shallow bays and weed flats. It’s not coincidence that this is the same area where other predator fish are making their spawning beds. Not only do they have to protect their eggs from other fish, they have to watch for muskies who are more interested in eating a bigger meal. As the water temperature moves to the middle to upper 60’s the muskies drop into the deeper waters especially in areas where emerging weeds are at their thickest. Before we make the first cast, I take off my rain gear that doubles as a great windbreaker while moving from spot to spot on the boat rides. It’s always a good idea to have rain gear and booties for your shoes or waterproof boots in case of rain. Wet feet are the worst thing that can happen on a fishing trip so be prepared. It seems as though the weatherman is right today, partly cloudy and a high of around 72, a nice day to be out on the water. Rich tells me that green is a good color on the chain and recommends that we each throw a different lure to help our catch ratio. I have learned from tournament fishing that having more anglers fishing with different techniques will lessen the time it takes to figure out what the fish want. I begin slinging a black and orange terminator spinner while Rich chooses the Voodoo tail buck tail in green. We are casting the shallows in about 3-4 feet of water with clarity of 6-8 feet, gin clear. Rich is explaining that speed can be a factor in triggering the fish but not as important as making sure the spinner blade is rotating when BAM, Fish On! Now that was awesome. I often take a video camera along to add fishing coverage to my library for the possibility of videos later on my website: www.thefishyspot.com and this would have been an opportune moment. I watched when Rich exclaimed that he had a follow, which means a fish was following his bait to the boat. When this occurs the fisherman turns the bait as it approaches the boat and goes into a figure eight with the tip of the rod slightly under the water. Rich does the maneuver with expert precision speeding up the bait and making smaller turns. On the third eight I witness the large mouth open and take the bait from Rich, Fish On! We just got here! This was about the fifth cast for Rich. He moves toward me in the front of the boat to let me feel the power of the fish, but I decline wanting to catch my own Muskie. I have had the experience and caught a whooping 51” muskie last year on a 6ft St. Croix light action rod. As Rich returns to the back of the boat, the fish comes unbuttoned. I put back my sandwich in the cooler and commence fishing. It was that green color that did it. Didn’t he just say that was a favorite color on the chain? Maybe he would be willing to switch lures.

We fished around the south end of Channel Lake and slid around to the front of Mentones. On one of my casts underneath a nearby dock, a boil of water appears on the surface. I just missed a hit or spooked a fish. As we moved out deeper in the bay, I had another follow but the fish flashed off before I could practice the eight technique. A routine practice between casts is a good idea so you are prepared when the time comes. There’s nothing like seeing a behemoth muskellunge following your bait to the boat while wide eyed and mouth agape. You still need to be prepared to give yourself the best chance to hook a fish. Then the race is on. There is still no guarantee and, more often than not, the fish wins the battle between the complexities of having the drag set right, lure position in his mouth and line strength. Line is something Rich doesn’t mess with. The rod I was using had 80lb test braided with a 10-inch steel leader. Greg and Wojciech on the other hand are fishing with St. Croix rods designed for bass fishing. Greg is more of a finesse fisherman and demands catching the biggest fish on the smallest tackle. To Greg the fight is more important than the catch.

With nothing in the boat and one sandwich down the gullet, we decide it’s time to head into Lake Marie. The strong 10-20mph winds are pounding Marie and the water clarity is muddy with barely a two-foot visibility. I’m glad I am not the one that has to hold the boat. Rich does a great job controlling the boat as we fish the east shoreline of Marie’s lower basin. I have already run the gamete of several of Rich’s lures, including Voodoo Tail JR’s that are easier on my undeveloped muscles and Reef Hawgs and an intriguing bait that is called a BullDawg, a rubber bait that looks like a bullhead. We have also fished with several of the Salmo Lures that Greg supplied for the day. Halfway through the shoreline I was sure I had a follow again on the orange/black terminator spinner bait. Not long after we hear shouts coming from the trailer boat with Greg holding a bent Legend St. Croix rod and Wojciech clicking photographs while keeping the boat clear of the docks. Rich motors the boat to greet Greg smiling and explaining that they were getting short hits on their baits so he slowed down the speed of his retrieves with added twitches. On this particular fish he felt the tick or bite and gave it another twitch and BAM, Fish On! Rich cleverly placed our larger boat downwind while we attempted to net his fish from our boat. Rich exclaimed later that he was sure the netting wouldn’t work. Greg and I had fished hundreds of times together and with Rich’s boat control and our knowledge of each other we netted a beautiful 39-¼” Leech Lake strain Muskie without a hitch. The catch was made on an orange and black striped slider by Salmo. We quickly measured the fish, took photos and sent him back to the murky waters. When you go on a muskie hunt, a good day entails seeing muskies follow your bait and maybe a chance to boat one fish. Half the day was gone and we accomplished our mission. As far as Rich was concerned, we had just finished nine holes and were making the turn for the back nine. Greg and Wojciech had other plans for the afternoon and we exchanged our farewells.

Rich and I set off for West Bay on Marie, another shallow bay with emerging weeds. The winds were blowing on and off while Rich held the boat just inside the no wake buoys. It was time for another change of baits. I wanted to learn as much as possible about the new tackle so Rich suggested we move to top water bait and glider bait. He showed me how to use an orange and black striped Manta. It’s easy to understand how the bait got its name. With a plastic rudder as a tail, it looks and swims like the real thing. As you use the walk the dog twitching action with the rod pointed downwards, the bait easily glides from side to side just under the water’s surface. The longer you wait between twitches, the longer the glide. Rich on the other hand chooses a Maas Marauder in Chartreuse and orange for Salmo designed by the famous Al Maas. This thing looks like a kid’s toy submarine with giant treble hooks dangling below. It’s got to be 10″ long! I am enjoying my glider because of the ease of the motion to make the bait swim properly while Rich is walking the dog with the Marauder in a violent fashion that causes the bait to nose in and out of the waves from left to right. He must be getting out some aggression thinking about the missed opportunity in the beginning of the day while I peacefully swim my manta from side to side lulling myself asleep pondering the day’s events when all of a sudden I hear a load thrash from the water. My eyes easily locate the torpedo that connects to the end of Rich’s line to see a giant muskie come half out of the water to attack the marauder from the right side of the bait. Rich instinctively raised the rod and, as quickly as the fish showed himself, he was gone.

“Did you see the size of that thing?” Rich asked.

“How could I not?” It was like being wakened for a fire drill.

“How big of a fish do you think that was?”

“I remember the size of the head on the fish I caught last year and that fish looked to match it.”

“That was probably my biggest fish to date on the chain.”

“Did you feel any weight on the line?”

“Yep, you’re right,” Rich said in disgust. “I didn’t let him take the bait.”

I wasn’t sure the fish just didn’t miss the Marauder, although it seemed like it was like trying to miss the broad side of a bright red barn to me. It was clear that Rich had missed the opportunity to boat one hell of a muskie. There is nothing like finishing off your day with a near miss to make you want to stay just a little bit longer. So we did. We fished the west bay for a short time longer and moved back to Channel Lake towards our portal to home. The wind died down and we quietly fished along the west shoreline down into the NW corner talking about the days between our last meeting four years ago.

Rich’s popularity in the Muskie world keeps him busy with radio shows with Mike Norris, Bob Maciulis from the Outdoor Notebook and Steve Sarley’s TV show on CLTV. With my recent thrust into the fishing world following a win with my partner Tony Boshold in the North American Ice Fishing Championship 2005, we have met people in the industry who take the time to help others have a good time fishing and learn something new about the sport. Rich has immersed himself in the world of fishing and has four kids who all enjoy the sport. He is also an active member in Chicagoland Fishing Has No Boundaries. This organization is comprised of volunteers who donate their time to help physically and mentally handicapped children and adults enjoy the outdoors and fishing.

After fishing for another hour without a follow, we decide to call it a day. I check Rich’s cooler and he has already polished off his sandwiches so there is no other reason for me to continue. At the launch we exchange phone numbers and I thank Rich for the great experience and wish him luck on his upcoming tournament on the Petenwell Flowage in WI. We promise each other not to keep apart for so long and I head off for home. While driving and thinking of the time spent with Rich on the water, I realize how far off I really was when I first analyzed him as “The Big Goomba.” Really the best part of fishing isn’t about the fishing at all. It is about being with old friends, renewing friendships, and meeting new people. I am thankful to have met Wojciech from Zew Natury and to have revived a friendship with Rich. And it’s never the same without my friend and Mentor in fishing Greg Wilczynski. With more thought I surmise that Goomba must mean compadre or friend.

If you are looking for more information about Rich Gallagher and his guide service, check his web site www.biggoomba.com or call him at (847) 741-9771.