Solitary Hunter of the Deep

It's been said that to look deep into the eyes of a muskellunge is to see anger and despair. It's to see the solitude of a lonely prowler wandering the murky depths as a rogue hunter, ever chasing its prey. Since my childhood, I've wanted to feel that stare-see eye to eye with the hunter of the deep as an equal. I want to face him or her, having conquered them with my hunting and fishing skills and a simple rod and reel. I've wanted to see what so few see. I've wanted to hunt the hunter.
But hunters are crafty...

Two years ago I set out to catch (and release) one giant Muskie that lives merely a mile from my doorstep. She's my neighbor (the roaming and daunting hunter of the deep). Each morning I wake, and I see her humble abode...an underwater rock shelf in plain view from my front porch. Dozens of bass fisherman have been robbed of their baits by her fierce jaws and brutal strength. Once she takes their bait, it and all their line are hers. Few have seen her, and few have ever turned her head with their rod and reel. She's one big, bad girl...my Pearl. My Pearl of the Dale.