Angler lands huge muskie in New York's Chautauqua Lake as last-minute 'bite window' opens

After not getting a bite on the first day, Bill Swanson and his friend were nearing the end of their second day of fishing without a strike when suddenly the "bite window" opened, and didn't close even as the sun was setting.

Swanson and Vance Kaloz trolled both ends of Chautauqua Lake in New York for nearly two consecutive days in early November without success before Swanson caught a 46-inch muskie and then lost another one about the same size, as reported by New York Upstate.

But it wasn't until the sun began setting and the anglers decided to call it a day when the best fish of the day bit.

"We're just getting ready to stand up and say, 'Welp, you know, we gave it heck,' and all of a sudden the reel went [off]," Swanson told New York Upstate.

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"She did two tail splashes and totally drenched both of us in the back of the boat. It was  just so great."

It took Swanson 10 minutes to land the fish, doing so after he had lost his footing during the fight and hit the deck.

"[Vance] just goes all day, every day," Swanson told New York Upstate. "And that's the trick to muskie fishing. You gotta be there when that bite window comes."