Muskie fishing demands both mental grit and physical endurance. Hours of casting and retrieving—at times with lures measured in pounds, not ounces—push both anglers and gear to their absolute limits.

BUCHANAN — Fishing is supposed to be fun, not work. But this felt a lot like work. And, really, that’s what fishing for muskellunge is. Work. We had been at it for three hours. My buddy Kevin Meeks ...