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Posts: 20
| If you were mentoring a new musky angler, what would you tell him he needs? As in, what items should he start saving money for first, second third and so on. Feel free to make your list as long as you like, based on order of importance, and to add comments as to why which items went where. |
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| 1. Hire a "teaching" guide
2. hire another teaching guide
3. same as above
4. buy a rod & reel and a few baits recommended by those mentioned in steps 1-3 . |
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Location: Sawyer County, WI | Save your money for a proper net and a set of release tools. Vastly more important than a bunch of fancy lures. |
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Posts: 1416
Location: oconomowoc, wi | dfkiii - 6/24/2015 8:19 PM
Save your money for a proper net and a set of release tools. Vastly more important than a bunch of fancy lures.
THIS!!! |
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Posts: 29
Location: Okauchee, WI | He should make use of some of mentors stuff! The typical musky fool has enough stuff to outfit a few people with the basics. |
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Posts: 1080
Location: Aurora | What to start saving for and why..
First, I only mentor women because increasing knowledge of the sport across genders will result in more understanding and less divorce.
If I ever did consider mentoring a male, if he was married, I guess i'd tell him to start saving for a good divorce lawyer. |
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Posts: 293
| Sidejack - 6/24/2015 10:50 PM
What to start saving for and why..
First, I only mentor women because increasing knowledge of the sport across genders will result in more understanding and less divorce.
If I ever did consider mentoring a male, if he was married, I guess i'd tell him to start saving for a good divorce lawyer.
Hahaha!!! Isn't that the truth! |
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Posts: 8719
| 1. Get a good pair of polarized sunglasses.
2. Buy a set of quality rain gear
3. $35 for a MI membership and start going to meetings and making friends.
4. Get a pen and a notebook, and take notes at the seminars.
5. Before I bought any rods, reels, lures, etc. I'd be putting away money for coffee, lunch, and gas. Take those friends you made at MI, or elsewhere, and spend as much time in their boat fishing with them. Learn what gear you are using and why, and when it is appropriate.
6. Once you have 10-20 days under your belt, get yourself a nice combo.
7. Learn what lures are appropriate for various conditions, what they all do and when/why to use them
8. THEN you can buy yourself a tackle box and start buying lures. Buy a bright and a dark version of each style of lure that will allow you to cover a variety of depths and speeds.
9. Get yourself a good pair of pliers, Knipex, split ring pliers, jaw spreaders, and a good hook file, and a suitable net.
10. Remember that lures, as fun and shiny and addicting as they are, are just tools. They are JUST TOOLS. It's like taking an engine apart and rebuilding it. You need certain tools, which you will not know you need until you have taken an engine apart and rebuilt it. 47 screwdrivers look great in the drawer, but they won't help you much when you need a ring compressor.
We all did it, and it's part of the fun. But most guys go out and buy a bunch of stuff they don't need because they don't know enough to know what they DO need. And then they wind up either selling it for half of what they paid for it, leaving it sit in the garage, and gradually buying the stuff they DO need after several years of learning.
I did it. Somebody who I presumed knew more than me told me I needed bulldawgs. I bought 27 of them. Someone else told me I needed to have Phantoms, because that was THE lure to catch lots of fish. I think I had 30 at one point.
The first time I went to a musky show I spent $600 on lures. While many of them were "good" lures, only one out of 10 actually fit with the places and times where I usually fish.
Be patient. The knowledge and experience will come. THEN spend the money. |
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Posts: 251
| "9. Get yourself a good pair of pliers, Knipex, split ring pliers, jaw spreaders, and a good hook file, and a suitable net. "
This needs to be the first things in any boat you are fishing out of, then worry about extra tackle. Then you can add a bump board and camera/Gopro to that list. I think a good Gopro video of your catch is priceless, I will be running 3 for my LOTW trip this year (1 is mine and 2 borrowed). |
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Posts: 13688
Location: minocqua, wi. | Sidejack - 6/24/2015 10:50 PM
What to start saving for and why..
First, I only mentor women because increasing knowledge of the sport across genders will result in more understanding and less divorce.
If I ever did consider mentoring a male, if he was married, I guess i'd tell him to start saving for a good divorce lawyer.
^true ...
it's expensive and not just $$ but time. it's the kind of hobby that fits with maybe one other one including marriage but not much more than that. if he is getting into it and wants to do it a lot on his own then it's more like a mortgage considering truck, boat, electronics, rod/reels, tackle and time. if he wants to dabble in it then he should just find a friend who already does it and just start slow prioritizing like ...
1. good reel
2. decent rod
3. bucktail, depth raider, ddd, grandma, bulldawg, water chopper, weagle
4. net
5. knipex
6. glove (if you suck at it you can bypass this cuz you won't have to touch a fish)
past this point is where it gets ugly ...
1. truck
2. boat
3. electronics
4. trolling motor
5. onboard accessories
6. budget for shidt you will break
7. gas
8. lodging or a life in the musky range
9. more rods/reels than you really need
10. more baits than you really need
* part of this is offset by the high potential you will land a self-proclaimed "pro-staff" deal within your first two years of musky fishing |
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Posts: 3136
| Nobody said Tylenol or a divorce lawyer on retainer?????? |
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Posts: 1168
| They'll need a fishing license. |
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Posts: 386
| I have this conversation with younger guys all the time, probably once a week. Everyone who has never muskie fished should go with someone to see what it's all about. TV programs and magazine articles don't show the grind of being a musky nut. I ask everyone the same thing: "Are you willing to spend $150-200 on a net, hook cutters, and GOOD release tools, because if you're not you better not even think about it." After that I brush in the costs associated with rods, reels, a few baits, time, and a bruised ego. |
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Posts: 815
Location: Waukee, IA | Can confirm, I've spent the equivalent of 1 1/2 work weeks on the water this year and not a fish to show for it yet. My ego is bruised, battered and fried.
Edited by tkuntz 6/25/2015 10:24 AM
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Posts: 1283
| First thing is to go out with someone you know is successful to see what its really about. Joining Muskies Inc is a great place to meet people if you dont already know someone that is a muskie nut. Its not easy casting these big baits for hours on end with nothing to show a lot of the time.
As said good release tools and a net are mandatory. Couple pairs of extra long pliers, knipex bolt cutters, jaw spreaders and a good muskie sized net are a great start. After that a GOOD reel will make all the difference in ease of fishing, combined with a nice 8ft+ XH rod. 80# braid of your choice with a good fluorocarbon leader in the 130# range is what I use.
As for baits a few bucktails from single blades to double 10s are always good to have, a couple rubber baits(dawgs, Dussa's, Twinkies etc) in mid/reg size is a great start, a few top waters(top raiders, whopper ploppers, hawg wobblers) and a few jerk/glide baits(Hellhounds, Phantoms, Suicks etc) that are easy to use would also be in my box. |
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Posts: 2687
Location: Hayward, WI | dfkiii - 6/24/2015 8:19 PM
Save your money for a proper net and a set of release tools. Vastly more important than a bunch of fancy lures.
Ding Ding Ding. I work with a guy that's buying some musky gear. He bought a rod and reel and a couple baits. Now he wants to buy another combo.
Told him he needs to purchase a good musky net before he buys anything else. I think a lot of us forget that there's lots of people out there fishing for muskies that have all the tackle they need, except the right release tools.
After that, start with the rods, reels, and baits that can be afforded. For baits, a deeper diving crankbait, a 6-8 oz. rubber bait, a double 10 bucktail and a smaller one, a spinnerbait, and maybe a topwater will catch a LOT of fish in pretty much any scenario. |
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Posts: 86
| fishhawk50 - 6/24/2015 8:25 PM
dfkiii - 6/24/2015 8:19 PM
Save your money for a proper net and a set of release tools. Vastly more important than a bunch of fancy lures.
THIS!!!
AGREE 100%
#1 knipex compound leverage cutters ($40-50 but NEEDED)
2 Jaw spreader
3 baker hook out (i use long needle nose 98% of the time, but once in awhile you'll Need the Backer tool, + there like $5)
4 Long needle nose pliers (i like straight jaw, some like angled)
You need a good net. coated bags are the way to go.
a Frabill style lure retriever, and one you can slide down the line for deep snags is also a must have in my opinion.
Good Luck!
Have Fun!
Learn something!
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Posts: 251
| I am glad everyone is hitting the release tools hard. It cannot be said too much. My first try at musky fishing I didn't have a proper net...In hindsight I am glad we struck out. I wouldn't have known what to do if we had a big one on other than tire it out and risk killing it. Don't make my mistake kids. |
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Location: Grand Rapids, MI | mnmusky - 6/24/2015 9:17 PM 1. Hire a "teaching" guide 2. hire another teaching guide 3. same as above 4. buy a rod & reel and a few baits recommended by those mentioned in steps 1-3 . Many people out there could have saved hundreds maybe even thousands if they would have taken this advice. I hate hearing "I guess the rod and reel I bought isn't going to work" and so many times the answer to "are any of the lures in my box any good for the lakes I want to fish?" is NO.
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Posts: 20179
Location: oswego, il | Catch a 50. |
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| Or catch two 25's and use some mend-it and call it a fitty. |
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Location: Eastern Ontario | A good partner who will cheerfully spend all day in a boat when the weather is bad and things are slow is happy when anyone in the boat scores or when you are working on a skunk considers it eliminating water. |
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Posts: 166
Location: Merrill, Wisconsin | Release gear and a suitable net and the knowledge of the fish I think is the biggest part. Most people in this sport fish for CPR (Catch, Photo, Release). And to make this happen, good quality gear makes it happen smoothly. Knowledge is very important too, knowing when to cut the hook instead of rip half the fishes gullet or head apart. Knowing how to properly hold a fish instead of the vertical hold which isn't a good thing.
I think if I focused more on the fundamentals of musky fishing such as sharpening hooks, keeping pressure on the line, setting the hook across the fish when able, waiting till you feel the weight on a surface bait before driving the hooks in, and many more. I would have caught double the muskies I have now. You can have a million baits in the world and all the best equipment, but lack of knowledge and failure to execute fundamentals will time and time again lose fish. |
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Posts: 166
Location: Merrill, Wisconsin | One last thing, you have to work for your muskies. It isn't always sunshine and rainbows. The harder you work, the more time you spend on the water, equals more fish. |
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Posts: 8719
| I think it can all be summed up in two simple statements:
1. Fish with as many experienced musky anglers as you can and learn from them before you go shopping.
2. Buy the stuff you need for where and how you will be fishing. If you don't know that yet, save your money.
If you're going to go at it alone, you absolutely need quality release tools and a good net, just in case. But not knowing where to fish or with what, when, or how won't leave you many opportunities. And if you don't have good figure 8 skills and the practice it takes to set the hook, get the fish to the net, and net it by yourself, you probably won't be needing the knipex or the jaw spreaders.
But then there are always those guys who buy a rod and reel and two lures and catch a 52" their first time out...
I feel sorry for guys like that. They're in for a lot of disappointing days creating an expectation like that right out of the gate.
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| Good advice. When someone says to me what to purchase first, I tell them what I get ready first when fishing by myself. A good net, two needle nose pliers and a hook cutter. I put those in place before I ever select a lure, rod, etc.
Something that I don't think was mentioned, but should be considered if they are fishing by themselves, is a good pfd. In the fall when the weather is cold, I put that on when I leave the dock, a self inflating one that is comfortable. If not comfortable, you won't wear it and it might as well be left behind. |
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Posts: 20
| Thanks everyone for all the replies! I've spent probably around 40 hours on the water casting for them and didn't have a follow yet. I've mostly been fishing a lake that's stocked with a tigers. I'm probably gonna go to Marsh Creek (local lake with some nice pures) with a guy that's in MI 50 and will learn all kinds of things from him I'm sure. I'm using a 4600 C3 reel that I'd like to upgrade to a NACL but I don't know when that's gonna happen since I need a net and hook cutters. Thank you all. |
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| Patience and/or a penchant for sadomasochism. |
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