|
|
Posts: 2276
Location: Chisholm, MN | Winter is getting boring. We need to talk muskies!
So what makes one season better than the other when comparing fish catches from year to year? Do you pay more attention to a hot bait, or a hot lake? Or something else?
Can one year really be better than another? Some will say, this year sucked, or this year was great. Was it the year, based on weather or some unknown factor? Or was it you and how you approached it that made it better, or worse?
Overall, my fishing success has been fairly consistent. A few big ones boated, and a good amount of others to keep me satisfied. But I have been doing some thinking about why I've had some excellent years, as opposed to some normal years. Personally, I think it comes down to how much I am obsessed with catching a fish. There are times when I will stop at nothing to catch every fish in the lake. Generally that means I'm thinking about muskies non-stop while off the water too. I'll replay follows in my mind and question what I could have done to make them eat. In turn, I believe that keeps me sharp on the water and ready for any move a muskie will make, and I'll capitalize on the situation. That's my key to success.
Anybody else have insight on how to have an EXCELLENT year? |
|
| |
|
Posts: 230
Location: St Paul, Minnesota | I have a two part plan to success that I usually sell for $19.99 but I'll disclose to you all for free for a limited time...
1) Convince/Admit to yourself that "I don't know nearly enough".
2) Actively seek out and fish with better sticks than yourself as much as possible and on as many different bodies of water as possible.
-C7 |
|
| |
|
Posts: 815
Location: Waukee, IA | Cloud7 - 1/18/2017 2:42 PM
I have a two part plan to success that I usually sell for $19.99 but I'll disclose to you all for free for a limited time...
1) Convince/Admit to yourself that "I don't know nearly enough".
2) Actively seek out and fish with better sticks than yourself as much as possible and on as many different bodies of water as possible.
-C7
Your first point is dead on. As soon as someone THINKS they know it all or enough, learning stops immediately. Good fishermen "know it all," great fishermen wish they knew more. |
|
| |
|
Posts: 860
Location: NE Ohio | time on the water, and the $ to stay there..................... |
|
| |
|
Posts: 535
| Kirby Budrow - 1/18/2017 2:33 PM
Can one year really be better than another? Some will say, this year sucked, or this year was great. Was it the year, based on weather or some unknown factor? Or was it you and how you approached it that made it better, or worse?
Great question. One I ask myself each yr. For me I think my better yrs were when I spent more time on lakes that had a better population of fish and even maybe a more popular lake. I know that sounds obvious but for me getting away from the crowds and having spots all to myself is what ive grown up doing but with the increase in pressure the lakes that have lower density has gotten harder and harder and to the point at times not worth fishing. So I find myself fishing more well known lakes and even a lot of community spots more now. I still don't like fishing close to other guys and even fishing spots that were just fished so that has gotten me out more finding the secondary and off the grid type spots on these popular lakes. Also watching the weather more and knowing individual bodies of water well enough to have a good idea where to go and when and not just hookin up to the boat and heading to the nearest muskie lake or maybe the last lake I had a bite on when I get the chance. |
|
| |
|
Posts: 20179
Location: oswego, il | We have o closed season in illinois. Seasonal weather dictates everything. How early can we start, how long into the summer can we fish. How many bad spring coldfronts will present themselves on the weekends. Weather meams everything when it comes to a successful season. |
|
| |
|
Location: Eastern Ontario | I've had years with some pretty impressive numbers. A single 55 inch fish would make a great year and 57 or 58 I would think I had died and gone to heaven. I've netted them so I know they exist. So I guess what made a great season 30 years ago is not what I'm in search of today. I agree with Todd on big water weather especially big wind is the fly in the ointment.
Edited by horsehunter 1/18/2017 8:29 PM
|
|
| |
|
Posts: 16632
Location: The desert | You guys get good weather to fish in? Every time I go I feel like Captain McSorely trying to make Whitefish. |
|
| |
|
Posts: 20179
Location: oswego, il | Weather determines the length of my fishing season. As stated above, planning trips to lsc is always a gamble. I am well under 50% success trips planned to being able to go because of the wind. Same with salmon fishing, i have to cancell those plans often.
Edited by ToddM 1/18/2017 9:22 PM
|
|
| |
|
Posts: 1126
Location: Minnesota. | Luck, plain n' simple.
Given two choices, luck or skill, I'll take luck any day. |
|
| |
|
Posts: 1039
Location: North St. Paul, MN | A few things come to mind...
1. Most important TIME. Period, that's it. The more time spent, the better my seasons have been.
2. Rivers = water levels, rain, and subsequent runoff. For me, the more rain, the worse I do.
3. Study, study, and study some more. The more that I've gotten into this the more notes I've taken, better questions to guides and friends, analyzing Google maps, etc.
So, overall with experience, I've had better years, but the biggest factor in my success is TIME. Life, wife, and kid eats into it for sure.
Just enjoying the ride and looking forward to my favorite season..."the next."
|
|
| |
|
Posts: 112
Location: Illinois | My notes have revealed some insight to me.
1. I'm only scratching the surface of skill,knowledge,insight of being a "good" Muskie fisherman. I'm still in the advanced beginner stage imo.
2. Completely agree on the time assessment. It's about the "amount of time on the water",the quality of said time(seasonal,weather,body of water,etc) and fishing peak "time" windows.
These are the biggest factors for me. I often don't have the ability to go when I want to. Schedule dictates and I fish when that allows(good or bad). When I've had scheduled trips that coincide with good moon phases,weather conditions,etc. I have been greatly more successful. |
|
| |
|
Posts: 2276
Location: Chisholm, MN | Agreed, time (and money) also contribute to success. But maximizing your given time on the water is also key. One other thing that has helped me over the years is fishing with other good fisherman. They have taught me a few things, but more importantly, they lit a fire under my @$$ to fish harder and smarter. There have been times where I've caught myself just going through the motions. But one day this summer I was fishing with a friend when the fish just started snapping. Watching him get in the mode reminded me of myself when I was a machine on the water. It was a huge wake-up call and brought me back to my old self! Thanks TP  |
|
| |
|
Posts: 833
| I'm curious to hear the 3 biggest areas of focus are for various levels of anglers. It is obvious that someone who catches one a season is going to focus on different stuff than someone who gets 100, but what are the in-betweens?
I caught 16 fish in 2016. My areas of focus are:
1.) What I can do to more quickly identify / follow patterns on my preferred water?
2.) What do I need to do resolve parts of the season where I struggle (July and September for me)
3.) Are there patterns I'm fishing that I can further refine and how?
Beyond getting the basics right, I find my key to strong numbers and size is mastering a specific pattern during a specific part of the season. The more I do that, the better my numbers. That and having the time to make it happen... |
|
| |
|
Location: Contrarian Island | luck doesn't put you on fish over the course of the season...yah, we all get lucky and luck definitely plays into some of your success...but if you're counting on luck putting big fish in the boat consistently you'll be sadly dissapointed in this sport...
picking the right times to fish is very important... the fish have way more control of when we catch them than we do... maximize your time by simply fishing smart, keeping it simple, don't overthink things, have good boat control and lure mechanics and a solid figure 8... keep track of your hours and figure out where and when you are getting the best ROI on your hours... many don't like to track their hours but to me that is what one can do to figure out there where and when you should be fishing...
keep an open mind, don't fish memories, try not to get stuck in a rut and 1 thing I think that has lead to my success is I am always confident ... and always expect to catch multiple fish every time out. |
|
| |
|
Posts: 267
| I agree with pklingen. For me time on the water is huge, and the last several years I have not spent nearly enough time out there to know what is going on, what patterns are turning fish, etc. That, and I'm not as mad at them as I used to be. |
|
| |
|
Posts: 1405
Location: Detroit River | In 2014 I decided to fish for musky the same way I fish for bass & it paid off with my best musky season to-date. In 2015 I through that approach out & ended up with my worst season since my first year chasing musky. 2016 I didn't give a crap & didn't put much effort in & I had an average season averaging 1.4 fish per trip. This year I might give up musky & go after bluegill. |
|
| |
|
Posts: 4343
Location: Smith Creek | Luck, and conditions that are favorable to your particular style of fishing. Nobody fishes the same, so some years Johnny Slop might catch more than Willie Weededge and some years Thaddeus Thermocline might out fish them all.
|
|
| |
|
Posts: 8719
| Trust your instincts. Pay attention to environmental cues. Know when to be hitting it hard and when to stop for a bite to eat or putter around catching walleyes for a few hours before the major or moonrise. Study your maps and have a plan. Know when to stick to the plan and when to go to plan B. Be ready. When you know you're about to catch a fish, you will catch it. When it's been two hours and you haven't seen anything and you're not expecting a fish, you'll probably blow it if one shows up. There's always one that comes flying out of nowhere when you least expect it. Catch that fish. If a spot doesn't feel right? Leave. If the hair is standing up on the back of your neck? Pick it apart. Don't leave a spot because you caught a fish. There's probably another one in there. |
|
| |
|
Posts: 1937
Location: Black Creek, WI | I'm with BNelson on the concept of maximizing your ROI.... with your investment being TIME. If I spend the same amount of time on the water each year... but get different results.... it is usually due to lack of preparation before hitting the water AND fishing memories once I was on the water. This year I didn't spend much time preparing so when I did get out on the water, I just fished past memories. Big mistake... and my results in 2016 show it. Also, your expectations change over time. If I measured last year's results against my standards from 20 years ago... I had a pretty good year last year. lol. |
|
| |
|
Posts: 8719
| Hard to stop chasing ghosts. Funny, but that giant fish never seems to be hanging around the same spot a year later. |
|
| |
|
Posts: 157
Location: West Central WI | Each year, I try to learn something new. While I'm not new to muskie fishing, I feel that I don't use all the tools that are available out there so each year I read a lot, especially during the off-season, and try to find something new in terms of a tactic, a new bait, new water, new ways to use a bait I already have, etc. That includes studying lake charts to see where a "new" tactic may be best tried, a new lake with good structure, where to troll, where to jig, etc. While I haven't put huge numbers in the boat, my numbers have gone up almost every year. The bottom line is that if I don't change, don't learn something new, or don't try to get better, I can expect the same results. That's not good enough for me. Getting better is the challenge that keeps me chasing muskies. To me, no other fish comes close to the thrill of putting one in the net. |
|
| |
