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Posts: 60
| I fish the Door County area, and this is my first spring musky fishing. I usually see 2-3 muskies per day, but I haven't caught anything. The only musky action I've seen is two follows and one big fish missing a bucktail in shallow water. I've probably been on the water for 30-40 hours.
I've fished shallow water, cabbage beds (which are pretty rare around me), and open water. For casting, I've tried many different types and sizes of baits. Mostly, I'm using bucktails, gliders, and twitch baits. Two of my three musky encounters came on double 8's. The other came on a small minnowbait. For open water trolling, I'm constantly around huge schools of alewives and whitefish, but I'm not seeing any big arcs on my graph.
Does anyone have any advice? |
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Posts: 1969
| Try getting a full cast off of structure and open water casting, often a fun productive technique in June. Mags, swiwbaits, and cranks are usually my go to's. |
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Posts: 325
Location: Otsego, MN | If fishing open water follows aren't the most common. They usually just chow it. I wouldn't get discouraged and just keep doing what you are doing.
Casting those schools of bait regardless of arcs is a good idea, casting weeds or trolling either.
I agree with IAJustin that trying a cast length out from the weeds or structure is another good idea.
As the season progresses your approach should only get better but hopefully someone with experience on the portion of water you are fishing chimes in. |
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Location: Eastern Ontario | If your seeing fish, your on the right track and they will come. Try something a little more erratic like a ripped suick or minnow bait and try an elicit a reaction strike. |
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Posts: 1767
Location: Lake Country, Wisconsin | You should try cheating and start trolling some 12" or bigger cranks. I hear that's been working well... |
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Posts: 386
| Musky Brian - 6/13/2017 5:27 PM
You should try cheating and start trolling some 12" or bigger cranks. I hear that's been working well...
Sure has been!! |
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Posts: 390
| PM me, fished opener in that area and did well.
Sounds to me like your not doing anything wrong. Just need to make small tweaks to your pattern.
Also, 30-40 hours is nothing in musky fishing. If you're complaining already this may not be your sport. Many of us would be pumped just to see 2 fish every time we went out.
As a note I fished 22 hours just for opening day!
Edited by bbeaupre 6/13/2017 7:42 PM
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Posts: 8716
| If you have that number of hours in and those are your results? You suck. What are you doing wrong? You're fishing for muskies. Give it up. Go fish for bass. You'll ALWAYS catch bass even on the worst days.
Here's the deal:
The #*^@ things only eat once for a few hours every couple of days even in the best conditions. You can fish and fish and fish your ass off, and get nothing for days. Then you can go out there and F around for a few hours and see fish everywhere and catch 4-5 fish in an afternoon.
If you're actually seeing fish, you're 80% of the way there. Figure out how to convert them. |
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Posts: 271
Location: davis,IL | Boy this could be a long list. Seriously though, just start doing some variations on what they're chasing. You got it part right just need to fine tune. |
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Posts: 1636
| I once met a guy who went 19 years without a follow... fishing with alone and with some of the best guides. He then told me a story about how he caught his first one. Don't give up. |
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| stop paying attention. |
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Posts: 1000
| mnmusky - 6/13/2017 8:19 PM
stop paying attention.
Worked like a charm tonight |
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Posts: 1425
Location: St. Lawrence River | If your seeing fish, just keep plugging away. This sport isn't easy.... Or even fun, sometimes... |
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| tolle141 - 6/13/2017 11:10 PM mnmusky - 6/13/2017 8:19 PM stop paying attention. Worked like a charm tonight hey now |
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Posts: 983
| 30-40 hours and seeing 3-4 fish and missing one is good. Id Love that type of action...We have 2 Muskie in about the last 150 hours or so...It can get rough at times...Have we missed fish In that period absolutly...Probably have missed a good 5 fish in that time that ate and we just didnt get boated |
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Location: Contrarian Island | fish smarter, not harder. while I don't fish up where you are but know it can be tough at times. . So that being said if at all possible choose your times wisely....look for a front coming in, watch the moon phases, be on your best spots during the majors/minors. Try to key in on when you 'think' they might bite....network with others and share info, can cut the learning curve for both sides. look at hiring a good guide a day or 2... that can help immensely if you don't have a network of buds...good luck!
Edited by BNelson 6/14/2017 9:45 AM
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Posts: 255
| Keep plugging, because there is no cure for muskie addiction. And casting for them is way more appealing than not, even day after day. The next fish may just surprise you, and then you'll say, "this is so awesome. I knew it would happen sooner or later". Then another 10-30 fishless days will go by... |
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Posts: 51
| fish at night...don't need to see them...you know where they are at... |
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Posts: 756
Location: Ames, Iowa | Go walleye fishing. The walleye guys on Leech are always catching muskies. |
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Posts: 57
| All you can do when your in a slump is keep fishing. I lost a big one on opener.. fished every day of the week including 1 night and finally hooked up Sunday. If your fishing the metro it can be tough, a lot of follows and no bites. |
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Posts: 60
| Thanks, everyone. All of the advice is very helpful. |
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Posts: 426
| The quickest way to learn is to join a Muskie club. You will fish a season with different partners. You will see what works during the season for them. Then pick what works for you and throw it till your tired of throwing it then throw it some more. The learning curve can be brutal. Good Luck! |
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Posts: 69
Location: Phoenixville, PA | Keep casting. This is an incredibly humbling sport. It requires patience, careful thought, and above all, persistence.
Muskellunge eats when he wants to eat. You can do everything thing right, but if he's not hungry, it doesn't matter.
I have hooked 4 large fish in 80 minutes and I have hooked nothing in 80 hours. Keep hunting muskellunge, and you will find him. And when all else fails, fish the deep weed edges. He likes to live there. |
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Posts: 191
| That's just Muskie fishing. Like a lot of other guys have said. You can go a long time with out a fish than bam!! You can't keep them off. Keep fishing you'll hit a window and be rewarded. |
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Posts: 770
| Pay attention to details and log everything you do and see |
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