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Posts: 49
| Question... today didn't get a single follow on multiple baits, blades, top water, rubber, crankbaits for 4 hours, then went back to a known good area and absolutely burned 8's which led to 5 follows from decent fish but only one even turned in the 8. Just reacting to the speed? making myself feel better thinking none of them were gonna eat no matter what and they just showed when I burned the blades past them? Should I have done something different once I knew there were fish chasing? |
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Posts: 141
Location: Minnetonka | There's no telling for sure, but when I've had similar happening, a few, random, quick rips throughout the retrieve sometimes triggers them. I don't know if it's the change in speed or the material flaring that gets em, but it's worked for me in the past.
Edited by MuskyMatt71 8/29/2017 2:31 PM
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Posts: 43
| Sounds like you did a great job finding a way to peak the curiosity of fish that just were not in the mood to eat and get them to show themselves, which sometimes is 75% or more of the battle. Now that you know the area is holding multiple good fish, you can return in more favorable conditions (early morning, late evening, night, before a storm, etc.) and probably get them to eat. |
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Posts: 770
| Add a direction change |
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Posts: 49
| Thanks, I normally do a couple back to forth movements to change direction, but honestly I was cranking much faster than I normally would so I probably didn't remember to do it. |
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Location: oswego, il | Sometimes that speed is what gets them to go. I have seen it. Try this, next time you get hung in the weeds, snap whatever bait it is free, a couple good hard snaps to free as much crap off the bait, then burn it back as fast as you can. Doesn't matter if it is working or not i have caught fish on gliders doing this. Had a fish eat and come off that would make my posts relevant. |
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Posts: 49
| I always assume the fish are catchable somehow I just don't know how to do it. In this case locating them may just have been the best I could do at the time. Thanks for the heads up! |
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Posts: 612
| why 2nd guess yourselves into insanity? They had lockjaw now they don't. As Todd said they are always their
Fishing changes by the day and eve by the hour. 2nd last time out I could only get them om spinners. Next time out they were only interested in Depth Raiders? |
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Location: North Metro, MN | Sometimes it seems it's just timing & nothing different needed. Most of the time, it is just that little difference that can get them to bite. As Todd mentioned, speed can definitely be that difference. I've caught fish doing exactly what he mentioned. The coolest one I remember was on a top water.. tried to rip weeds off & then burned it back as fast as I could reel. Then it exploded ten feet from the boat.
When I really need a bite, contact & speed is key. Letting it hit weeds & ripping through or digging into bottom & ripping free. The last fish I caught smashed my buck tail after I ripped it twice & then cranked down much faster than it was going before..... 3rd time on the spot that day. Reading everything I can about the great spoonplugger Buck Perry taught me that depth & speed are by far the most important pieces...everything else comes after. Depth & speed....depth & speed |
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Posts: 214
| Who can say for a fact that speed caused the fish to hit? Fishing five days a week all summer, I see many fish follow and not turn on a burned buck tail. Then, some turn and give me the fin, and some hit. It may be on one turn or after ten turns. It is a guessing game. One remembers the fish that hit on a particular presentation. All retrieves work at times; all boat side maneuvers work times. If one becomes proficient with casting, retrieving and doing a figure eight, one will catch some fish. However, some fish will not hit the lure no matter is done. Fish often, make many casts, throw good lures at good spots and fish productive lakes. Don't get hooked into one presentation or one structure. Feel free to experiment. There are few if any experts so just keep fishing and trying different things. PM if you want to fish a few days on LOTW at The Angle. Screw the bump boards... |
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Posts: 735
Location: Apparently where the Muskie aren't | I had a ton of follows and bites today but only put 2 in the boat. Every fish except for 1 went into the 8 for at least 1 full turn. Every fish came in hot, and I was moving the bucktail pretty fast. I only caught 1 of the figure 8 fish but every other fish that followed hit the bait. I don't know what I'm doing wrong (if anything) but I would actually feel the bite but the fish just wouldn't get any hooks. It was like a tap and gone, I didn't even get to set the hook. The hooks are plenty sharp. It's almost like they are just nipping at the bend of the treble. It was just strange because not a single follow was lazy and the one I did get hooks in swallowed the bait |
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Posts: 214
| My Tranx HG crapped out after 15 days so I used a much slower reel and got a 43" while others in the boat were burning with nothing to show for it. I also got the only other follow of a fish over 45". Burning is not always the answer. |
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Posts: 735
Location: Apparently where the Muskie aren't | Abu7000 - 9/3/2017 8:27 PM
My Tranx HG crapped out after 15 days so I used a much slower reel and got a 43" while others in the boat were burning with nothing to show for it. I also got the only other follow of a fish over 45". Burning is not always the answer.
Whoaaaaa!!!??!!?!? A tranx took a crap?????!??!??! Tell me more, I thought they were supposed to be able to reel in a semi truck. What happened? Was it a 400?
Edited by Musky_Mo16 9/4/2017 10:21 PM
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Location: Contrarian Island | Abu, were you in the front of the boat for both the catch and the one follow? first bait thru sometimes can be huge.for our LOTW trip we had 98 follows from the front. 8 from the back,
but I do agree, at times they want it slow, at times fast... let the fish tell you what they want.
Edited by BNelson 9/5/2017 7:04 AM
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Posts: 349
| BNelson - 9/5/2017 7:03 AM Abu, were you in the front of the boat for both the catch and the one follow? first bait thru sometimes can be huge.for our LOTW trip we had 98 follows from the front. 8 from the back, but I do agree, at times they want it slow, at times fast... let the fish tell you what they want. Holy vacuum cleaners... At what point does the back guy quit casting and just hold the net? Obviously you are rotating back/front guy but still, that's gotta get tough fishing second with numbers like that. I run my tiller from the back on LOTW and haven't had numbers like that at all. How fast is your boat moving? |
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Location: Contrarian Island | those were just follows.. hits were fairly even
boat is generally going 1 to 1.6mph. slower in weeds
I kept track of follows, hits, lost, caught... when you do that you might be surprised at some of the #s... I think we ended up with 15 caught from front, 14 back of 29.
44 hits, 24 front, 20 back. big fish hits, (over 48) have always skewed to the front over 6 trips, at about 3 to 1
Edited by BNelson 9/5/2017 9:57 AM
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Posts: 349
| Right on, I was assuming your bites followed the same trend as your follows. |
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Posts: 214
| I was the 3rd person in the back of the boat. I just got lucky. However you are right the first lure gets a lot more action, but not always the biggest fish. Over the years the 3rd person in the boat has caught the majority of fish over 50". I don't what this means.
Using a 500 Tranx with a handle that keeps becoming loose. I am not sure why the handle keeps loosening up, but I stripped the nutt over tightening it. Mostly my fault.
Edited by Abu7000 9/5/2017 11:19 AM
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Posts: 785
| I only burn with all that's in me when things are going crazy and I'm covering water fast to capitalize or more commonly fish aren't reacting well or just following. When fish refuse to eat a screamed in bucktail you could keep it up and wait for contact, try to go even faster or switch it up to a reaction bait but could just be they weren't ready to go just yet.
LOTW is definitely a lake favoring first guy in the boat as are similar Canadian waters. As mentioned the guy in the back can do as well but I think it's more work for him. If the fish are crushing blades that day the guy in the back has his work cut out for him as spots are visual and easier to hit. On lakes more deep weed oriented I don't think there is much advantage either way. |
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Posts: 668
Location: mercer wi | I think the gold horse shoe is a major variable to catching musky. Right place right time perfect conditions right lure correct speed and casting angle is only 10%. The rest is luck |
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Location: new richmond, wi. & isle, mn | upnortdave - 9/5/2017 3:57 PM
I think the gold horse shoe is a major variable to catching musky. Right place right time perfect conditions right lure correct speed and casting angle is only 10%. The rest is luck Funny how some fisherman seem to be lucky a lot more than others.....hmmmm.;-) |
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Location: Ashland WI | jchiggins - 9/5/2017 5:07 PM
upnortdave - 9/5/2017 3:57 PM
I think the gold horse shoe is a major variable to catching musky. Right place right time perfect conditions right lure correct speed and casting angle is only 10%. The rest is luck Funny how some fisherman seem to be lucky a lot more than others.....hmmmm.;- )
Yes. They probably spend a lot more time (with the emphasis on time) in the right place, at the right time, during perfect conditions, with the right lure, etc.... |
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Posts: 668
Location: mercer wi | Well this year I've been pretty lucky. Been out maybe 20x this year, only get out 3-5 hours a week. I have 29 fish in the boat, 5 under 40 biggest 47. Everything else has been 42-45. So I haven't been out a lot more then.others but try to get quality time out. Heres another weird fact, not a single one on a figure 8. Last year more then half my catches were on the 8.
I guess the basis of my post was nothings predictable except these fish are unpredictable and it takes more then skill and knowledge to stay ahead of these pain in the azz fish.
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Posts: 4269
Location: Ashland WI | I agree with you Dave. All we can do is keep putting decent baits in the water in decent spots. The rest is timing. |
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Location: Contrarian Island | musky fishing is like golf.. tell Jordan Speith he's just lucky to win cuz he uses the right club, at the right time, and makes the right shots... lmfao.... luck is part of it, but the best take as much luck out of the equation as possible.
Edited by BNelson 9/6/2017 9:05 AM
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Posts: 668
Location: mercer wi | I don't know who Jordan speith is but when I play mini golf I'll take a lucky bounce allllllllll day.
I'm just thrown out my opinion. Agree or disagree. I'm happy with my fish in the boat to time on water. I fish smart and make smart casts to try to take luck out of the equation but I will always take a little luck on my side. Not questioning any one else. Just my imput.
I don't get to travel to all kinds of great destinations. I fish iron and nw Vilas and it's been that way since I started this ridiculousness. |
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Location: Contrarian Island | heck ya, I like some luck too..but if you rely on it you'll end up with lots of sunset pictures! 
Edited by BNelson 9/6/2017 4:41 PM
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Location: Ashland WI | BNelson - 9/6/2017 9:02 AM
musky fishing is like golf.. tell Jordan Speith he's just lucky to win cuz he uses the right club, at the right time, and makes the right shots... lmfao.... luck is part of it, but the best take as much luck out of the equation as possible.
Don't you also mention that one of the reasons you do better than most on LOTW is because you put a lot more time in when you are there? I guess that really wouldn't be called luck. Maybe just improving your odds?
I think there is a certain minimum level of proficiency required. After that point (again IMO) whoever puts more time in catches more fish.
The best way I know how to take luck out is simply to stay on the lake and keep casting. |
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Location: Contrarian Island | ...skill level in any sport comes into play. I do agree, improving your odds is always important, but that is not luck. that is simply fishing smart.
did we fish a lot of hours, yup, but we also put on 600 miles for the week, think of the run time we had per day.. most guys with less hours could have been actually fishing more than we did... we put 92 hrs on the water, we caught 29, so we caught a fish about every 3 hrs. did we get lucky on a few fish, sure, we all do. but we fish smart.
So far this year I have 71 in the boat in 294 hrs on water. I only point that out because I am sure there are lots of guys with more hours than me on the same waters with a lot less fish...so I'm just lucky I guess... and there could be guys with more fish in less hrs ....the guy that puts the most hours doesn't always catch the most fish. When you start looking at a guys hr per fish you start to see who uses their time on the water wisely and who could use some tweaking....luck is always part of the game but when you dissect the data, luck becomes less a part of the overall picture. after 24 yrs chasing these fish I have figured out a few things, and relying on luck is not one of them. The best on the water catch the most for a reason.
it's like golf, if 2 guys both play 100 rounds, and one guy has 50 birdies and one guy has 200, was the guy with 200 just that much luckier?
Edited by BNelson 9/7/2017 8:54 AM
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Location: Ashland WI | I don't think the golf analogy really applies because it is much more so under your direct control.
We can put a lot of time on the water (in a given day) do things right, and still come away empty handed. Its muskie fishing after all, these things happen. I do agree that with time (if you are doing things correctly) the good days and the bad will even out.
I am not trying to take away something from guys that catch a lot of fish, and just say they are lucky. I don't believe that is the case. It just seems (in my experience) time on the water seems to trump all. Maybe it is the lake I fish.
I have had days before where I have put in 8 hours (got skunked) and left the lake. Talked to a buddy that put in when I was coming out, and he caught 2 fish in the next hour. Was he a better fisherman than me? Or did he get lucky that his schedule allowed him to be on the water when the window opened? |
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