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Posts: 371
Location: Northern Illinois | Kind of an open ended question where you can highlight the attributes and what a "good" muskie fisherman really means to you.
Fisherman in this case is generic and could be fisherwoman as well.
Edited by mm3 2/15/2022 8:05 AM
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Posts: 455
| The ability to put all responsibilities on hold and fish for months at a time.
Just kidding, kind of.
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Posts: 1087
Location: Hayward, WI | Enjoying the grind. My son is in wrestling and a few of his team mates musky fish. Both sports can be a grind, I think they attract people with that mind set. |
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| One attribute I think is very helpful is what live theater calls "suspension of disbelief". The idea is that if you go to a theater to see a play, you know that those are actors, on a confined stage. But, you set aside logic and enjoy the show.
In musky fishing you "know" that you can make hundreds, thousands of casts without catching a musky. But, if you are doing it right you anticipate that this is the cast you will catch one on, you are always looking for a follow that can be converted. And you think that way on each and every cast. Logic, reason, tell you otherwise but you still believe. |
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Posts: 2280
Location: Chisholm, MN | Someone who takes care of the resource and advocates for the preservation of the fish. |
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Posts: 1203
Location: Walker, MN | Focus. Being in the moment. Believing in that one cast. |
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Posts: 20180
Location: oswego, il | Your awareness. If it's really good you will most likely be good at musky fishing. |
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Location: Athens, Ohio | Not discussing politics, religion, or porking each other's mothers in the boat; none of those discussions end well. m |
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Posts: 24
Location: Southern WI | Can’t define exactly what attributes constitute a good muskie angler we all have different standards/expectations/amounts of time on our hands to fish. I can tell you however that #*#*tiest muskie anglers I know lie constantly and it’s not hard to figure out why…
Edited by civil twilight 2/15/2022 4:45 PM
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Posts: 8721
| 1. Mechanics - being able to cast effectively and hit what you're aiming at, work your lures effectively, do a proper figure 8, convert following fish, and get them in the bag once you hook them. Where I see a lot of guys lose it is where it really counts, and that's being able to convert follows into strikes. #2 is keeping pressure on the fish once they are hooked and avoid having them "just get off" or the ever famous "wasn't hooked good"
There's no shortcut there, it's just trial and fixing errors once you can accept that you'd probably have caught that fish if you did a better job.
2. Being able to adapt to changing conditions. This could be wind, weather, cold fronts, or simply time of the year... Knowing where the fish are likely to be when is important. They won't always be there and they won't often be active, but at any given time, the majority of water will be devoid of fish. And as the old saying goes, "You can't catch fish where fish ain't."
3. Boat control & electronics: If you're boat isn't in the right spot, neither will your casts be.
4. Knowing when to hold 'em and when to fold 'em. This could be camping on a spot vs running and gunning, sticking with a presentation vs changing it up, or knowing when to pick up and change lakes. It's a matter of knowing what's not working and likely won't vs what's not working and biding your time until it does because eventually it will.
Edited by esoxaddict 2/15/2022 4:56 PM
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Posts: 359
Location: SW Ohio | Willing to put in the time not just a fair weather warrior. Adaptable to conditions and make adjustments. Versatile with different lures and techniques. Open to opportunities to fish new waters if they come up (not always an option). Willing to teach newbies and not lecture them. |
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Posts: 490
Location: NW WI | Getting the boat both into and out of the water.
(You all covered everything else).
Edited by 7.62xJay 2/15/2022 6:18 PM
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Posts: 1188
| What Kirby said. Particularly having a proper net, good release tools, and knowing how to use them. |
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Posts: 426
| Musky fishing for the sake of fishing. Never expecting others who fish different species to understand why you spend hours casting to catch a fish you are going to release asap after a successful encounter, And never slam another guys' truck, dog or wife while fishing. No good comes from those topics, |
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Posts: 32800
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | Boat control coupled with a clear understanding of the structure fished, knowledge, persistence, and willingness to ignore the 'rules'. |
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Posts: 536
Location: deephaven mn | #*#*ting out the back off the boat and not going to shore. otherwise keep casting he who makes the most good casts catches the most......persistence |
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Posts: 68
| Having a good set of binoculars to watch the guides, youtubers and other well known fisherman to see exactly how they fish a spot and what baits they use. Also, a guide address book doesn't hurt so you can follow them from their house to their favorite waters. This actually happens in my area. All joking aside I think time on the water, storing information of encounters that I've had and other little things I've learned over time is the best tool I have. I don't keep a log book or anything, but I have been able to really up success rates per time on the water over the last several years due to many hours spent on the water years ago. It has helped me narrow down to the spot on the spot during certain times and conditions. GPS waypoints help too lol |
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| Something else I thought of is to remember the basics. Last fall I was fishing a bay that was 6-8' deep, throwing a shallow medusa. The lure got hung up on a rock pile I did not know was there, narrow, looked like a finger on the graph. I had to do some work to get it off. Touched up the hooks, though they seemed fine. Checked the flouro leader. But a short time later I was casting to a rocky point and over cooked the cast. Slammed my thumb down to stop it but lure kept flying. I reeled in the line and saw it was badly frayed for almost a foot. Apparently the line had wrapped around the rock earlier and my tugging probably helped fray it. I never looked at the line, only the hooks and the leader. I know better but I screwed up and it cost me a nice lure.
(Should note I was glad I discovered the problem that way instead of seeing fish swim away stuck to that big lure)
Edited by North of 8 2/16/2022 12:47 PM
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Posts: 20180
Location: oswego, il | kap - 2/16/2022 9:23 AM
#*#*ting out the back off the boat and not going to shore. otherwise keep casting he who makes the most good casts catches the most......persistence
Can't they just waffle stomp it down the livewell?  |
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Posts: 8721
| Has anybody else ever thought about how much of muskie fishing is you screwing up, and then trying not to screw up again next time only to screw up some other way?
I don't fish with idiots. Some of the guys I've fished with I would consider to be experts. Many are professionals. Here are just a few of the f-ups I've seen (and done):
1. "Aw crap, I just killed that spot!" (boat control)
2. *Whonk!* Aw man. Wow, my prop is trashed!"
3. Lures hung up in rocks/timber
4. Backlashes
5. Forgot to set the drag
6. Missed hooksets "you guys didn't see that did you?".. "Oh yeah. We saw it. We figured we didn't need to tell you how much you suck!"
7. The ever famous: "Hey, hey, you got one going!!" when your partner raises a fish and is not paying attention
8. Epic fail net jobs
9. Netting a fish and finding it gone when you reach in the net because said net has a hole in it
10. Casts on shore, up a tree, onto docks, etc.
11. Terminal tackle failure
12. Broken rods
13. Reels literally falling to pieces mid-cast
14. Forgotten drain plugs
15. Showing up at the landing sans boat keys
16. Falling out of the boat
17. Busting lures on rocks
18. Combos in the drink
19. Clipping on a lure, tossing it overboard, and watching it sink out of sight because you didn't actually clip it on
20. Whacking a fish in the head on a figure 8
21. Setting the hook on a topwater blow up not 2 minutes after making fun of your partner for doing the same thing
22. Raising the same (BIG) fish a bunch of times, moving elsewhere, smaller fish comes in hot, angler neglects to even make an L turn... "What the F are you DOING?? CATCH that fish!"
23. "Dude, dude, DUDE!" me pointing at a fish that was well over 50 right up on my guides bait. "Here he comes! There he goes..." Crap. The story he was telling at the time WAS pretty interesting though... |
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Posts: 3783
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The best guys I've fished with learn more from not catching fish than they do from catching fish. It's always worthwhile to ask other guys taking out at the landing, "So, what didn't work?" People who won't tell you what did work will usually gripe about what didn't work. One look at their gear, not their boat, will provide a sense of their credibility.
Second thing - all parts of the system are perfect; reel, rod, line, leader, knots, baits/hooks, net and release tools, boat/trailer and electronics, arriving at the water with a plans A, B and C but ready to jump to plan Z whenever conditions suggest.
Edited by Ranger 2/16/2022 6:06 PM
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Posts: 92
Location: Eau Claire, WI | Ranger still on a roll. You keep hoping all that negative stuff for others. Someday you may need the help from a stranger Ranger, I sure hope you don’t want someone to **** on his driveway!
Edited by FishinXtreme 2/16/2022 5:17 PM
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| FishinXtreme - 2/16/2022 5:15 PM
Ranger still on a roll. You keep hoping all that negative stuff for others. Someday you may need the help from a stranger Ranger, I sure hope you don’t want someone to **** on his driveway
Posts: 682
Location: Sycamore, IL | P.M.A. |
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Posts: 92
Location: Eau Claire, WI | I get it. But say that vs hoping bad on others. I don’t want #*#* floating in the lake either. |
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| FishinXtreme - 2/16/2022 5:42 PM
I get it. But say that vs hoping bad on others. I don’t want #*#* floating in the lake either.
Some folks need a graphic example to get the message |
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Posts: 3783
| Yea, I edited to delete that part of my post. Trying to be nicer lately, I pay attention when Steve redirects me. |
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Posts: 596
Location: Duluth | Eh Rangers post matched the vulgarity of the action proposed. |
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Posts: 3783
| Ok, ok, let's get back to the OP.
Here's what not to do........
One year I slimed a bunch of my hard baits with scent, in particular my triple Ds and depth raiders. That stuff was like Vaseline. End of the season my baits were still slimy. So one early winter night, me drunk, I decide to use the dishwasher to clean not just those 6-8 baits but ALL my hard, plastic baits. Here's what I learned.....
It takes about 20 minutes to load a dishwasher with a hundred baits, most with 3 sets of treble hooks and each treble hook point needle sharp. So far so good. BUT, it takes 6 hours and a pint of blood to remove all those dang baits.
Don't do that. A bucket and a brush is way, way better.
Here's what to do.... some winter night(s) sit in front of the tv and sharpen every hook with a fresh file and then paint the newly exposed metal with a red sharpie. My idea is that the ink will protect the exposed metal from corroding while sitting in the boat box with wet baits that are drying out. I carried a sharpie in the boat to use anytime I had to touch up a hook. Don't know how much it might help.
Edited by Ranger 2/16/2022 7:19 PM
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Posts: 8721
| If you don't learn from not catching fish the road to success will be a long one! |
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