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Posts: 518
Location: Cave Run Lake KY. | acafisherman19 - 7/12/2014 4:22 PM
Hey all,
Just getting into the muskie game and was hoping some of you seasoned vets could point me in the right direction.
What is your best tip for muskie fishing in general? <<<<<<<< Find a home lake and fish it hard. Hire the best guide you can find for that lake, He is a seasoned vet and will point you in the right direction. Keep the boat you have and fish out of it a lot, and if you think your going to Become a muskie fishing junky then you can look for a boat that is better( safer) for the lakes you WILL WANT TO FISH. IV, Been fishing muskies for over 45 years and if I had to do it over Id would buy the biggest Ranger they made at that time. The guide boats they have now cost more then my first house. The Rules are there are no Rules. At first, fish action lakes and go from there. WE were going on a ten day fishing trip and on the way up I TOLD MY FISHING PARTNER that on this trip we have the chance to catch the our biggest fish ever. WE need to fish hard, fish smart and get a little lucky. WE did that and we both caught our personal best fish . Two 54" /25" muskies. Good Fishing to you Marv.
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Posts: 750
Location: Minneapolis, MN | You don’t need to spend a lot of money on gear to be successful. Sure a $1000 rod and reel set up is nice to fish with, but by no means required, the only fish I’ve caught this year have come on my least expensive setup. You don’t need 100 baits, or 50, or 25, you only need enough to cover different patterns on lakes you fish the most. Small lures catch big fish too, you don’t need to throw pounders, 13’s, or 10’s. |
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Posts: 69
| Pick a lake that is good for Muskies, and really learn it, especially if you are doing Canadian yearly outings. Get to the point on a lake you feel confidant you could fish a tournament there and be competitive. It takes years to learn some of these bigger lakes. Do not get into the lure buying game. I have 2 boxes of worthless lures because I believed the hype. Find out what lures are the best in the business and stick with them. You do not want to be wasting time with non productive lures. All the experienced Musky fisherman have lures that they use regularly to score with. |
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Posts: 349
| As a novice you will learn more in one day with a good, experienced fisherman than you would in a lifetime of reading forums/articles and watching videos.
You can't catch a fish if you don't put a bait in front of one. |
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Posts: 4343
Location: Smith Creek | Keep your digits outside their yapper. |
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Posts: 8717
| Flambeauski - 7/14/2014 2:53 PM
Keep your digits outside their yapper.
That's a #*^@ good bit of advice! I was going to say "don't lip 'em!" but I figure anybody dumb enough to do that deserves to learn that the hard way!  |
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Posts: 34
| Troll. Just kidding :P |
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Posts: 313
Location: Bemidji, Lake Vermilion | Get a mentor and join a muskie club in your area. You'll be able to get quality second hand gear much cheaper and tap into a wealth of knowledge from people who are normally willing to provide it for free. Learn what you like and don't by using someone else's lures is helpful, so your not a few hundred baits in before deciding you like a dozen or so. |
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Posts: 163
Location: NoDak | esoxaddict - 7/14/2014 4:19 PM
Flambeauski - 7/14/2014 2:53 PM
Keep your digits outside their yapper.
That's a #*^@ good bit of advice! I was going to say "don't lip 'em!" but I figure anybody dumb enough to do that deserves to learn that the hard way! ;- )
i saw bill dance lip a 2 pound northern on tv and he flinched but it cut away and then the next fish he caught he was saying proper handling of these fish, haha he had a glove on and said not to lip them, hahahaaa |
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Posts: 759
Location: Ames, Iowa | Have fun, slow down, learn to troll, take the time to watch others, make it enjoyable not work, fish with friends, keep trips short and sweet at the beginning, throw more top waters, expect action, have fun. |
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Posts: 3774
| Learn to be effective first and efficient second as fast as you can. |
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| Just have fun, no need to over think tricking a fish. |
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Posts: 141
Location: Minnetonka | Learn how to find the fish, then concentrate on making the eat. Before each trip, consider the wind...not from that day, but from the past 3-5 days. If it's been consistent for some time, baitfish can stack up on wind blown shorelines, points, etc. Take a map and try to identify these spots on the lake as starting points. Try to get a feel for what the main forage may be on the lake and look to mimic it in your presentation. DNR sites can tell you netting results of many lakes and could show a dominant forage base. Depending on the time of year, blades can be excellent "search baits" and will uncover the location of active fish following baits. Mentally mark those fish to come back to them at peak times, but also try to understand WHY they are in that location, then look for similar spots on that lake. From my experience, there are "good spots" and there are "big fish spots." More often than you would think, the big fish spots are contrary to everything you have learned. They will eat pounders in the spring, and they will eat topwater in the fall, they can be in a foot of water, and they will eat under bluebird conditions...Figure out what other people are doing and then do the opposite. Once you've failed with all of this, get a horseshoe and a sucker minnow, go out to the middle of the lake, put the sucker minnow on a quick strike rig and the horseshoe up your....Good luck! |
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Posts: 95
| Cast, cast, cast.... then pay attention and do a proper figure 8 EVERY TIME your lure reaches the boat!!! |
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Posts: 607
Location: S.W. WI | Don't think if you go where the fish are, at a supposed good moon period, or good weather pattern that you are going to get bit. You may get lucky, but the best way to have sustained luck is time on the water, or at least fishing with someone who has alot of time on the water. |
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Posts: 639
Location: Hudson, WI | Bring the fight to the fish. Use good gear and pull them where you want them to go...any slack is a lost fish most of the time. |
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Posts: 22
| When I go out for Walleyes or Bass or Pike I expect to boat fish. Musky fishing is different, It can be so disappointing and frustrating even maddening. I totally agree with not going overboard buying lures and tackle. Buy quality equipment but not a boat full. I think top quality line and leaders are a must along with SHARP hooks. Early in my musky fishing years I lost a couple of brutes due to not having a proper size net and fishing alone. I learned the hard way. I really like the statement above about hiring a guide instead of buying a bunch of tackle. Remember that it takes many years for a musky to reach trophy size and there are relatively few when compared to other species in any given body of water. A 30 pound fish can make a mess in boat, injure itself and impale YOU with hooks. Practice CPR (catch,photo,release). Musky fishing should not be about killing fish. Have fun , enjoy every encounter and good luck! |
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Posts: 17
| Thanks for all the advice everybody! I've been out a few times with no luck (lost a little one on a topwater) but am looking forward to putting a few in the boat soon!
acafisherman19 |
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Posts: 2089
| After you set the hook........keep reeling!!!!!!!! |
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Posts: 98
| 2 things:
1) "The first step to success is the acquisition of knowledge" - Tom Gelb. Get a guide, learn your lakes, techniques, seasonal patterns, fish biology, read books, etc.
2) Must be present to win....put in your time (intelligent time) on the water and good things will happen. |
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Posts: 572
Location: Maplewood, MN | Some may disagree, but pick a lake you want to learn and fish THAT lake. I feel what hurt me the most was lake hopping too much hoping to find a hot bite. You'll have your days you move a fish on every spot and catch a few, and you'll also have a full WEEK that you won't move any. That's when keeping your cool comes into play. PACK YOUR LUNCH because the guy who puts in the most time is usually rewarded. |
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Posts: 80
| Put in your TOW(time on the water). It doesnt matter if you hire a guide every month for a full season. There is a huge learning curve to this sport that cannot be taught but only learned by experience and TOW. I personally would not recommend a guide. Many will disagree with this but it is much more rewarding figuring out a body of water YOURSELF. It may take you longer but the things you learn along the way will be much more benficial than a guide. |
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Posts: 182
| If you don't love it get out of it. When you are still having fun after 12 hours of casting it's for you. |
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Posts: 1283
| Angler II - 7/18/2014 12:44 PM
Put in your TOW(time on the water). It doesnt matter if you hire a guide every month for a full season. There is a huge learning curve to this sport that cannot be taught but only learned by experience and TOW. I personally would not recommend a guide. Many will disagree with this but it is much more rewarding figuring out a body of water YOURSELF. It may take you longer but the things you learn along the way will be much more benficial than a guide.
I agree and disagree with this. For me locally I wanted to hire a guide but I didnt since I can get on the water enough to actually learn it. Took a lot of time but now Im catching or at least seeing a fish every time out. Lakes that I dont have months to learn and may be there for a week or only a weekend a guide is a great thing to get you jump started. |
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Posts: 94
| Meet and fish with lots of other muskie anglers.
For me, the best way to do that over the past 37 years has been to become a member of Muskies, Inc. and meet folks at Chapter, Regional, and National events.
Most of my good friends and fishing partners are MI members; the ones I fish with the most are from 5 different chapters, 6 states, and two provinces.
Every fishing trip is like a reunion! - Kevin |
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Posts: 2
| Hi all I'm new here but in my opinion big lures and gear are not necessary I caught my first muskie 2 weekends ago ended up catching 5 all together biggest being 35"all but one was caught on small trout lures the other on a rap x good luck and tight lines |
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Posts: 1767
Location: Lake Country, Wisconsin | fishin24/7 - 7/22/2014 2:13 PM
Hi all I'm new here but in my opinion big lures and gear are not necessary I caught my first muskie 2 weekends ago ended up catching 5 all together biggest being 35"all but one was caught on small trout lures the other on a rap x good luck and tight lines
big lures and gear are definitely not needed to catch 35" and lower Muskies. I would agree..... |
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Posts: 267
| One school of thought is to fish fast and cover as many good spots as possible. This will up your odds of contacting an active fish. This is the Mark Windells theory of muskie fishing (I don't know if it still is).
Another would be to pick a good spot and stay on it an pick it apart with a variety of baits.
Pick a smaller lake with a lot of muskies (not necessarily one with a lot of big fish) and fish it a lot to gain experience.
Try to be on the water in pre-frontal conditions after a period of stable weather. |
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Location: SE Wisconsin | The more you fail, the more you learn. The best of the best learn from going through the rigors of trial and plenty of error. |
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Posts: 1126
Location: Minnesota. | Follow me around and fish where I - don't ! You'll find some fish...
Good replies here. Buy good eqpt. and take care of it. Not the best but good stuff. A decent rod and a better reel!!
Get a few diff. styles of baits, jerkbaits, topwaters, bucktails etc. maybe two or three of each but try not to get caught up in the "gotta have two or more boxes full" mindset.
Talk to guys. Listen. Gently ask for helpful tips but never locations. The hunting is the fun part. And time on the water. Don't let the "doldrums" set in 'cause that's when you'll get hit! Keep a positive attitude and above all, it's fishing...it's supposed to be fun so keep it so. It's fishing...put time in your boat. You'll get old before you know it and then the whining gets real for a reason! You have it good now, just wait. Go NOW!!
A fish will hit you when you least expect it. Count on it.
Stay off the bulletin boards. Time on the water. I'm repeating myself aren't I!
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