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Posts: 4
| I'm new to Musky fishing and was just curious how you Musky guys, who have also caught Stripers, would compare the two fish pound-for-pound. I've not caught a Musky yet but I have caught a few stripers in the 36-40 inch range.
I guess I'm surprised at how quickly guys are pulling Musky into the boat that are in the 35in-40in range. I've been watching a few YouTube vids of guys musky fishing and even large musky are landing in 2-3 minutes. I've never landed a 40in striper in 2-3 mins. Nevertheless, I'm still going to give Musky fishing a go but was just curious if it's just the hype and elusiveness of the fish or if there's really something about the tug-of-war that's special.
Cheers. |
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Posts: 2097
| With the necessary equipment you land the fish quickly. |
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Posts: 45
| Moved to Mn. from N. Calif 20 years ago. I miss striper fishing in the delta the most. When I go home, always plan a striper trip. We fish them like bass with hvy bass tackle, throw rattle traps, buzzbaits, rubber, spinner baits... Sound familiar? When you hooked a 40" you best be standing on the trolling motor, because its gonna smash your lure and leave the country. With a musky you dont get the long and powerful runs but you get some awsome boat side strikes and theatrics.
Both are great fish and can drive you crazy. IMHO a 40" striper would kick a 40" muskys rear. A 4 to 5 lbs schoolie would put a 5 to 6 lb smallie to shame.
I feel blessed to be here in the fantastic musky and smallie fishing in Mn. but I really miss those big stripers fresh out of the ocean.
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Posts: 45
| cave run legend - 10/2/2015 9:58 PM
With the necessary equipment you land the fish quickly.
With the necessary equipment I have never landed a big striper quickly. |
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Posts: 16632
Location: The desert | randy t - 10/2/2015 10:56 PM
cave run legend - 10/2/2015 9:58 PM
With the necessary equipment you land the fish quickly.
With the necessary equipment I have never landed a big striper quickly.
Forgive him, he likes to talk a lot about things he doesn't know about. Your summary in the post above this one nailed it. |
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Location: Sawyer County, WI | You really can't compare salt water fish to fresh water fish. You also need to understand most musky fisherman use tuna gear to fish muskies. That explains a lot.... |
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Posts: 4269
Location: Ashland WI | Pointerpride102 - 10/2/2015 11:07 PM
randy t - 10/2/2015 10:56 PM
cave run legend - 10/2/2015 9:58 PM
With the necessary equipment you land the fish quickly.
With the necessary equipment I have never landed a big striper quickly.
Forgive him, he likes to talk a lot about things he doesn't know about. Your summary in the post above this one nailed it.
You know what he meant. The rods, reels, and line we use for muskies is designed for the lures we throw. The fish is then overmatched. |
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Posts: 20219
Location: oswego, il | The fish are built different therefore fight different. I will be on heidecke next week fishing hybrids on lighter spinning gear. Most are 17-22". The ones over 20" I will be chasing with the trolling motor.
A fish that has a fight that would surprise you is a blue catfish. They fight just like a striper. I have had them hit my lure and then have to reel 25ft of slack line as fast as possible to catch up. We are targeting them and there are plenty of guys trolling lures to catch them.
Edited by ToddM 10/3/2015 7:10 AM
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Posts: 45
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Light tackle open water hybreds has to be a ball. They stocked a lake in N Calif with naturals and they nearly ruined the lake. Sound familiar? It was also one of the early lakes stocked with florida bass. Lots of shad, rainbow trout, sunfish, crawfish for forrage. In the late 70s it kicked out a 18lb largemouth and some 25lb stripers.
Then the strippers went up the river and repoduced. The lake was never the same. No more big bass were caught, the strippers were 17" to 19" snakes. DNR took all striper limets off and begged people to take them. They learned alot from that.
There are great fish almost everywhere you go. Im sorry that I havent spent more time on Missippippi river hunting flatheads or the rainy for sturgon. Only so much time. I spend my time after muskies or smallies on the pond. Get to retire in 3 years and plan on exploring lots of other types of big fish in new places. |
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Posts: 4
| dfkiii - 10/3/2015 12:31 AM
You really can't compare salt water fish to fresh water fish. You also need to understand most musky fisherman use tuna gear to fish muskies. That explains a lot....
Tuna Gear! Wow. I think that might be overkill. I'm not an expert on Musky fishing and I'm not the best angler - I ain't the worst either - but I've not seen in any video clips of guys using Tuna saltwater rods and reel for Musky....unless you're just making a joke here. 
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Posts: 101
| Musky vs. what? There is only one fish I chase.... catching other species only bridges the gap between Musky fishing....let me throw this out there.... Musky fisherman (dedicated ones) can fish about anything out there...can you say the same about bass fisherman? Put in a 16 hour day fishing for one fish.... to me the adversity, the pain, the hunt for these fish cannot be measured in terms of the "fight" they give. Mentally, there is no close second.
Wild
"Hey my name is Tie Domi if you wanna know me you gotta go me cuz im Tie Domi" |
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Posts: 13688
Location: minocqua, wi. | 400+ size reels, 80 - 100 pound braid, 130 pound fluoro leaders and extra-heavy rods ... baits, hook size = yah, the typical equipment used is hearty. muskies are fun for the way they attack and chase (lots of chances at the visual strike), the head shakes and if they can getting out of the water on a jump and shake. otherwise you can pretty much swim them under pressure and get them in the net fast.
smallies and salmon fight harder and are more fun for the long haul in my opinion ... i like to musky fish but love being connected to a big smallie or a salmon. multiple runs and a longer more energetic fight to me. never caught a striper but would imagine they are more similar to smallies and salmon than a muskie.
Edited by jonnysled 10/3/2015 9:55 AM
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Location: Sawyer County, WI | muskyhunter47 - 10/3/2015 9:18 AM
Musky guys use equipment more for the baits we use then to fight the fish.some guys call the shimano tranx tuna gear.this is far from the truth .a tuna would destroy a tranx.but when your throwing lures that weigh a pound or bucktails with 13 blades you need reels that can handle it.but to call I tuna gear that's far from the truth
I guess I need to be more concise, as apparently some people are unaware of any tuna species aside from the bluefin.
Would it be better if I called it wahoo gear ? King mackeral gear ? When I fish with my brother down in the gulf we use 400TEs, 80# line and rods that are not very different from the St. Croix rods I use in WI. So let's just call it saltwater gear. Will that satisfy your pedantic urges ?
While I agree the tackle is geared more towards the baits than the fish, you are still fighting a musky on gear used to catch fish that would eat a musky for an afternoon snack. |
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Posts: 16632
Location: The desert | Are these chicken of the sea tuna or starkist tuna? In water or oil? (Who buys the tuna in oil? That's disgusting)
I think there is an important distinction. |
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Location: Sawyer County, WI | Pointerpride102 - 10/3/2015 10:18 AM
Are these chicken of the sea tuna or starkist tuna? In water or oil? (Who buys the tuna in oil? That's disgusting)
I think there is an important distinction.
Starkist and others. I like the kind they serve up at high end sushi places in Tokyo, but they would blow up a Tranx. |
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Posts: 13
Location: OP. Kansas | The Tranx was devolped as a saltwater reel. It's in the Shimano star drag family of reels. It's a great reel that has made the crossover to freshwater angling. It will easly handle albacore, blackfin tuna, and other small tuna species. |
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Posts: 1283
| NACL stands for salt water. That reel also made the crossover to musky fishing. The new Beast is supposedly specifically designed for musky fishing and does an awesome job doing it. |
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Posts: 760
| The Musky is a great fighting fish. I've caught them on bass and walleye tackle. But I also agree that today's tackle is geared to the lures we use. And, I will gladly give up the part of the musky being a good fighter, with the use of heavier equipment, because I receive more satisfaction releasing the fish for it to be caught again some other day. Never caught a big striper though,but I believe that would be a battle. Kdawg |
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Posts: 20219
Location: oswego, il | It's been pointed out already, this is going to be a fun winternet. Bump boards at the ready!
The tranx was designed to fish saltwater by the late Salt Walther under a mackerel sky.
Edited by ToddM 10/4/2015 9:11 AM
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Posts: 246
| No comparison between fresh and salt water when there is a tide involved. A cow bass gets in current and then it's time to hold on and let her rip drag. |
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Posts: 45
| A cow bass? What part of the country are they in? Must be a river fish since you catch them in current. Where I come from we have smallmouth,largemouth, spotted and striped, but no cow.
For you nonbelievers, go and catch a big striper out of a lake, it will change your mind. Sometimes you have to step out of your narrow boundarys. |
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Location: MN | There is no comparison between salt and fresh water fish. There is also no comparison between a river musky and a lake musky. Lake fish don't fight much but river fish do. The fat mid40 river muskies I've caught have fought WAY harder than any 50 I've caught in a lake. |
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Posts: 246
| randy t - 10/4/2015 10:25 AM
A cow bass? What part of the country are they in? Must be a river fish since you catch them in current. Where I come from we have smallmouth,largemouth, spotted and striped, but no cow.
For you nonbelievers, go and catch a big striper out of a lake, it will change your mind. Sometimes you have to step out of your narrow boundarys.
Ha! A large striper. I've only chased stripers in the salty water. |
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Posts: 252
| I live in Kentucky and my son and I sometimes take a break from musky fishing and head down to Tennessee to fish for stripers. We fish lakes and rivers equally as much. Most of the time that I have a musky on the line, I am trying to get her into the net. This usually doesn't take too long. Maybe a good run or two and a few jumps out of the water.
With a big striper, they kinda do what they want and it takes longer. Usually a longer fight with what feels like a stronger fish and it takes longer to wear them down.
I am still more excited to fight with a musky than a striper. I live equidistant from good striper and good musky waters, but I most often head to the musky waters.
One bad thing about catching the big stripers... When you land them, they are just about done for. Even if you try to release them, they don't recover very well. |
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Location: Sawyer County, WI | KentuckyMuskie - 10/4/2015 8:49 PM
I live in Kentucky and my son and I sometimes take a break from musky fishing and head down to Tennessee to fish for stripers. We fish lakes and rivers equally as much. Most of the time that I have a musky on the line, I am trying to get her into the net. This usually doesn't take too long. Maybe a good run or two and a few jumps out of the water.
With a big striper, they kinda do what they want and it takes longer. Usually a longer fight with what feels like a stronger fish and it takes longer to wear them down.
I am still more excited to fight with a musky than a striper. I live equidistant from good striper and good musky waters, but I most often head to the musky waters.
One bad thing about catching the big stripers... When you land them, they are just about done for. Even if you try to release them, they don't recover very well.
Do you use the same tackle for both musky and striper ? |
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Location: varies | wtf? it was 60 something degrees out in the north today. winter already?
potato , po ta toe..tomato, tomah toe...lets call the whole thing off. |
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Location: Sawyer County, WI | rodbender - 10/4/2015 10:12 PM
wtf? it was 60 something degrees out in the north today. winter already?
potato , po ta toe..tomato, tomah toe...lets call the whole thing off.
Only made it to 54 by me.  |
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Posts: 252
| dfkiii - 10/4/2015 10:01 PM
Do you use the same tackle for both musky and striper ?
Yes, we use all of the same gear. It was great not to have to buy all new stuff for another species. |
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Posts: 1080
| I have fished for Muskies now for 35 years. And have fished inland, freshwater Stripers for 15 or 16 years. I have not yet had the opportunity to fish the salt water Stripers.
Yes...I used my Muskie gear when fishing the freshwater Stripers...and I even use Salmon trolling gear when trolling Stripers as well. I can have Salmon trolling downrigger rods set in the downriggers while also using my St. Croix Muskies rods while long-line trolling and/or when using boards, at the same time. When casting for Stripers, yes...I'm using the Muskie gear. Yes..it's great to have the gear that can fish multi-species.
I will agree with the guy that goes by KentuckyMuskie....when comparing a Muskie to an inland, freshwater Striper, the Muskies are a much heartier fish in regards to quickly, safely and successfully releasing the fish back to the water to live another day. Seems the Stripers are nearly, if not already dead, by the time they hit the net...before even getting the hook out of the fish's mouth. Not all the time, but...it certainly does happen. That's even when keeping the fight time short with the Stripers. I certainly do wish that Stripers would release better as I prefer to release the Stripers vs keeping them and cleaning them. But if one isn't going to make it...into the ice box it goes. I always carry the ice box when Striper fishing, for that chance that they're not going to make it. (No...I never carry an ice box while Muskie fishing.....sad that I even have to clarify that...but...that's reality when on these forum boards....).
I have thought about investing into a Striper Tube or two to have running in the boat at all times while out Striper fishing, but I don't fish for the Stripers as much as I used to anymore these days to invest into those....not to mention the real estate they take up in a boat....I don't have a big, off-shore boat. Married with two kids has greatly reduced my fishing time, so when I do get some time to fish, I'm after the Muskies. Don't have time to do it all anymore.
Stripers vs Muskies vs Salmon vs Northern Pike vs ___________...they're all fun and they each have their own merits and distinctions. I'm just glad to be fishing for anything that swims.
Edited by MACK 10/5/2015 8:16 AM
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Posts: 2687
Location: Hayward, WI | Holy cow! Ok so the stripers fight better I guess. You win?
I don't really fish muskies for the fight. Some of them are pretty strong, but if going for a long drawn out battle full of long runs, they aren't your fish. They can be pretty spectacular - throwing water, jumping, bulldogging head shakes. That's cool stuff, but they aren't a tear your tackle apart saltwater fish.
They are often difficult to catch and a great challenge. Isn't that what makes us fish for them?
If I wanted the hardest fighting fish in my area I'd probably have to fish for catfish or sturgeon. Not really as appealing to me, personally.
Yikes! |
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Posts: 114
| I don't think most guys fish for muskies for the fight. The hardest part is hooking a fish. Stripers (ocean stripers) are without question on of the toughest fighting fish I've ever tangled with in the surf. |
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Posts: 84
| I have fished for Stripers in Texas and they fight very hard and take drag when making runs but as stated they don't release well. When a striper hits your bait you will know it, they hit hard! I have also fished for Salmon the 20 pounders and up hit your bait and run like stripers. Both Stripers and Salmon are salt water fish planted in fresh water. Muskies fight hard and hit your bait hard but only fight hard for a short time. Muskies release well as do salmon, but most anglers keep salmon since they spawn once then die. Both Stripers and Salmon are Pelagic fish with lots of endurance, Muskies are ambush predators and sprinters, Kinda like drag racing, very fast from a dead stop, go like hell for short time. Were Stripers and Salmon are like Nascar racing, go like hell for 500 miles. This is the best I can describe it. Ive also caught some Catfish not really big ones but they pull and pull and pull, all these fish will test your equipment. |
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Posts: 13688
Location: minocqua, wi. | i do a fair amount of black tuna, wahoo fishing and the fight on the wahoo is ridiculous ... to me it's too much and instead of feeling the fight it's like reeling in an old tire against the current. that's the same reason why trolling other than salmon doesn't appeal to me. are you fighting the fish or are you fighting the 3 mph load of weight coming into the boat. i'll take smallies over just about anything all day long. |
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Posts: 2015
| Trolling for anything is boring..Casting topwater to wahoo is about as much fun as you can have with your clothes on -- Get a good 6000 spinning reel, load it with lots of 50lbs braid!!!.... after you hook them and they turn on a dime you swear you lost them , sometimes for 10 seconds... they swim like 50 mph ...crazy crazy fish! Saltwater fishing is just plain nuts! (especially if you never troll) |
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Posts: 13688
Location: minocqua, wi. | the 6' pool cue trolling rods and monster reels are absolutely no fun! might have to try that spin casting ... we catch black tuna, quickly live rig em and put em out and a Wahoo is there in seconds. unbelievable power ... tasty too! |
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Posts: 2015
| Tuna is the same deal, football 20-40 lb ers are the best! ...many times you can chum them in with sardines and then throw topwater ...nuts!!!! I had a monster hit my light tackle once... it never stopped . I tried to stop it when I knew it was gonna take all 300 yards of braid..ya right!!!
Edited by IAJustin 10/5/2015 12:05 PM
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Location: Sawyer County, WI | Now you're talking ! Saltwater fishing is a blast. King mackeral can be fun too. Talk about a screaming drag. They don't call them smokers for nothing. |
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Posts: 906
Location: Warroad, Mn | I've caught many-many muskies, and a good number of stripers. Biggest difference is that muskies are harder to catch, and the fishing is much more visible, with all the follows (hard to beat catching a muskie on the figure 8). Caught lots of both and muskies are more fun to fish for, but stripers fight longer, but it's a different fight. Both are great fish! Doug Johnson |
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Posts: 1000
| lol with muskies its not about the fight, it's about the hunt and the take. You never know when it's going to happen, and it's so much work that every fish gives an incredible sense of accomplishment.
If fight is what you're after in MN, fish for those Lake Minnetonka manatees, or smallies on the fly. If you want to be humbled over and over again, fish for muskies. |
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Posts: 688
Location: Already Gone | Want a fight? Carp... with a Walleye UglyStik and a Mitchell 300. Green Giant Kernel corn.
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| LOL! That is exactly how we used to fish for carp on the Wisconsin River back in the 1960s. The canning factory in Wis. Rapids used to dump their waste directly into the river and in that green soup, the carp were plentiful. Why they took the corn, when they had their fill of been waste, not sure but they did. When we were in our early teens we would buy 1000 yard spools of 10# test through the mail because you knew you would get spooled a couple times a season. We caught carp that weighed over 50 pounds on the old brass scale we hung in a tree but the fighters were the 5 to 10 pounders.
AJ McClane, fishing editor for Field and Stream magazine for decades once stated that the carp was the hardest fighting freshwater fish in North America. He said if you tied a 10# carp tail to tail with a 10# brown trout, the carp would pull the brown trout inside out in seconds. |
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Posts: 1247
Location: Walker, MN | A 1# bluegill will out-fight a 2# crappie but both are fun to catch. Just a different fight.
Catching a Muskie is a real accomplishment as chances are often few. More than any other fish, it often comes down to perfect execution. I do agree that Stripers are much stronger fighters and have better fight endurance.
Snook vs. Redfish in saltwater is a similar comparison. The redfish are much stronger and have better fight endurance but there is just something about a Snook that is really fun to catch.
I love 'em all.
Cheers and hook-sets! |
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Posts: 2753
Location: Mauston, Wisconsin | LOL - Saltwater versus freshwater - really? As for gear I've been on a stripper trip out of Rhode Island, off Block Island, the rods were all St. Croix muskie rods, the captain was surprised I noticed. Thats also when, I seriouslly started searching saltwater shops around the world for lures and studying saltwater rigging techniques for muskies.
Musky versus Cobia - inch for inch cobia wins for battle. Wahoo got their name for a good reason too, blistering fast run once hooked...
http://www.outdoorlife.com/articles/fishing/saltwater/inshore/2007/...
http://www.fishfishme.com/blog/top-wanted-game-fish-world/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1eRJFyp0HA
Have fun!
Al
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Location: varies | Anyone ever drag baby seals along the southern tip of Africa? I think they were selling for as much as a Minnesota sucker. |
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Posts: 8782
| lakes frozen already? |
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Posts: 555
Location: Tennessee | 30lb striper vs 30lb Muskie, in terms of fight,the striper has it hands down on the same gear. |
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| 30lb blue gill would drown a 30lb boost power stroke hands down |
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Musky vs Striper