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Location: varies | why do Musky sometimes nip a bait and not crush it if they're going to eat it?
Edited by rodbender 12/31/2015 12:27 PM
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Posts: 284
Location: Eagan, MN | Couple of BST's come to mind. They could be trying to taste the bait to ascertain whether they are dealing with a food item before committing to a crushing strike. Also, nipping could be a specific foraging strategy. Muskies descended from Barracuda, whose foraging techniques have been studied using high speed film. Barracuda commonly will nip the tails of the fish they are pursuing, disabling their locomation, and rendering them much easier to catch and consume. Muskies nip so often, they may have simply inherited the same foraging strategies as their ancestors. One thing is for certain, those nippers can be hard to catch! |
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| Ever see a cat toying with a mouse? Trying to make the mouse run so the cat can pounce on it again?
Same thing with muskies, I think. |
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Location: varies | I wonder if its a more prevalent or likely trait on pressured lakes? |
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Posts: 1760
Location: new richmond, wi. & isle, mn | Try speeding up your presentation. You'll more than likely have less followers and nippers, but possibly more eaters. |
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Location: Hayward, Wisconsin | Or stop it dead and they will eat it or run into it! |
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| We've had this happen for days on end. The only thing that's worked is if you see them coming before they nip at the bait, give it a quick burst of speed. Seems to get them charged up enough to actually eat the lure instead of just nipping the back. Another thing that helped me a lot on days like that was switch to an old beat up double 10 with very little hair left - the hooks stick out of the back about an inch, so when they nip at the the bait they get hooks.
Now if I could just get them to give me back the tails off all my bulldawgs instead of swimming away with them I'd be a happy camper.
As far as why they do it? Who knows. If they wanted to eat it, they would have. My BST is that it just doesn't look/sound/feel enough like their normal food for them to actually commit to eating it. See it a lot more on rock oriented fish than weed oriented fish. I think they have more time to figure out that it's not food when they have time to check it out.
Edited by esoxaddict 1/4/2016 1:22 PM
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Posts: 1937
Location: Black Creek, WI | I like Brian's BST for when a fish is in hot pursuit of a "chase" bait.
However, I've seen this "nipping" behavior a lot on slow moving lures and when the lure is on a long pause. Sand/weed oriented fish on LOTW would do this often. And on multiple repeat casts. Those fish could be caught if harassed enough, but it was a low percentage deal. In those cases, I'm not so certain the behavior was related to feeding.
Seems like this happens a lot when fish are "off". Slow bite days. Then next day those same fish may inhale the same lure they "nipped" at previously. I don't have a good theory as to why they do it... so I'll watch this post with interest. |
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Posts: 105
Location: Florida | BrianF. - 12/31/2015 11:06 AM
Couple of BST's come to mind. They could be trying to taste the bait to ascertain whether they are dealing with a food item before committing to a crushing strike. Also, nipping could be a specific foraging strategy. Muskies descended from Barracuda, whose foraging techniques have been studied using high speed film. Barracuda commonly will nip the tails of the fish they are pursuing, disabling their locomation, and rendering them much easier to catch and consume. Muskies nip so often, they may have simply inherited the same foraging strategies as their ancestors. One thing is for certain, those nippers can be hard to catch!
Don't think Muskie are related to Barracuda, but they do share certain attributes. Both species of fish are aggressive predatory fish,both are excellent ambush predators, and both provide a good fight, especially on light/medium tackle. I would give the upper hand to the Great Barracuda, since pound for pound they fight much harder than a Muskie. |
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Posts: 612
| I have heard that Esox are related to barracuda.  At 1st I thought it was action of little ones until I saw a nice one actually do this in clear water 3 or 4 feet from the boat.
Edited by NPike 11/16/2016 2:20 AM
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Posts: 558
| Maybe there just being territorial, chasing something they don't want in there space. We all like humans have had days were we definitely don't want someone or something in our space. But if maybe you pee them off enough with something they interrogate by destroying your bait. That is what we want to happen, but dosen't happen enough. Only if were're lucky.
Edited by Musky Face 11/18/2016 11:56 AM
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Posts: 221
| If this is happening on blades I switch to one with a shorter skirt. If you don't have one, just find one that is beat up and trim it so the hair/whatever ends right at the hook bend. If they nip then, they'll get the hook. |
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| Happens to me with buck tails quite a few times. Fortunately I've been able to hook up on a few that way. When you think that was a weed, rip it and keep reeling and a few cranks later BAM! |
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Don't think Muskie are related to Barracuda, but they do share certain attributes. Both species of fish are aggressive predatory fish,both are excellent ambush predators, and both provide a good fight, especially on light/medium tackle. I would give the upper hand to the Great Barracuda, since pound for pound they fight much harder than a Muskie.
Don't remember where all I've seen it, but yes, they share a common ancestor from a LONG LONG time ago. |
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Location: Florida | The Muskellunge is in the family called Esocidae and the Great Barracuda is in the family called Sphyraenidae, so these fish are not related at all. Both species of fish fight hard,are very aggressive, and can be caught on a wide variety of lures. |
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Posts: 31
| I always use scent. Especially in the fall. Ask any walleye or salmon fisherman if it works. Muskie are no different-- a variety of scents work. Especially on bulldawgs or other slow moving baits. It seals the deal. I didn't use it before my friend was out producing me. |
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| Interesting article on Esox and barracuda
http://midcurrent.com/science/distant-cousins/ |
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| Cool |
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Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | Both Muskies and Pike have poor olfactory senses, and in fact will hit a lure soaked in gasoline. Try to get a bass or walleye to do that.
We've watched literally hundreds of Pike and Muskies under the ice and have seen the nipping behavior more often than not. Since the lure is moving up and down and a little sideways and always in the view of the camera, the fish doesn't have to chase it much and we see everything the fish does. Pretty much every time if the fish is even slightly aggressive, one can elicit a strike after one or even several 'nips' on artificial or live bait. The key is to get the bait above them and where it's easy for the fish to see, and then ease up on the constant movement and let the fish tell you when to twitch the bait. It can take a half dozen attempts to get the fish to take, and there may even be a few dead flat misses. The fish may even swim off, and return slowly or watch from a distance, suddenly darting in and hitting the lure. Go to www.icefirst.com and watch the Pike videos. Fascinating behavior.
If the fish wants it, however, there's no doubt....
http://icefishing.outdoorsfirst.com/videos/07.05.2016/8761/Under.Th...
A nip that didn't work out well for the fish:
http://icefishing.outdoorsfirst.com/videos/03.05.2016/8420/Big.Pike...
This one is funny, the fish has the bait slide down it's face and then hits:
http://icefishing.outdoorsfirst.com/videos/12.21.2014/7491/Nose.Job... |
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nipping at my bait