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Posts: 154
| I'm looking to catch my first Muskie. I'm on vacation right now without a fish finder so it's really hard to find spots. I found some cabbage so I anchored up (no trolling motor) 2nd cast I get one around 40 to follow I get half way through the figure 8 and he eats it e then gets of 2 seconds after. I have been working this same spot for 15+ hours now without a sign of him. Should I stay or not? It's almost impossible to find spots without a fish finder. |
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Posts: 1828
| I'd keep exploring but return to this spot once or twice per day. That fish you lost is probably not the only one there, but if you casted it for 15 hours I'd say you covered it pretty well! |
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Posts: 983
| Hit same spot in prime hours morning and evening if possible but try to keep exploring might be worth $50-100 to get cheap sonar to have something but sure you could find another spot or two...just like jaultman said most likely not only fish there |
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Posts: 154
| So should I look for 7ft cabbage again? Just go find what I hooked that one on? |
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Posts: 2337
Location: Chisholm, MN | I'd drift over areas that look fishy. You have to cover water. Camping on a spot is not to very productive. |
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Posts: 983
| kirby right hit a spot cover it good not 15 hours good...time gonna depend on size of spot but fan cast good find another spot...rock areas with drop ledges weed beds, fallin timber, etc...fish them move on spot looks real good or raise a fish mark that spot come back in prime times |
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Posts: 57
| Shoreline structure will always hold fish, keep moving like kirby said. |
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Posts: 154
| Alright I worked almost the whole bay yesterday and nothing, should I change lures or what? The fish bit my bucktail so I used that. |
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Posts: 154
| Or should I go back to the spot with some suckers? |
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Posts: 32
Location: MN | My 2 cents.
If you managed to raise a fish, i would certainly go back and pursue that fish, but wouldn't kill myself trying to get it to bite. Go back a few times a day, toss a variety of lures and move on. Try to locate similar structure using your eyeballs. If the structure is deeper you could tie out your anchor to say 12 ft, or whichever depth the structure or weededge is at, and float. Once the anchor hits you're at your depth.
If you're on vacation, act like it fish around a while, then go anchor, grab a beverage and see if a sucker does the trick
EDIT: depending on what lake you are on you should be able to find spots using google maps, navionics web app (purchase required) or lakie-link/DNR provided topo maps.
Edited by Gregarrison 7/13/2017 10:54 AM
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Posts: 2337
Location: Chisholm, MN | Yeah try different baits, but go find another fish. How big is this bay you're talking about? Go fish some points or other bays. Fish move around a lot. It's not like that one fish will stay in one spot forever. Other fish will move in and out as well. Skip the sucker unless you have a good quickstrike rig. Don't let the fish swallow the sucker if you actually get bit. Also, you need to hit your best spot at prime time. Like right at dark or early in the morning. |
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Posts: 154
| Little saint Germain west bay. |
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Posts: 280
Location: US | X2 on Navionics. It's great for giving you an idea of that the lake looks like without a depth finder. |
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Posts: 983
| MNFisherman - 7/13/2017 8:06 AM
Alright I worked almost the whole bay yesterday and nothing, should I change lures or what? The fish bit my bucktail so I used that.
Try different Lures for sure but just cause there a fish there dont mean you gonna get it to EAT....Id continue working the spot along with other spots and try different baits too...Can give Sucker a try not sure that the answer though...if you aloud to fish multiple rods hang a Sucker on back side of boat side your not casting from and go to work....That way you get another follow and she dont eat hopefully she see the Sucker and go for that...would hang it 4-5 ft down |
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| the thing that you need the most for casting is a marine card,fishfinder is useless right now because fish are mostly shallow less than 6 feet.
even google map would be more useful than a sonar,sometimes you can zoom that close that you can spot the good weed bed.for ultra clear water it can be a different thing ........try all kind of lures top,jerk,plastic,blade if nothing move you move,don't stay there 2 hours if it's a small weed bed |
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Posts: 34
| As far as casting I would leave the spot after bout 20 minutes after changing every possible lure. As far as sucker fishing I would give it atleast 30 or 40 minutes. Anchor up and wait. Bait is doing the work for you. Last 3 fish we caught was atleast 15 minutes after we got to the spot . Good luck
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Posts: 1425
Location: St. Lawrence River | Navionics app on your phone. You will see spots. And 2) if you cant find spots, hit shoreline structure. Morning and eve they will hold fish. Fets a little old but it works. |
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Posts: 1425
Location: St. Lawrence River | MNFisherman - 7/13/2017 9:06 AM
Alright I worked almost the whole bay yesterday and nothing, should I change lures or what? The fish bit my bucktail so I used that.
Remember, rhis is musky fishing... |
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Posts: 336
Location: Lino Lakes, MN | Another thing to pay attention to would be location of birds on the water. Before I had electronics, I always chased the birds around figuring there was bait there and caught a decent amount of fish doing it. I also used to watch where guys were panfishing and check those spots out after they left. If you're striking out elsewhere, it cant hurt to change it up and give it a shot. If I were in your situation, I'd probably clip on a bucktail and drift over as many spots as you can. If you raise a fish, drop the anchor and fan cast the area for 20min. If you don't raise it again, come back at dawn/dusk/moonrise/etc. As was also mentioned above, the Navionics app will be a huge help. I use it all the time, especially when ice fishing...its pretty dang accurate and should get you on mid lake humps and other structure. Good Luck!! |
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Posts: 781
Location: Ames, Iowa | Foremost, I like the fact that you worked into a bay without electronics/trolling motor on, both of which are unnecessary when you're in shallow. I often wonder what kinds of electronic signals I'm sending out and how they impact fish if they do. I use the wind to my advantage to blow into spots and often quietly anchor. So kudos to you for doing it that way. I would have given it about 20 more casts and then gotten out of there until lowest light. And you're right about looking for similar spots. I'd find 7-12 fow with cabbage or find some bullrushes. It's just a matter of time. |
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Posts: 612
| esoxlazer - 7/16/2017 10:19 AM
Another thing to pay attention to would be location of birds on the water. Before I had electronics, I always chased the birds around figuring there was bait there and caught a decent amount of fish doing it. I also used to watch where guys were panfishing and check those spots out after they left. If you're striking out elsewhere, it cant hurt to change it up and give it a shot. If I were in your situation, I'd probably clip on a bucktail and drift over as many spots as you can. If you raise a fish, drop the anchor and fan cast the area for 20min. If you don't raise it again, come back at dawn/dusk/moonrise/etc. As was also mentioned above, the Navionics app will be a huge help. I use it all the time, especially when ice fishing...its pretty dang accurate and should get you on mid lake humps and other structure. Good Luck!!
This gent is spot on about muskies and panfish. I've caught many of my musky's (not that I've caught that many compared to some of ya) near schools of perch or alewives. It really doesn't matter on the depth. If you locate (say see guys catching say perch) and the lake has muskies they will often be hovering around the edge the school. So you can cast for musky's w/o bothering the panfishermen. I've often found this to be a more important factor than cover. |
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Posts: 612
| esoxlazer - 7/16/2017 10:19 AM
Another thing to pay attention to would be location of birds on the water. Before I had electronics, I always chased the birds around figuring there was bait there and caught a decent amount of fish doing it. I also used to watch where guys were panfishing and check those spots out after they left. If you're striking out elsewhere, it cant hurt to change it up and give it a shot. If I were in your situation, I'd probably clip on a bucktail and drift over as many spots as you can. If you raise a fish, drop the anchor and fan cast the area for 20min. If you don't raise it again, come back at dawn/dusk/moonrise/etc. As was also mentioned above, the Navionics app will be a huge help. I use it all the time, especially when ice fishing...its pretty dang accurate and should get you on mid lake humps and other structure. Good Luck!!
This gent is spot on about muskies and panfish. I've caught many of my musky's (not that I've caught that many compared to some of ya) near schools of perch or alewives. It really doesn't matter on the depth. If you locate (say see guys catching say perch) and the lake has muskies they will often be hovering around the edge the school. So you can cast for musky's w/o bothering the panfishermen. I've often found this to be a more important factor than cover. |
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