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Posts: 880
Location: New Berlin,Wisconsin,53151 | They say it's a fish of 1,000 casts try 10,000. After a year long drought it happened this weekend. The monkey is off my back! I asked the same question all ice fishing season "How can you go the whole season and not catch a muskie"? I was lucky in 2003 and landed a beauty at 48.5".With high hopes for the 2004 season, not a fish in the net. I can't even tell you how many hours on the water with people who were catching P.B.'s, a week at Cass Lake and a frantic rush at the end of the season.
The question I ask is how long of a drought have you gone without a fish?
Netman
P.S. 37" on a Black BuckTail.....Netted by SANKS (Thanks Buddy) |
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| My drought right now is going on 8 months... 
I usually run in to a low spell in July when everyone and their brother is on the water. Jetskiers, waterskiers, the pontoons, you name it get in the way and stir everything up. The muskies seem to just shut down, and I have tried through the night to get bit as well...but it just does not seem to happen on the lakes I fish.
Tough fish at times...but your time will come and plenty will come into the boat. It might mean changing lakes, trying something different than what you see everyone else doing, etc. All it takes is the right presentation at the right time and things can get busy fast.
A wet lure is better than a dry one, even if no fish are caught.
Steve |
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| I feel your pain I never landed i single fish last year I hooked at least 20-25 but everything fell apart at the boat I need a slump buster bad I'll be taking off a week on opener to do just that after last years fiasco I need to put some time in fast to stop this NIGHTMARE |
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Posts: 1168
| To me droughts are relative to how often you are able to get on the water. If you can get out almost every day and you are looking at a month, two months, then it's a headache. But if you are only out 2-3 times a month then it's not so bad and easier to stomach.
Last year my longest drought was about 10-14 days but I was out almost every day so with the amount of time I was on the water those couple of weeks felt like an eternity whereas the year before I wasn't out nearly as much and a month and a half didn't feel so bad.
I will echo what Steve has already said about learning new water. It is nice to be diversified so when you do get a chance to get out you can let conditions dictate what type of water you will be on instead of being stuck on a lake or river that has lower odds of cooperating with you.
The other thing I'll add is to absorb as much info as humanly possible. Whether that is from muskie related message boards, magazines or TV shows, take it all in, but don't limit yourself to just muskie specific stuff. Sometimes I'll gain more from watching a segment on TV about catfish than I will on muskie segments that are just repeating common knowledge that we all seem to have. If you want to fish more rivers take notice of the way water runs off of your driveway when it rains or when the snow melts. You can learn a ton about water currents by doing this that could help you out a great deal in the long run. Much of what I apply to fishing rivers was learned from spending ungodly amounts of time in small streams trout fishing and if nothing else it's given me much more confidence in picking out little nuances about current in bigger rivers than I would have had if I wouldn't have paid attention to those little details. |
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Location: Athens, Ohio | "How can you go the whole season and not catch a muskie"?
SHEEE- I went three seasons and then some. When Mikes Extreme finally put me on a fish, he was the 21st person I'd been muskie fishing with (and some of that count were repeat offenders, taking me out more than once!). I had a skunk on me big time, glad your luck went better. m |
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| Netman, It's about time you broke the skunk. I can't remember the last time I netted a ski for you. Will do it again glady, hopefully on Wednesday night. Two seasons ago I was 0-for June and it drove me crazy, but I learned to try new presentations and don't ever lose faith. Keep Pounding. Sanks |
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| whew I'm glad I'm not alone - I'm the same as you guys. Going on 13 months now. The problem I have is I can't pick my time on the water that much. I go when I can and that doesn't always coincide with good conditions.
Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr! |
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Posts: 4266
| I have droughts every year.
Basically it's more a lack of time to spend on the water.
If I moved to muskie country and didn't have a wife, a kid or a job, I'd be catching a load of fish. My odds should improve this year with not working, but it all depends on my financail situation. My daughter and I will be spending much time at our trailer near the Mississippi River, because it's free. I'm already looking at maps for campgrounds and other places to stay so we can go on some muskie hunts.
However, when you get just 2 weeks in MN and a couple of weekend trips in WI throughout the year, it's hard to rack up numbers.....casts and fish.
Time on the water is still the most important part of the muskie fishing/catching equation.
Beav |
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Posts: 354
| Do you know how long it would take to actually cast 10,000 times? Try counting your cast for about 15 minutes multiple by 4 and then again for the number of hours you fish. This still doesn't account for moving to new spots, breaks, etc. No where even close.....
Bill C. |
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Posts: 71
Location: Waukesha, WI | Greenduck--
Do you have an answer to your question about how long it takes to make 10,000 casts? Sounds like you may have calculated the time. |
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Posts: 8860
| I figured this out once. I think freespool-cast-retrieve-freespool-8-cast takes about 30 seconds. That's two casts a minute. If you continually pounded the water without changing lures or changing spots, you could throw 120 casts in an hour. In a 10 hour fishing day, I figured you spend probably two hours of time where your not actually casting, so for a day, you throw, on average 120 x 8 = 960 casts. In order to make 10,000 casts, you need to fish slightly over 10 days.
I've always wanted to count how many casts I make in an hour to test my theory, because there's a lot of room for error, but I've never been able to do it. |
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Posts: 2112
Location: The Sportsman, home, or out on the water | Lori and I had off of work today and we kicked the skunk out of the boat, although both of our fish were only about 25" or so. First Great lakes strain fish for each of us. Lori also got a 30"+ northern 2 casts after releasing her skie. She is becoming quite the Goddess of the Lunge! |
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Posts: 354
| I haven't actually calculated it but just sort of figured it out in rough terms. The 120 casts an hour is probably pretty heavy. Your not taking any time for moving from spot to spot/travel time, any breaks including grabbing a drink or taking a leak, professional overrides/switching baits, etc. Just try counting your casts for 15 minutes. Then ask yourself if this was a normal 15 minutes or are there other times when you have even fewer casts made. I think you would be hard pressed to get in 1000 casts a day or 10,000 in 10 days. The only exception I see is those who would cast 16 hours a day nearly non-stop and do not do any of things listed above.
Bill C. |
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| Try the last 16 years, then complain!!! AAARRRGGHH!!!
goin to get one this year though
NOT
i'm actually goin for a new world record.
most musky gear, baits and tactics, least fish caught (0)
or better yet---Yeti's Guide Service
client "how many have you caught this year George?"
Me "um, well, none so far, but i still have november and december to get one, i'm always positive"
Eventually, one HAS to jump in my boat by accident right?
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Posts: 5874
| 2002, I got a new boat in April. Fished a LOT. I caught fish in other's boats, like Jason and Extreme, and Gregger's, but just could get the skunk out of mine. The drought ended on August 5th! Thanks to Jason Smith, I got to donate $100 to the Ashton Fund! Best $100 I ever spent fishing.
I remember that fish Bruce. You were pumped that night! |
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Posts: 793
Location: Ames, Iowa | Beav has it right. Family, home and work necessarily take so much commitment. Two weeks in MN plus a trip or two around IA doesn't get the job done. I am also in the running for most $$ spent on this venture without a fish in 3+ years. Hope to change that with an extra trip slipped into July. Fish of 10,000 casts? For me it has been- but maybe I'm an old has been.
Don |
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10,000 Casts Has anyone done this?