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| since i am forced to target tigers(seeing that we have no "trues" here) should i leave the topwater lures at home? and what time in the evening should i give up... are they known to act like pike or more like true muskies at night? at about what water temp. do they turn off... if any? any other tips concerning tigers vs. trues would be appreciated
zach sanders | |
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| I'm in the same boat, although we have both, it's about 3 to 1 tigers to pure's. I fish topwaters, mostly in the early morning. I would love to know about the water temp question myself, but my guess is about 75 degrees. I never have much luck in the heat of the summer with tigers. When I'm fishing tigers, I throw crankbaits most of the time, Radtke's pike minnow's are my best producer, and there relatively cheap. I also have great results with jigs. You should email muskiekid, he has a site dedicated to tigers, and has some good info. | |
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| I have always had my best luck very early in the morning, and late in the evening. They don't seem to active in the heat of the day. As it gets hotter, go deeper.[:sun:] | |
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| yeah- his site has gotten some new info on it-doesn't specifically answer the above questions- but very informative http://www.geocities.com/thomaspinckney/muskiekid.html
zach | |
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| Thanks for the kind words. Actually it can be reached a little easier at:
http://www.muskiekid.com
I started the site (I am no expert) to obtain knowledge about Tiger Muskies. Not a whole lot of information around because they are actually rare in nature. Now that stocking programs have taken off (they are much cheaper to rear because they will eat pellets), a lot of Tiger Musky fishing is available. Unfortunately, very little has been written about them. Esox Angler had a nice article about them not too long ago. As far as my personal experiences:
Spring: fish slow, fish small minnow-type lures 4-6 inches in length in the same areas that the Bass-guys are fishing for spawning Bass. Trolling works best in my opinion. AC Shiners, Radkes Pike Minnows are good, 6" jointed Believers. A friend of mine recently caught a 42" 20 lb. Tiger on a cranbait that was about 2" long! Looked like a guppie! With the small Bass-sized lures try increasing the hook size by one size larger. Small lures CAN be trolled on heavy tackle. Bass-sized jigs are really good.
Summer (now): Tough times to get one. Early morning, I have caught them on large topwaters (propellor type) fishing VERY SLOW (basically dragging it behind my boat). Fish the drop off with jigs. Larger crankbaits seem to be picking up during this time of the year. I also start targeting them underneath bait schools that dimple the surface.
Fall: Trolling large cranbaits (8, 10" Believers) 15-20 ft. deep..
More:
Will they hit in the propwash? Yep-about half of fish come from there.
Figure 8? I've seen it work once in five years. Of course it's most likely due to anglers not doing it.
Planer boards? I use them to get my lures against the weedbeds.
I have a Tiger's section on my website. If you have any tips, etc., leave them on the forum, and sign my guestbook (please!). Thanks
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| All very good info.
I meant to post on Muskie Central when this topic first came up a study done by one of my local Game and Parks Biologists, but I couldn't find it. I have since found the study, and it is summarized below. The study was done on a small, clear lake here in Nebraska that has a gizzard shad population, and a max depth of 20 feet. 2 anglers were used in the study and fished the lake regularly from June through Sept. of 1994. The results are as follows:
-A total of 58.25 angler hours were logged fishing specifically for tigers.
-A total of 16 tiger muskies were caught between 24"-39". The breakdown is as follows:
1-24", 1-26", 1-27", 4-28", 5-30", 2-32", 1-33" and 1-39"
-8 fish were caught in June, 4 fish were caught in July, 0 fish were caught in August, and 4 fish were caught in Sept.
-All fish were caught on either crankbaits (Bomber Long-A was best) or Spinnerbaits.
I'm not sure how helpful this study is, but it was interesting to me. It does correspond with my findings in that the tigers are most active in spring and fall, and tougher to catch during the dog days. Also interesting to note that smaller baits were most successful.
Hope this helps somebody, or at least gets your wheels turnin'. Email me if you have anymore questions. EJ
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tiger questions