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Posts: 7119
Location: Northwest Chicago Burbs | If you could give any muskie fisherman one quick tip of advice, what would it be?
AND, to make this tougher on you the user....you cant name one that anyone else has already listed.
Mine: HAVE FUN! Dont worry about the catching or lack there of, just enjoy being out there, doing what we do! |
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Posts: 785
| Don't get discouraged when times are tough, just keep at it and use your head and you'll connect with fish. |
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Posts: 1769
Location: Algonquin, ILL | If you want to catch BIG FISH then Fish where BIG FISH Live 
Fish big water that has a reputation for big fish
Edited by JohnMD 6/25/2007 12:58 PM
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| Pay attention and always be alert for follows, setting up you F-8s, and be prepare to set the hook at all times. |
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Posts: 8865
| Take all the internet/magazine/seminar stuff with a grain of salt, and just fish for the sake of fishing. The fish will eat. Or the fish won't eat. |
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Posts: 331
Location: Stevens Point, Wisconsin | Do it your way and find your own style! Too many people get hung up on trying to copy the way everyone else does it. Some of the most innovative techniques are the product of people thinking out of the box!
Ed
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| Hire this guide and spend a day in musky fishing heaven.
http://www.myfishingpictures.com/img/123239.jpg
Edited by ddfenner 6/25/2007 1:21 PM
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Posts: 32958
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | Straight from Steve Van Lieshout: The only rule in Muskie Fishing...
there are no rules.
Best time to go?
when you can.
From me:
Waves on the water make the wind blow. Go ahead, argue with me.
Much of what you hear about Muskie fishing is debatable, at the least. If it just doesn't sound right or logical, it probably isn't. |
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Posts: 1996
Location: Pelican Lake/Three Lakes Chain | Learn the body of water you are fishing as well as you can. Pay attention to the details of structures. Fishing where the fish are will put more fish in the net than anything else. |
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Posts: 2089
| Don't leave fish to find fish.Oh, and what Fenner said.LOL. Steve |
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| Don't skimp on equipment...buy good batteries, good locators/gps, good rods/reels/terminal tackle.
Auto Pilots rule. |
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Posts: 56
| Learn to make your own lures. "you can lead a muskie fisherman to water, but you can't make him catch" |
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Posts: 880
Location: New Berlin,Wisconsin,53151 | When casting all day, don't think that the small nick in the floro, or the partial fray in the braided wont make a difference. If it looks like you need to cut and tie do it!
Netman
Today is the fourth annniversary of my PB. Its been a long struggle to get anything close to it. Savor the moment......
Shep,
It was never your fish.................. :~)
Edited by Netman 6/25/2007 1:55 PM
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Posts: 366
| Buy a good pair of polorized fishing glasses and always pay attention, especially when the baits are in the water.
Ryan
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Posts: 122
Location: Pittsburgh, PA | More time on the water = more fish in the boat.
Rich D |
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Posts: 13688
Location: minocqua, wi. | in addition to what bn writes ... learn to subtract water ... and feel good in the process you use to do so ... it's the part of the game that is the most fun and the part that makes and sometimes breaks your confidence |
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Posts: 167
Location: Fonda IA | buy a Luhr-Jensen file and learn how to make your hooks scary sharp.Dennis Blume
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| can we have more than one??
another one...key. visualize what you are fishing without water!
visualize....key. |
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Posts: 691
Location: nationwide | I would second the "don't get discouraged" or "impatient" if you want to call it that tip. A line I like to use, but no clue where I heard or read it, is " the musky is the king of freshwater fish . . . . and the king does not come to town every day".
Corey Meyer |
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Posts: 15
| understand your units...learn to use them and understand what they are showing you.
dont believe old school fishing myths. be versatile and go against the grain.
sorry...had to list two.
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| Set the hook once, and set it like you want the hook to go through a sheet of 3/4" plywood. |
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Location: Des Moines IA | don't buy 200 lures, you only really need 25 ............ |
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| Fish like you know they are there |
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Posts: 3242
Location: Racine, Wi | JCJ - 6/25/2007 2:55 PM
understand your units...learn to use them and understand what they are showing you.
I had to laugh when you said understand your units, but then remembered this is a fishing board. You couldn't be more right dude.
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Posts: 91
Location: Wausau | Use as long a rod as you are comfortable with. They are great for picking up slack line and save your back after a full day of figure 8's. |
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Posts: 16632
Location: The desert | Check to make sure the plug is in the boat before launching. |
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| Learn to read a map |
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Posts: 2893
Location: Yahara River Chain | MuskieMike - 6/25/2007 3:04 PM
don't buy 200 lures, you only really need 25 ............
Yeah, the trick is which 25?????
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Posts: 2865
Location: Brookfield, WI | Tip the guide well when he work his tail off.
Also tip your servers at least 15%. 20% is better. Less than that and you might end up with unwanted extra ingredients in your food.
Kevin
My skin is cooling. |
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Posts: 412
Location: Waukesha, WI | With so much hype about new baits, don't forget the baits you caught fish on in the past. |
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Posts: 785
| In that case you only need one! In the right place at the right time that is. |
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Posts: 66
Location: Tomahawk, WI | Don't overthink and overanalyze it. They are just fish and just want to eat.
Cameron Wilson |
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Posts: 2112
Location: The Sportsman, home, or out on the water | Pick your partner wisely (right K-bob?).
Work at a bait shop that caters to the musky crowd, and get chatty with the customers. Keeping your ears open turns you on to new lakes and patterns. |
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| Learn to cast better. All good muskie sticks I have fished with are excellent casters. Crank your cast control so it is very loose and use your thumb to control spool rotation. They make long, accurate casts, and their baits are moving immediatley when they hit the water.
Murph |
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Posts: 1185
Location: Wishin I Was Fishin' | Turn back now before it is too late and all you think about is musky fishing.
If it's too late: Pay close attention to all the details, big or small, even the smallest thing can help tip the scales to put that one good fish in the boat instead of loose it or not even get a chance at it. |
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Posts: 80
| Fish productive spots more thoroughly find the spot on the spot. |
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Posts: 31
Location: sauk rapids, mn | I would say, don't get stuck in the rut of trying the same old thing, because you had success a few times. sometimes you have to try other means to catch fish. they are not always in 12 feet of water,or in the weeds. if something is not working, try something different. most of all, enjoy the moment, whether you are catching fish or not! |
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Posts: 4
Location: Ashland WI | make a list of all of your local waters and make it your goal to catch some fish in all of them. |
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| when your bucktail hits the water the blades should be spinning |
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Posts: 89
Location: East of muskie country | Be prepared for the catch
Have the proper tools and net, go through the motions mentally, know how you will take a picture, make the release, etc...Nothing kills the thrill more, for a CPR fisherman, than a botched release or a hook in the hand. |
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Posts: 605
Location: Marshfield, WI | Be ready when your bait hits the water. At least twice this year, my boat has had fish hit before the reel was even engaged. For me, I was ready and got my first of the year. For my partner, he missed his fish and we still aren't sure what the fish was.
If you feel anything different, set the hook. Sometimes it feels like added weight, like a weed, or a stick/log. I'd rather set the hook into a log than think its a log and find out it was a fish.
Krishna |
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Posts: 1308
Location: WI | Finish your casts, even if there are some weeds on the lure.
I learned this the hard way this past saturday...pulled a suick with trailing weeds up early and then had a ski come cruising in. Doh! I'm sure this will happen again to me. |
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| The day AFTER a strong blow, fish the calm side...the bait are still there, as are the muskies!! 
Edited by Donnie3737 6/26/2007 6:55 AM
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Posts: 215
Location: Twin Cities | Keep your lure in the water... |
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| To add: the best day to go muskie fishing, is any day that ends in "Y" no matter what the weather or moon phase. The memories are made and laughed over with whom you have fished with, whether you caught someting or not. Life is to short to take this all too serious! |
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Posts: 723
| sometimes you just have to stop and smell the weeds...... (bob meisikhomer)
Always be ready! Seen way to many botched fish because people were sleeping at the reel.
If you cry enough in the boat, you'll catch fish too! just ask yon. |
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Posts: 364
Location: Kentucky | Make a commitment to learn something new about muskies, your equipment, your buddies, and your favorite waters every day; then stay humble enough to admit you don't know it all. |
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Posts: 1245
Location: Madtown, WI | A build on Norms learning the water.
A great time to do it....when the fish aren't biting.
If you are spent, been pounding the water for nothing...take a break and drive around a new piece of structure...or even an old one....Spring is perfect time for this.
You will be amazed how much more you learn about a spot if you REALLY spend time on the spot trying to learn it and not just fish it. drive all over the thing...mark insides and out....heck, throw a mask in the boat...you see something that looks good...shove your head in the water with the mask and take a look!!!
Goes to Brads Visualization, plus people will start talking about you!! (who is that retard with his head over the side of the boat?)
Hit a couple spots doing this....
You will get your PMA back after finding a couple new twists on spots...then start fishing again!
I did it two weeks ago...worked like a charm!
Cory
Edited by C.Painter 6/26/2007 1:24 PM
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| realize that most musky fisherman at the top of the food chain are used car salesmen that will say anything to sell a product or make a point. some of the best musky men i have fished with have used so called second rate rods and home made lures. with very productive results. join the local clubs . fish with people you dont know well that arent guides. this will give you x-factor that help you become a journeyman of the water. |
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| mr reality..heck yah you can catch tons of ski's with homemade lures and 2nd rate equipment, even a crappy boat for that matter as the boat doesn't catch the fish.....but who wants to hook a big one and have that 2nd rate equipment fail?
I've used more models of reels, rods, etc than I can count the last 15 yrs and one constant is good equipment will make life easier on the water...
that's reality |
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Posts: 8865
| reality - 6/26/2007 1:11 PM
...fish with people you dont know well that arent guides. this will give you x-factor that help you become a journeyman of the water.
What if they don't know what they are doing? In order to become a journeyman of any sort you need instruction from someone who actually knows something.
I'm kinda thinkin' you'd be better off learning from someone who puts food on the table by knowing whats going on out there than just some dude with a boat and second rate equipment... |
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| i use a diawa rod and a cortland rod, they are so called second rate rods. but preform very very well. my point is you dont need a $200 dollar rod, but many would lead you to believe that. also i must say i learned all the bread and butter about musky fishing by reading ,watching and fishing with pro guides all over indiana ,wisconsin , minn, and ontario. but fishing with the grunts of musky men took me to a whole different understanding of fishing. |
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Posts: 13688
Location: minocqua, wi. | i like the term the "muskygrunts" guest ... and know many of them and understand your point completely ... fortunately for me fishing in both the eagle river and rhinelander leagues and living in this area i've met a number of the "muskygrunts" you speak of and agree completely with your point as re-stated ... |
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Posts: 1906
Location: Oconto Falls, WI | Argh! I see some I thought of have been spoken already! So here is one off the top of my head:
KISS Muskytime's is my all time favorite as way too many beginners and vets don't choose a foundation to build on or go back to when things get tough. Even though I preach it I am guilty of of trying to teach some my method even if they don't want to hear it! 
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Posts: 32958
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | I promote and sell boats, not used cars. Buy a boat to fish muskies, not a used car. Used cars sink. |
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Posts: 8865
| Though I've never tested this myself, I suspect that all cars sink, Steve. Perhaps a better bit of advice would be "fish out of that which floats"? |
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Posts: 1536
Location: God's Country......USA..... Western Wisconsin | Fish every chance you get, no one ever caught one while sitting on the couch. |
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| all it takes to catch a musky is putting a bait in from of them that they want to eat when theyre hungry. dont overthink it. soak in all the info you can but always have the sense to go with what you know. and hire guides! |
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Posts: 199
Location: Sandusky, OH | Find a bait you enjoy fishing, learn to fish it well, and have at it. You'll be doing far more casting than catching anyway, might as well enjoy the feeling of working a good bait well. Obviously, if that bait matches preferences for the body of water you fish, all the better.
Eric |
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Posts: 1308
Location: WI | Cars only sink a few months out of the year, at least up here. |
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Posts: 171
| find & fish with a GREAT partner. My partner will fish whenever and wherever I want, rain, wind, etc and she'll even feed me lunch if I don't want to stop casting
ErieBoy75 |
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Posts: 536
Location: Brainerd Area | Always have yur release tools ready before you boat that fish. |
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Posts: 1764
Location: Ogden, Ut | Excellence is achieved by the mastery of fundamentals - Vince Lombardi
That guy knew a lot. I think it applies here too.
S. |
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Posts: 468
Location: Not where I wanna be! | if this is cheating, sorry.
after reading all this, i thought of a few tips.....
1st - Believe in what you are throwing. yes there is a time for topwater, a time for cranking, a time for twitching and a time to troll, but the bottom line is simple, get a lure in front of a hungry fish and he'll eat it. but believe your bait is appealing, and know how to work it.
2nd - practice with your lures, so you know how they work in every situation. again confidence!
3rd - building a solid foundataion that is based on the fundementals is essential to success. passion for the sport will in turn build knowledge and then success will follow. never stop learning, and as mentioned before, be humble. you will not know everything.
4th - any musky caught is an accomplishment. even if he is 30 inches.
and lastly - put her back! |
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| shouldn't your 1st tip be don't try to call your buddies that are 2 blocks away on you cell phone when you hook a big fish? |
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Posts: 468
Location: Not where I wanna be! | and......
dont try to use your cell phone when fighting the biggest fish of your life....they can wait.....
im a tard,
thanks for re-hashing old wounds...... 
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| Learn the primary forage in the lake/lakes you are fishing...use something that imitates that forage.
OR
If all else fails, use a lure that looks like a sucker or perch.
Jordan |
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Posts: 129
| MuskieMike - 6/25/2007 3:04 PM
don't buy 200 lures, you only really need 25 ............
buy 24 bulldawgs and a suick! |
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Posts: 136
| Don't fish angry |
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| Go fish whenever you can. |
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One Tip