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Posts: 282
Location: north west wisconsin | in the past week ive caught 4 fish under 40 am I just not fishing the right spots or am i fishing the right spots and just no big fish present I have caught 10 fish this year and all of em under 40. any tips?????
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Posts: 32955
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | Sounds like you are doing the right things, if there are 40" class fish in that water, it's just a matter of time! |
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Posts: 2378
| The size structure in some lakes is just like that...you have to weed through some smaller fish to get at the nicer ones.
Ask Sorno about this... |
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Posts: 282
Location: north west wisconsin | I know there are big fish in the lake but it dosent seem like it matters what lake im on i think im in a rut!! been to vilas a couple of times and only catch the "little ones" 35-39 |
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Posts: 15
Location: bloomington,MN | at least you are catching something.I caught 3 the whole year and one was 13 inches
Edited by Top_raider01 7/30/2007 3:37 PM
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Posts: 605
Location: Marshfield, WI | Seems like there are a lot more 40"+ fish recently in the lake you and I have been fishing. My boat has 5 40"+ and 3 39" since last June. Before that, in 10 years of fishing that lake, we have boated 1, but lost several. They are in there but it helps to throw baits that others don't. Seems like every boat I see on the lake we fish, everyone is throwing a topwater or bucktail. Doesn't mean a 40" won't hit a bucktail or topwater, just have to know when to throw it and when to throw something else.
Krishna |
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Posts: 2865
Location: Brookfield, WI | To break 40 for nine holes you need to play smart, keep the ball in the fairway, and make a couple putts. Try to avoid penalty shots. The difference between 38 or 39 and 41 to 43 is usually the short game. Get to the course a few minutes early and hit a few extra chip shots and putts on the practice green. You'll be surprised how much it makes a difference. Once you break 40 a couple times it gets much easier and you'll come to expect it.
Next you'll want to break par. That's tougher.
Kevin
I'm good luck for others. |
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Posts: 282
Location: north west wisconsin | LOL ITs easy with the bright yellow balls you can see em in the water |
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Posts: 1996
Location: Pelican Lake/Three Lakes Chain | MuskyHopeful - 7/30/2007 3:44 PM
To break 40 for nine holes you need to play smart, keep the ball in the fairway, and make a couple putts. Try to avoid penalty shots. The difference between 38 or 39 and 41 to 43 is usually the short game. Get to the course a few minutes early and hit a few extra chip shots and putts on the practice green. You'll be surprised how much it makes a difference. Once you break 40 a couple times it gets much easier and you'll come to expect it.
Next you'll want to break par. That's tougher.
Kevin
I'm good luck for others.
That may be the best off topic answer ever. So much wisdom in that one, if I hit the links I will be sure to use it!  |
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Posts: 8863
| You could cut 3" off your measuring stick... |
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Location: Ogden, Ut | BALDY - 7/30/2007 2:30 PM
The size structure in some lakes is just like that...you have to weed through some smaller fish to get at the nicer ones.
Ask Sorno about this...
That's just being mean!
I don't have the numbers immediately available now but out of about 30 fish in the boat this year only 6 have been over 30", and of those only 1 over 40...and I didn't get it.
S. |
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| nwild - 7/30/2007 4:35 PM
MuskyHopeful - 7/30/2007 3:44 PM
To break 40 for nine holes you need to play smart, keep the ball in the fairway, and make a couple putts. Try to avoid penalty shots. The difference between 38 or 39 and 41 to 43 is usually the short game. Get to the course a few minutes early and hit a few extra chip shots and putts on the practice green. You'll be surprised how much it makes a difference. Once you break 40 a couple times it gets much easier and you'll come to expect it.
Next you'll want to break par. That's tougher.
Kevin
I'm good luck for others.
That may be the best off topic answer ever. So much wisdom in that one, if I hit the links I will be sure to use it! ; )
i think it's actually on-topic and there's real wisdom there for anything, including muskie fishing. golf is an analogy for life, and the way people play golf is a good barometer of how they go about playing life.
when i started playing golf i bought a book by Johnny Miller called "Breaking 90". it's full of basic tips to help move you from being a novice player to being a mediocre player. the theme of the book is to keep it simple and avoid making costly blunders by taking foolish risks, overplaying, etc. it helped me to score better well beyond that 90 mark that seemed so impossible at one time.
apply these same concepts to muskie fishing and you will improve your game: keep it simple, avoid big blunders, don't take foolish risks, etc. can easily translate into "muskie-isms" such as not leaving fish to find fish, not fishing yesterday's pattern, throw what the fish want not your cool new lure, etc., etc...
sooo...what are your top 3 "simple" rules for "Breaking 40" in muskie fishing???
here's mine:
- lots of short, precise casts (don't make long bombs)
- keep the lure count at 5 or less each day
- if you're changing spots, change the type of structure/depth/etc. too until you find some fish
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| or just fish MN waters more often!
ok it had to be said ....
fish lakes with more 40"ers is one way....
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Posts: 282
Location: north west wisconsin | thanks for the replys i think im just stuck in a slump at least im seeing and catching fish so i should be happy
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Posts: 2112
Location: The Sportsman, home, or out on the water | soft plastic, brother. Buy several of each maker, and toss them until you catch one over 40. Big boost to the confidence when you do. either that, or fish gliders with k-bob. |
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| Not sure if this applies but I was doing the same thing. very frustrated with a lake I was sure had larger fish but I was stuck in the 36 inch range. I then began to fish deeper weed edges and started to throw some of my casts toward deeper open water as I would be drifting my usual spots . Guess what---Far fewer fish but I began to run into some larger one's up to 45 inches. Less action but larger size---same lake. Maybe just look for spots that may only hold the larger fish. If you are confident in the lake experiment--It worked for me and now when I fish new water I am much more confident in those deeper harder to reach and work spots. GOOD LUCK and keep at it. |
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Posts: 282
Location: north west wisconsin | I do throw mag dawgs and prolly will never throw anything bigger ie: pounder, two pounder. i did have two fish come in on one cast this last weekend and they were above 40 but they came out of 5 fow. thank you for all the great advice. I live in a county that has three lakes so the fishing pressure is huge the older fish im sure have seen every presention out there! but ill keep pluggin away |
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Posts: 670
Location: Otsego, MN | The time will come. The first year I fished muskies I boated 18 fish with only one fish over 40 and It was like my 2nd or 3rd fish. Then came something like 15 in a row under 40", I fish MN waters with plenty of big fish. It was like a curse or something. Eventually it broke, and I was rewarded with 6 over 40 in the first week the following year. |
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Posts: 282
Location: north west wisconsin | my pb is 45 in canada in the states its 38 |
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Posts: 3242
Location: Racine, Wi | If you're fishing pressured water, look for the smaller more detailed spots on the structure you're fishing. Watch your electronics close, and keep your eyes in the water while you're casting. If you see a turn in an otherwise featureless weedline, make sure to focus on that and hit it from different directions.
Also, try to do something different out there. Those fish probably see the same baits over and over all year long. Try to show them something different and pay attention to the "good" features on spots, and you might start connecting with some bigger fish. |
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Posts: 468
Location: Not where I wanna be! | id be happy to catch any musky the way my season has been!! |
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Posts: 1906
Location: Oconto Falls, WI | One word: Suspended! :o
Edited by CiscoKid 7/31/2007 3:37 PM
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Posts: 605
Location: Marshfield, WI | The lake Floydss and I fish is a small flowage. There is no real suspend bite. Right now, it has a bad algae bloom and there are only a couple small spots that hit 17'+. Only thing I haven't really tried is night fishing late into the night. Done pretty well just after dark, including a 44" last time there for me.
Krishna
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| if its the one I'm thinking of...starts with a P....well imo there just aren't a lot of 40's in there...it is stocked to the bejeezuz by the dnr but there are quite a few guys that do fish it for ski's and really not a lot of 40's show up....
how is Arbutus been since they started doing the repair work and isn't it all catch and release? I would think once the lake level comes back up and it's stocked again (if it hasn't been) that has the size and depth to become a decent fishery if given a chance....
where you guys are you might be better off making the drive over the some of the WI River flowages to the east....?
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Posts: 605
Location: Marshfield, WI | No, it isn't the lake that starts w/ a P. I think I know what lake you mean. I haven't caught anything there. I do fairly well on this body of water but have learned of a lot of fish being kept out of this lake. Talked to a guy last week and he knows of 9 legals kept(40" min) this year. Here is a lake map. I catch most of my fish up the river, which isn't on the map.
Krishna
Attachments
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 Lake X edited.gif (138KB - 100 downloads)
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| you mean lake M, not lake X....
with only 3 musky lakes in that county it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out which one you are fishing...again I think there are better choices like possibly making the 30 min drive to some of the WI River sections over by Rapids...?
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| I think the other one I mentioned is worth more of your time...heck I fished it on the opener for the first time in 06 and we put one in the boat and had shots at another...I saw a pic on lake Link of a very fat 44 I think that was released...it is a bugger to fish and gps is a must out there but it has quite a few fish in it.... |
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Posts: 605
Location: Marshfield, WI | that other lake is kinda stumpy. Any tips for it? Which end of the lake or what baits work best(was about to ask if glidersjerkbaits would work but remembered you hate gliders). Its very stumpy so we've stuck w/ topwaters and bucktails/spinnerbaits and I have had no action(no follows/hits) but Floydss has. I do have a spot to try though next time I go there.
Thanks,
Krishna
Edited by k-bob 7/31/2007 4:23 PM
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| yes it is stumpy..put my boat up on one, good thing I was just in gear...a guy could take the time and plot out the river channel on their gps and really dial that lake in if you ask me....
if it were me the baits you mentioned are about all I'd throw, mix in a bait like a twitch bait and you are good to go....stick to the river channel and adjacent structure...and there is some deeper water out there to definitely try suspended as Travis said.... |
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Posts: 282
Location: north west wisconsin | I fished the P quite abit and can get threw the majority of it without hitting anything ive had three follows and a 34" out of there ive seen some pics of nice fish come out of there and i know there in there but don't like black water. As for going to the river system i am from rapids and go threw that stuff like the back of my hand petenwell included i got some decent spots over there but there is no map of the river channel where i fish so you are pretty mush relying on your electronics which i can't afford much since im a stay at home dad got the basic one but thats about it weve done pretty well over there the past 4 times we went out weve had three fish in the boat all by my partner but still. Thats an hour drive for me so I go as much as i can but if i tack another hour on that i can be in vilas county soooo i like to fish close and M has the best water clarity close to me 20 min and P is about 25 min I like P but i like mead better |
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Posts: 282
Location: north west wisconsin | as far as arbut i had a nice fish come at topwater (lots of splashing) but didnt get a good look at him a couple of weeks ago found some really good spots with the water being so low but not mucch action I don't fish it very much cause its a sewer hole and lots of recreational traffic |
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Posts: 299
Location: Nowheresville, MN | I use to camp there a lot up to 5-6 years ago. I actually caught my first muskie there when I said all right I'm actually going to target muskies. Caught it under the bridge, no surprise there as you mentioned. Believe it or not, back then the bigger fish came from the other side of the dam! You could see them trying to jump the spillway like dang salmon.
There was what I believed to be a discernible river channel out there. I was to naive then to recognize, but they don't have to be "suspended" out there to be in the middle of the lake...
Edited by tfootstalker 7/31/2007 6:40 PM
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Posts: 282
Location: north west wisconsin | yea ive been thinking about that thanks
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Posts: 1430
Location: Eastern Ontario | You know you are spoiled when you are wondering where the 50's are because you've only caught thirteen 40+ muskies ( 6 over 44 and fat ) and 2 shorter ones in 5 days. |
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Posts: 282
Location: north west wisconsin | yea but look where you live lol i wish
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Posts: 317
| I started throwing big (I mean 10" or better) double bladed Bucks this year and have seen my average size go straight up! |
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| only three ski lakes in the county but bn couldn't get it in two guesses. Was able to snake it out of him though weren't you Bradley.... tsk tsk. Krishna, Take that dude to the spot where your bud caught the 47" and he'll score a 40, just don't talk about that lake here.....hehehe. Good luck Floyd. Looks like you are on track mano. |
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| 2 guesses? what...i had one!
and actually P and A aren't even in that county.... |
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Posts: 282
Location: north west wisconsin | no there is only three lakes in the county....
im movin
Edited by floydss 7/31/2007 9:31 PM
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Posts: 605
Location: Marshfield, WI | reefer - 7/31/2007 9:15 PM
only three ski lakes in the county but bn couldn't get it in two guesses. Was able to snake it out of him though weren't you Bradley.... tsk tsk. Krishna, Take that dude to the spot where your bud caught the 47" and he'll score a 40, just don't talk about that lake here.....hehehe. Good luck Floyd. Looks like you are on track mano.
Jason, is that you? If its the spot I'm thinking about, wrong body of water and my buddy got a 48" in one spot and a 46" in another a year apart. I've been to the 48" spot many times and haven't even moved a fish. Caught smaller fish in the area, up to 36". I have rarely seen musky boats there so very little pressure there, which is nice when I do go there.
Krishna
Edited by k-bob 7/31/2007 9:38 PM
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| Encourage people to release 30s, seriously. Actually any musky is special so be happy to catch what you do, and look for larger fish either on secondary spots near prime spots. Big muskies like to hang with other big muskies in general. Also check the shallow water and slop because big muskies can be found in skinny water |
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Posts: 605
Location: Marshfield, WI | This lake does have a 40" min. I talked to one guy last time there and he knows of 9 legals taken out this year. The two biggest were 47" and 48". And this is only a 320 acre lake, not including the river that flows in.
Krishna |
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| If it makes you feel better, I have been fishing for muskies for 4 years (steadily increasing each year) and had 15 fish to my name with none of 39". In JUly alone, I landed a 43.5" fish and last Sunday I landed a 46" fish on my very first cast of the day. I had a 48" fish on about an hour later that came completely out of the water on hok set. I have seen well over 30 fish this year and I have one comment for people that fish lakes with heavy pressure.
1. Fish where everyone else isn't. There are a few points on the lakes I fish that everyone and there rbother hits. You have to practically wait in line to fish it. Try something different (i.e very shallow). Both of my big July fish were in less than 3 feet of water. Also fish where people won't fish. If the weeds are thick, fish there. Too many guys don't want to pull weeds off every cast. Suck it up, because as I found out on Sunday, the fish don't care if their burried in weeds and somethings making noise around them. I have seen at least 6 40" plus fish and 2 around 50" in less than 4 feet of water so far this year. In the time I have made it on the water this year, I have seen more than 1 fish per hour, which ain't too bad.
2. Fish with different lures. If I talk to one more guy at the boat launch who had "follows", but no bites on his Double Cowgirl, Bull dawg, jerkbait, I think I am going to kill myself.
3. Fish when otheres aren't. Set the alarm for 4:30 and get on the water at 5:00 A.M. I fish a heavily pressured lake in the metro area and I usually have the first hour of the day to myself. Its peaceful and the sun coming up is one the most amazing "feeling" time of the day. I usually fish from 5-9:30 on the weekends and over 80% of the fish I see are before 7:00 A.M.
I am far from an expert and am heavily addicted in my short career. I think most musky fisherman have moved up the the ranks from panfish, bass, walleye, etc. to musky to chase the ultimate sport fish. It surprises me to see boat after boat come out late, fish the same spots over and over with the same lures. If I hear one more ring of a double cowgirl, I am going to die. Don't get me wrong they are great lures, but after the 20th DCG goes by a fish, what do you think the odds are he's going to bite yours.
Sorry for babbling.  |
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Location: Northern Wisconsin | i am kind of having that problem i have caught two fish over 40 (a 40 and 41) and the other 9 all under 40. |
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| Tucker,
Good stuff in your post, your babbling makes sense.
Don |
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| Two things you gotta keep in mind:
1) Nobody catches numbers of big fish. Well, very few do. You get those "we're going to talk about this for decades" days sometimes, but more often than not, numbers and size are not in the same sentence. Its almost always one or the other, even on waters where there ARE alot of big fish.
2) I finally realized about a year or two ago that, to be successful, you've gotta fish waters that fit your style. Or, you gotta change your approach. I've been beating my head against the wall on a large lake I'm trying to learn, I've tried everything, and I've finally grown to accept that me and this lake just aren't going to get along. Sometimes you've just got to move on.
To catch big fish, fish big fish waters, fish deeper (usually), fish smarter, fish late and learn to trigger fish. Big fish have been caught before and released, which is why they're big now....and is also why they're harder to catch. Getting them to "go" is the name of the game.
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