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Posts: 909
| This has been the worst year for muskies missing my bait! It seems like no matter what lure I throw, the darn things try to crush it and just plain miss the bait! I should be well ahead of my normal total for this time of year! I swear muskies are blind! ( I know all about their blind spot)
Brian  |
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Posts: 313
Location: Bemidji, Lake Vermilion | I was on Cass last night, and had a fish come nearly completely out of the water trying to crush a slow topwater and it completely missed the bait, basically jumped over it. I have had it happen on that particular lake every time I am there and there is an impending storm (huge one last night, awesome lightning show most of the night until it got too close). I had 5 different fish do it in like 1.5 hrs there one night. They do need to learn to aim better. These baits were not moving fast. |
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Posts: 20218
Location: oswego, il | I have a crankbait that i have caught several fish on, it is very erratic and the bait has yet to be pulled out of a fishes mouth when I unhook it. |
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| try using baits that have contrasting colors in them and contrasting to the background, it'll give em something to target better. and you could potentially catch more fish. |
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Posts: 646
Location: In a shack in the woods | I'm having the same problems. I have hit 3 in the face with my leader on the 8 pluss lots of barely hooked fish and a few jumping right over topwaters. |
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| Two days in a row this week I had fish go right over the top of my top water baits. Maybe they want a veiw from the air. Being so aggressive you would think they would destroy it when you throw back at them. Even tried slow top water.
Have discussed the thought of fish just blowing at top water just to chase it and it seems to go in a pattern when it happens????????
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Posts: 2361
| ToddM - 7/24/2009 9:16 PM
I have a crankbait that i have caught several fish on, it is very erratic and the bait has yet to be pulled out of a fishes mouth when I unhook it.
What??? |
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| Do you think that possibly the fish is going to commit and at the last second decides there is something about it they don't like. Just like hot follows that gills flare and they turn. Just a thought.
Jim |
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Posts: 463
Location: Sw Pennsylvania | I've had the similar experiences this year with both topwaters and blades. I'll put hooks in the ones on blades only to lose them on a jump or halfway to the boat, and others on the 8 that i just set the hook 1-2 seconds to quick, i equate them to being short strikes and in turn poor hooksets. The topwaters have been the same as they have since i've started musky fishing, good for action and low hook up and land ratios. I've watched 2 fish this past month come up and jump over top of them without there mouths open and more just come up and roll behind them. They are just scoping out the action, window shopping if you like... |
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Posts: 1030
Location: APPLETON, WI | I've had this happen far too often on topwater baits... it seems like the fish strikes short or as someone else mentioned, perhaps the fish is already gunnin' at full speed and decides at the last split second... that something just doesn't feel right about the prey. In this case, our bait. The power is already in motion and the fish launches out of the water... which, of course, is exciting to see... but it hardly ever results in a hook up. For whatever reason, they simply decide not to take it. |
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Posts: 20218
Location: oswego, il | FSF, they never get that bait in their mouth, they goto eat it and they get one hook point in the mouth, the rest of the bait is outside the mouth. I have two of them and they both have caught multiple fish which seem to take very bad aim at the bait. |
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Posts: 699
Location: Hugo, MN | Last week I had about a 36 incher miss a Weagle 3 times in about 6 casts and the week before I had another small one miss a pacemaker twice on the same retrieve. Different lakes. Frustrating! |
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Posts: 199
Location: Nebraska | I believe, like some of the others, that the fish decide they don't want it. If they wanted a slow, regularly moving object, they would get it. If not, they would be starving. Heck, they can catch things that are trying to get AWAY from them so I'm sure they could get something that is not. |
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Posts: 2361
| Stein - 7/30/2009 1:26 PM
I believe, like some of the others, that the fish decide they don't want it. If they wanted a slow, regularly moving object, they would get it. If not, they would be starving. Heck, they can catch things that are trying to get AWAY from them so I'm sure they could get something that is not.
Pretty much my view exactly, however many beginner musky fisherman, such as DougJ, and Sworrall, actually think they miss. I have thought about the issue alot and my conclusion is that they do a blowbye because something is not quite right, even though they are excited by the bait. They don't miss on those.
I am not sure how coordinated fish are when hitting surface baits. I am suspicious that some fish have et things off the surface more than others, and that some fish have to learn how to get stuff off the surface, and sometimes the learning is done trying to hit musky baits. And some of those SOB's really know what they are doing when they come up and pop baits up in the air. I don't think that is any less than investigative, or approach avoidance behaviour coming out. |
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Posts: 331
Location: Stevens Point, Wisconsin | Seems to be the story this year. Have been seeing this on LOTW all summer. Many big fish missing top water, under water figure 8's etc. I personally believe it’s the colder water temps but that might be stating the obvious.
To me it’s as if the fish are drunk!
It took me a week or so to realize all the top water suck and turn hits (or misses) could be converted by slowing the bait down to a crawl once they wake up on it.
Yesterday 4 of 5 fish boated came on top water and water temps are about 66-67. Seems like the baits you can get to suspend or hang in their face are producing better with the cold water conditions.
Sure glad August is here!
55 at Noon today with wind gust to 35 mph. I think I watched a flock of divers fly over heading south last night and there is a scrape line behind the cabin. LOL
Ed
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Posts: 194
| One of the first muskie I ever caught Flew straight up out of the water 20 feet in front of me like a missile and missed my Jackpot. I kept working the bait like nothing happened, and the fish did it again 10 feet from the boat. This time hooks were in the mouth and the fish was in the net shortly after. My actual first ever fish missed the lure twice on two seperate casts a couple minutes apart. After another couple minutes she got hooked on the third cast to the same spot. Keep working the lures. They might miss, but sometimes you get second or third chances. |
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Muskies are blind!