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| Ok,in the spirit of trying to teach and learn from each other I'm asking that everyone posts 1 tip to help the new muskie fisherman get started. It doesn't have to be a secret tip, it can be common knowledege to the experienced person, but to someone just starting out they might never have even heard of it. It might be something about gear, or how to work a bait, or how to organize tackle, what to throw under a certain condition, rigging your boat, the sky's the limit. Whatever you can think of. So what's your 1 tip? Mine is:
1.)Wear good quality polorized sunglasses. They save wear and tear on your eyes during those real bright sunny days. They also help you see into the water when your bait nears the boat, so you can see a following fish. Buy the best quality that you can afford. The better the glasses the more they will cut the glare of the sun reflecting off of the water.
Ok,my tip is basic to us old timers at the game and it's no secret. But it could help someone starting out put a fish in the boat and that's the point. Let's see how many pointers we can come up with. Us experienced fishermen might even learn something new.
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| SELECTIVE BAIT BUYING!
Don't just start buying a bunch of baits because they look good...find someone who fishes the areas + type water that you fish + they can help you purchase baits for different types of situations you will encounter, + the colors that you need.
HIRE A GUIDE!
Obtain the services of a GOOD guide, if only for 1/2 day...they can show you the proper way to work a variety of baits correctly, fighting + netting a fish, + many other useful tips that will help you feel more confident...ask MANY questions--a good guide will answer them. Predetermine that this guide trip is for LEARNING; if you happen to catch a fish that first time, all the better!
STAY THE COURSE!
Maintain a positive attitude-> regardless of how things go at first, your day WILL COME; don't give up, the next cast could be a fish of a life time![:sun:] |
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| If you are a troller, check out information on Walleye trolling in addition to Muskies. Seems to be a lot more around about trolling for Walleyes than for Muskies. You will find the SAME methods work for both (of course the gear is different). |
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| Read!!!!!! Learn to read lake map's, and use your depth finder/sonar. Buy the best rod & reel you can afford and spool it w/ at least 65lb test super line (everyone has there prefernces- mine is PowerPro). Learn to tie really good knots. That Muskie of a lifetime will definity put your gear to the test-be ready.
Al Warner
www.spongebobismypsychotherapist.com |
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| get the book "crankbait secrets" by Joe Bucher |
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| Don't ever give up and don't be afraid to try something different. To me , musky fishing is like deer hunting, you have to hunt the fish down before you can catch him. There's not a buck behind every tree and there's not a musky behind every rock |
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| Sharpen your hooks! I have lost count of how many times I've said that. Your hooks can never be too sharp.
Rob |
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| Where do I start.........
I guess I found out that muskies are really stupid and can not reason what so ever. That just makes my understanding of the muskies just as nuts.....what so ever![;)] [:bigsmile:] |
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| Join an organisation like Muskies Inc. and Muskies Canada it will shorten the learning curse by a bunch.
A bonus tip here and the most important one, time on the water should be tops on your list to make you a better fisherman. [:sun:] |
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| I will go along with Trophymusky. Time on the water is your best bet. If you can't spend lots of time on the water select the prime times to fish. Majors/minors--Sunrise/sunset--moon rise/moon set ect. Fish prime spots at the prime times. [;)] |
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| Not only is it important to learn how to catch muskies but it is also important to know how to RELEASE them properly.
Invest your money in a quality Musky net and proper release tools, i.e., pliers, hook cutters, jaw spreaders, etc.
I also think a professional guide is a great idea.
Jeff_J
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| Hook Cutters. Ask Ranger why. |
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| #1 - spend as much time on the water as you can! |
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| Easy baits.
It's probably easiest to use topwaters and bucktails when getting started. Get a Bucher Topraider or Gutsch Tallywhacker or a Sennett Pacemaker that you can retrieve in a straight line at medium speed in a lot of conditions. Black or orange are good colors. On a topwater, feel the weight of the fish before you drive the hooks home. Do at least an "L" at boatside to check for followers.
Get 3 or 4 small bucktails with varied blade size, type, and color. Mostly black is always good for hair choice. "Bulging" bucktails that retrieve easily near the surface will help you over weeds, and help you learn to hold your rod level on retrieve and lower the tip toward the water the last 20 feet. My picks: Dorazio Boo Tail, black with lime green blade; Grim Reaper 650 Bulging Buck, black with chartreuse blades n tail; Hirsch's Ghosttail, black with nickel blade; Bucher 700, black with brass blade. Figure 8's: learn to do them well. Keep the blades turning with speed at all times, but be sure the whole 8 or circle is smooth with no sudden jerks or sharp turns. Wide, smooth turns will let the fish eat it. Hard to believe, but they do. A handy way to set the hook in this position is to clamp your thumb on the spool and pull the butt of the rod sharply into your armpit.
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| Get to know and talk in depth to one very serious musky fisherman(who catches fish). I cannot stress this enough. I fished for about 5 years on nothing but personal knowledge because I thought I was above learning from someone else. Then in the mid early 90's I met Chuck Schauer and started fishing with him. I was able to take a few tips from him and hone what I already kenew into my own personal tactic arsenol. I also learned much about lure selection simplification over the years, and as Dick Pearson has often mentioned, it is a tool for a specific duty, don't get hung up on fancy lure ideosyncrocies(sp.) |
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| Wow, what a great response from all of you! Great tips also! I'll have to go back and reread them so as to pick up something I might of missed.
2.) When buying certain types of lures, such as crankbaits,wood jerkbaits,some topwaterbaits, look to be sure that all of the hook hangers,line screweyes,lips, and any other hardware, are attached in line with each other and are on straight with the body of the lure. Ignore the pretty paint and make sure that the bait is assembled correctly.
With crankbaits if the lip is on crooked the lure will pull to one side and no amount of "tuning" will get it to run straight. With certain jerkbaits, if the screweyes that the hooks hang on aren't in straight line with each other the bait will always want to glide to one side or the other and not swing back to the other side.
Carefully select only the best assembiled lures as they are the ones that will run properly. This will save you money and frustration with baits that just don't work right. |
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| Figure Eights!!!!!
If you're a new musky fishermen, you are probably only seeing a small portion of the fish that are following your lure to the boat....because you don't have enough experience to see some of the less obvious fish.
I catch a lot of fish on figure eights. I have caught a few just by figure eighting for a minute or two even though I didn't have a follow!!!! If you're in water where you know muskies are at, figure-8 every retrieve....regardless if you have a follow. I have had several instances where I have figure-8'ed my lure for a whole minute....never seeing a fish, until I pull my lures out of the water to make the next cast....and there she is....and it's too late!!!
With all that being said, you need to learn to spot a musky follow. This will only come with extensive time on the water....but it can turn 0 fish days into fish in the net.
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| BE PREPARED FOR ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING.
Beaver |
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| 1. Sharpen your hooks to the point where they won't slide across a fingernail.
2. Don't give up. Persistance will pay off.
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| Keep your bait wet. If you have an alloted 5, 6, 7, or 8 hours to fish. Keep your bait in the most productive spot you can.............in the water. Use your time wisely, even those of us that get out often can not really afford to be unwise in our usage of time. The season is deceptivley short, make the most of it. |
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| I agree with Jeff, the most important thing is to be prepared to properly release your catch.
I will add to what Jeff posted, learn how to handle a fish, the proper gill hold (how not to get cut by the rakers), how not to drop a fish, HOW TO KEEP THE FISH IN THE NET IN THE WATER WITH IT'S HEAD UNDER THE SURFACE WHILE YOU REMOVE THE HOOKS AND GET EVERYTHING IN THE BOAT READY (like the camera, and removing your sunglasses).
It is extremely important to keep the fish in it's element as much as possible, especially when it's hot out.
Hire a guide and specifically ask him to teach you how to handle a fish.
It is not an easy thing and takes some learning. |
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| Remove about 4-5 feet of line after you have been casting for a while, or after you have caught some fish. The wear and tear from casting/ fighting a fish will cause little knicks in the line. If you aren't certain if you should take some line off, you can feel the line, or remove some anyway to be on the safe side. |
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| Learn how to 'read the water'. Pay attention to the contour/structure, where you have seen fish and when, and begin to log the information EVERY time you go out. Keep records of the weather conditions, water temps, and water fished, logging your catchs carefully. READ those logs several times in the winter. A pattern will develop!
LEARN the most important thing there is to learn if you are a caster...BOAT CONTROL! If you know the water, and want to perfect your boat control, always behave as if you are trying to set the angler in the back of the boat on the primary break or structure YOU want to fish, allowing parallel casts to the edge. If you do this enough in tough winds, the rest will come.[:)] |
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| Pick a good piece of water (or one close to you that you can frequent often) and stick to it! Learn the lake. Learn what baits work on the lake and how to use them. When you have confidence in your angling sucess, take it to another lake.
This allows you to do 2 things:
1. Learn how to work lures
2. Give's confidence and confidence is the MOST important thing in muskie fishing. This goes for lures, techniques, targeting structure, whatever. |
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| They say the musky is the fish of 10,000 casts.
"Treat each cast as if it's the 9,999th!" |
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| stay in tune with this board.ask any and all questions and check the archives. |
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| When learning new water, take the time to learn it! Meaning, spend a long time fishing one spot inside out. If you run and gun all the time, you are going to miss key spots. If you invest the time now to learn all the little things about an area, it will only help you fish with precision later.
Jono
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| Not my funnest tip, but....
Pay attention to all the tips about safely handling your fish, and land on a system that fits your boat. Get the right, high quality release equipment you need. Be very careful each and every time you handle a fish! Getting badly hooked is, at a minimum, a major pain in the butt. It's a total disaster while on an extended/expensive/remote fishing trip. Could even kill'ya, and I'm not kidding.
Tip #2 - Keep hip or chest waders in your truck and you'll never have a problem loading your boat on the trailer no matter what the conditions.
Tip #3 - Keep you hands and wrists strong in the wintertime by doing lots more, um, well, uh, nevermind.[;)] |
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| Keep casting and make them casts count! [:praise:] |
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| Learn how to use suckers the one and only 100% safe way, which is Herbie-Rigging.
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| Ranger;
You wanted to say squeezing the silly putty that physical therapists give to people with arthritis or carpel.
Didn't you???? |
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| Ranger;
You wanted to say squeezing the silly putty that physical therapists give to people with arthritis or carpel.
Didn't you???? |
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| After many years of stubborness, 4 stitchs and a 39"er hanging on my thumb from this past weekend, invest into a good pair of rubber gloves. Its not fun going to the emergency room! |
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| Attitude.
Believe that with every cast there is a musky following your bait. This way you will never be surprised by a follow and always better prepared to do a ggod figure 8, not to mention always ready for a good hook set.
Sean Murphy |
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| First of all ride around the lake slowly...look for peeps throwing humongo baits...once you have determined that they are musky fishermen, approach their boat. Yell hello + tie off to their boat + introduce yourself, tell them you are just starting to musky fish + ask them for a sandwich, drink + candy bar; they should have a Coke Cola + a Pay Day w/in arms reach!. After eating, board their rig + go through their stuff, asking what bait is best + what outfit you might need...pick out some baits you like + a rod/reel + put them in your boat, explaining that you will meet them a the ramp at dark to return their stuff....since most musky dudes are cool, they will most likely tell you to keep the stuff! They probably will ask you to follow them around the lake the rest of the day + show you some different spots; mark these spots on your map!
If you don't have a boat, wait at the ramp...jump in the first boat that is going musky fishing...you can explain as they motor away from the dock that you are just starting + need their help; again they should take you w/ them + give you free stuff + show you how to use it. Revel in the fact that musky peeps are somewhat secretive at times, but they love crowds, jet skiers + look for ways to help others like yourself...force yourself on them + learn...[:sun:] |
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| You're going postal on us again, Sponge...[:0]
You obviously need some quality time in a "ski" boat, and I don't mean with waterwings either!!...[:p]
Actually, I'd like to be around to watch if a newbie tried out your suggestions. I'd just want to be the one already out on the water watching the whole show from afar above me musky stix.
That was to coin a Spongeism, a Gooder One!...[:0] [:sun:] [:bigsmile:] |
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| Actually Mike, the phrase "Gooder One" was often quoted by Bull Winkle if I am correct; a great cartoon that came on many years ago but was unfortunately replaced by the irritating stuff we now see today w/ the exception of a very few decent cartoons. Gone also are Heckle + Jeckle + for the most part Porky Pig, which does on occasion show up from time to time. Another "gooder one" was Tom Terrific + his dog Mighty Manfred which aired during the original Capt. Kangaroo show. [:0] |
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| Spend more time learning the water you are going to be fishing than looking for the magic bait that will catch fish anywhere. A fish may be willing to hit on a wide variety of baits but you will never get a chance to find out if you are not fishing where the fish live. Location, location, location. Once you learn that fine tuning everything else is easy. |
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| Sponger, that must mean that you also enjoyed, Dudley Doright, wth arch villan Snidley Whiplash, Oops almost forgot his gal pal Nell. Lariat Sam and his horse Twinkle Toes. How about Tom Ts nemisis..............Oil Can Harry?
Or what could be my all time favorite, Top Cat or was that Felix the cat, could it have been Tooter Turtle and Mr. Wizard? Wally Gator? Mr. Peabody? I know, I know, Tennesee Tuxedo and Chumley. Bet I missed a bunch, oh well, Drizzle, Drazzle, Druzzle, Drone, Time for this one to go home. Oh by the way it was Mighty Manfred THE WONDER DOG. [:bigsmile:] |
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| Repeatability is 90% of the Musky Hunt,learn seasonal patterns that produce from year to year,pay very close attention to baitfish locations with water temprature changes.
Capt. Larry D. Jones |
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| It's one of the hardest things to learn how to do, but you must learn how to visualize in your minds eye just how a structure is laid out and the features that are on it. You should be able to sit down with a pen and paper and be able to draw out the structure that you are fishing.
Lets use a reef or a hump as an example. With your pen and paper you should be able to draw the shape of the breakline (dropoff)all the way around the reef,and then list the depths at which the breaks occur. List and know where the shallowest part of the reef is. If there is any fingers or points and associated inside turns to the reef they should shown. Any weedbeds or places were different weeds mix should be shown,bottom type, rocks,etc should all be shown and visuaized as to were they are and how they relate to each other.
In order to become an excellent fisherperson you have to learn how to visualize each and every structure you fish. This can be difficult. Each time you fish that structure you should try to learn more about it.
In all honesty, I can't say that I can do this for each and every spot that I fish. But I can do it for a lot of them. It can take many years in some cases to be able to map in your mind each structure in a lake. The more spots and lakes you fish the more time it takes to map the bottom of your lake, but if you truly want to understand what the fish sees and relates to you must learn how to visualize the bottom of the lake.
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| OK, this won't help you catch muskies,
but if you are going to be throwing $10-25 plus musky baits, get a lure retriever for $10-20.
These are the pole-type extendable retrievers with a spiral wire at the end. You can retrieve lures from trees, from logs or other brush (especially handy in reservoirs with lots of stumps).
I bought a Frabill extruded aluminum, it extends to 16 feet, and has gotten me back around $200 worth of my favorite lures.
Unfortunately, it hasn't slowed my obsession for spontaneous purchases of new musky lures, so now I need a new hanging box...
Have a groovy day,
papa
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Share your 1 best tip for the new muskie fisherman