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Posts: 20
Location: wild rose, wi | I've got about 15hrs. of musky fishing in for the season so far, but have yet to have one in the net. I'm fishing the Wisconsin river from Lake DuBay to Mosinee. So far I've only had one hit and a follow {same fish}. I'm thinking they're shallow but can't seem to find them. Anyone have some sugestions. |
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Posts: 44
| Thats muskie fishing for ya, for Wisconsin opener i fished 25+ hours without even seeing a fish. On the end of my 26th hour, my friend boated a 40 incher, than nothing after that again, its all about being at the right place at the right time. i have yet to have a fish on in Minnesota since opener, and have again put over 18 hours on the lakes here. Don't give up! |
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Location: Contrarian Island | i know guys w probably 50+ hours yet to put one in the net...musky fishing is a game of streaks...you could catch 3 in your next hour...keep the PMA up and keep slingin!
not sure that part of the river is known as high density i don't think...if you fish it a lot and don't know it well might be worth the $$ to hire someone like Phil Schwenk (sp?) for a day to cut the learning curve....
Edited by BNelson 6/6/2012 11:32 AM
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Posts: 84
Location: Buffalo Grove, IL | I have fished 30 hours this year WITH GUIDES and have yet to catch one. They didn't catch any either. It really is all about being the in the right place at the right time. I have seen a few fish, but nothing on the lure or in the net. Gotta keep pluggin'. |
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Posts: 1360
Location: Lake "y" cause lake"x" got over fished | Not sure what the water temp is in Wiscony, but I know over the weekend it was between 64 and 68 in MN. Maybe it needs to warm a little before we all start catching. I have 20+ hours in, two follows and a missed strike to show for it. I am going back out tonight to see if I can't stir something up. |
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Posts: 415
| Like others have said keep trying. I once went over 100 hrs without a fish in the net. |
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| I got about 6 hours on Fox Chain in Illinois, and netted a 35 incher and a decent northern. I'll take it. |
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| I fished a small clear lake with ridiculous numbers over the weekend. All in all I saw over 200 fish and only netted 4. Water temps were hovering right around 60 degrees. I fished a different lake Monday and saw 10 with nothing in the net. Water temps on this lake were just under 65 degrees. Based on all the fish I saw, they seemed to be pretty lazy in their follows. It seems as though we just need to let mother nature do her thing and warm these lakes up a bit. But in the mean time keep at it because you never know. |
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Posts: 8840
| 15 hours is nothing. I went 15 days without a fish back in 2006. I've also had days where we had 3 in the boat by 10:30. My advice would be to keep fishing and stop worrying about how many hours it's been since you caught a fish. |
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Posts: 456
Location: Kansas City BBQ Capitol of the world | If it was easy every one would be doing it. Have confidence in the baits you use and how your doing it. The fish of 10,000 casts. They are named that for a reason, get mean and go get that girl. |
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Posts: 1168
| Many times it's easier for you to make your own luck than it is waiting around for luck to happen. I don't believe in luck, either a fish is going to eat or it isn't....and no amount of rubbing a lucky rabbit's foot or Buddha's belly is going to increase or decrease your odds.
You are fishing on good water. Within that good water there are very good areas to target. Hammer those hard and stick to it. You contacted a fish? Great...it wasn't luck, it had to do with the place you were. So now take that and think one up. "Why was that fish 'there?' Are there other places like it? What other pieces of the puzzle are in play?" Start adding those up, applying them to similar areas, and you've narrowed down a ton of water.
Opening day I caught three fish by noon. Luck? Nope. I simply targeted areas that I know will hold fish all year long. They didn't have exceptional size but they were good to break the ice on a new season. I increased my odds at catching a fish by targeting those areas. I was using baits that I am very comfortable with and have confidence in. I set my drift up so I could make half a dozen highly efficient casts into specific structure that have proven to pay off. Luck? No magical, mystical outside force there...just creating my own so called "luck" by putting the pieces of the puzzle together in a way where the odds were in my favor. |
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Posts: 164
Location: Bloomington,MN | "Opening day I caught three fish by noon. Luck? Nope. I simply targeted areas that I know will hold fish all year long."
" I increased my odds at catching a fish by targeting those areas. I was using baits that I am very comfortable with and have confidence in."
couldn't of said it better myself. Tonight was a prime example of that for me and i got my first fish of the season. |
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| Sunday evening 2 buddies and I set to drift a breakline that was stacked with bait, the day before the full moon, 30 mins before a 835pm moonrise. For the next 2 hours we all cast bucktails or topwater and didn't even see a fish. Sometimes the pieces of the puzzle must not fit. 15 hours in musky fishing is no time at all...don't get down time on the water pays off!
-dieselluver |
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| Imo anyone that doesn't believe in luck in this sport is far TOO full of themself. |
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Posts: 1168
| luck - 6/8/2012 6:01 AM
Imo anyone that doesn't believe in luck in this sport is far TOO full of themself.
When you believe too much in "luck" you begin to rely on it. If this was the case nothing else would matter and you wouldn't have people planning trips and fishing times around moon phases, predicting turnover, looking for baitfish, etc.
Put yourself on good water, use baits you have confidence in, throw in some current and other factors, then target areas where all of those factors create an environment where you have much better odds and you'll be in business. Simply going out and hoping to catch a fish without putting pieces of the puzzle together does not seem like an efficient approach. Why not take the things you know and set yourself up for success instead of hoping you might have success?
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Location: Lake Tomahawk, WI | I would also suggest getting out in the boat with Phil Schweik for a day. No one knows the river better than him and you'll really learn a lot. Very knowledgeable fisherman with many years experience. You'll gather years of information in a day from him. Very laid back, fun guy to fish with too.
JS |
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Posts: 390
| Everyone is right its all about time on the water. Last year I fished all summer and didn't hook a fish(everyone else in the boat did). Which equals 300+ hours =no fish for me. This year on the same body of water I landed 3 fish (40-46") and brought in two more(42, 44") that were caught on a cast back by others in the boat in a couple hours. Then the next 3 days of fishing 6-8 hour days, nothing. Its all about the big picture, figure out "hot" conditions and start there. This year the trigger was a hail storm followed by a warm front. |
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Location: Contrarian Island | i get lucky on the water.... ;o) I'll take luck all day long.
never rely on it but to say it isn't helpful is bs imo...carry on.
Edited by BNelson 6/8/2012 10:30 AM
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Posts: 147
Location: Northern New Jersey | workin on about my tenth 6-7 hour trip without a fish...you think fishing in Wisconsin or Minnesota is tough? try fishing new jersey. |
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Posts: 1296
Location: WI | I've got around 35 hours in with no fish in the boat. Half of that time is on water that I know pretty well, so that is uber frustrating. I think I'm going to take a break for a week or so...maybe it'll be fun again after that. |
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Posts: 1150
Location: Minnesota. | I had two yrs in before I got my 1st fish...that was 1981.
Edited by Jeremy 6/9/2012 6:31 PM
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| JKahler - 6/9/2012 6:20 PM
I've got around 35 hours in with no fish in the boat. Half of that time is on water that I know pretty well, so that is uber frustrating. I think I'm going to take a break for a week or so...maybe it'll be fun again after that.
I hear ya |
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Posts: 1296
Location: WI | Wissota Musky - 6/9/2012 8:22 PM
JKahler - 6/9/2012 6:20 PM
I've got around 35 hours in with no fish in the boat. Half of that time is on water that I know pretty well, so that is uber frustrating. I think I'm going to take a break for a week or so...maybe it'll be fun again after that.
I hear ya
I think the real mind game is because I had my best season ever last year. Perhaps my expectations are skewed now. |
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Posts: 633
Location: Madison, WI | If you dont believe in luck at all you are full of it! I agree that doing your homework, putting your time in and time on the water all help a lot, but fish some tournaments and see some of the crazy ways people catch fish! Just this weekend in the ironman tourney, a guy trolling walleye crawler harnesses popped a 50" but im sure he intended to do that. Ive also won a tournament on a fish that hit a phantom just hanging over the side of the boat but that was all skill too? Dont believe in luck, come on! Ill take it any day! |
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Posts: 1938
Location: Black Creek, WI | Really? The issue of LUCK is being debated? C'mon guys. So... if its all about being in the right place at the right time... there are two ways to go about it. Be lucky like a blind squirrel or prepare and plan for it. Random Chance vs. Prediction. The example of a walleye guy bangin' a nice one with a crawler harness was an unintentional catch and deemed LUCKY? So... if I had planned to troll small blades in the same area targeting muskies it would have been luck? Geez..... |
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Posts: 8840
| Luck is when your leader was frayed and you landed a big fish without it breaking.
Luck is when you remember you left your coffee on your bumper and notice your trailer isn't connected properly
Luck is when your buddy goes to undo the straps at the landing and sees your drain plug sitting in the splash well
Jlong - you DO have to be in the right place at the right time. But you also have to know where that place is likely to be and be able to put the boat (and the right lure) in the right place. |
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Posts: 264
| ulbian - 6/7/2012 9:59 PM
Many times it's easier for you to make your own luck than it is waiting around for luck to happen. I don't believe in luck, either a fish is going to eat or it isn't....and no amount of rubbing a lucky rabbit's foot or Buddha's belly is going to increase or decrease your odds.
You are fishing on good water. Within that good water there are very good areas to target. Hammer those hard and stick to it. You contacted a fish? Great...it wasn't luck, it had to do with the place you were. So now take that and think one up. "Why was that fish 'there?' Are there other places like it? What other pieces of the puzzle are in play?" Start adding those up, applying them to similar areas, and you've narrowed down a ton of water.
Opening day I caught three fish by noon. Luck? Nope. I simply targeted areas that I know will hold fish all year long. They didn't have exceptional size but they were good to break the ice on a new season. I increased my odds at catching a fish by targeting those areas. I was using baits that I am very comfortable with and have confidence in. I set my drift up so I could make half a dozen highly efficient casts into specific structure that have proven to pay off. Luck? No magical, mystical outside force there...just creating my own so called "luck" by putting the pieces of the puzzle together in a way where the odds were in my favor.
Very well put |
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Posts: 1296
Location: WI | Well it took 41 1/2 hours of fishing to stick my first fish of the season...at least it was a decent one at 47". Pretty sweet for the first time at a new lake! |
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Posts: 200
Location: Minnesota | So what I'm seeing here is "It's not me . . . it's the fish". That's somewhat reassuring. |
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no luck