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Posts: 4
| I am new to musky fishing. Really new. I've never gone after one nor caught one. I am a huge bass, catfish, and carp fisher. I am planning on going to Dale Hollow Lake in Kentucky/Tennesse in late December. I will be fishing from the shore. What techniques, equipment/gear should I use? I am planning on picking up a lot of new gear. Please Help!!!!
Thanks guys. | |
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Posts: 1828
| I've only fished muskies from shore once, and it was on a small river, so keep that in mind while reading this post. In my ONE experience, here are some mental notes I made:
- A long rod (over 8 ft) will better enable longer casts and better figure-8's (if there's enough water in front of you to do the 8).
- A shorter rod will be better if the whole shore line is really brushy or if there are other obstructions, like maybe more people, that would limit your casting room.
- [At least some] Floating baits. If there are lots of snags out there, floating baits are a better idea, unless you don't mind cutting your line every time you bump and snag something.
- Chest waders, or hip boots at least, will allow you to stand away from shore-line interferences AND enable you to figure-8 at your feet and around your body. Also, you will then be able to walk along the shore line a lot better.
- Back Pack. Keep all your measuring, recording (camera), and release tools ON YOU at all times. Don't leave them on shore, because eventually you'll wander a ways away, and then when you hook one, you'll be in a tough situation. With that in mind:
- Find a way to keep your BIG landing net right at your side at all times. Maybe you'll just leave it on shore right behind you all the time, but DON'T get too far from it.
- Several extra leaders and extra line. You'll probably get snagged quite a bit, and you won't want to go retrieve your bait, so you'll be re-tying your leader. If this happens enough, you might need to re-spool your reel.
That kind of addressed gear, and I'm sure I missed some stuff. But as far as technique goes, if I was to fish a lake from shore, I would pick my first casting spot, find good footing, preferably in about 2 - 3 feet of water if wearing waders, and cast straight out (perpendicular to shore line), and then at an angle tighter and tighter to shore until you're casting almost parallel to shore. Do this each direction (left and right), changing baits if necessary to accommodate the water depth in your line of retrieval. Try a couple or few different baits until you think you know the right presentation. Then if the shoreline allows you, move over to some water that you haven't covered yet, and do it again.
Do a figure-8 on every cast. I have no doubt that a musky will, if it wants, follow right to your feet and swim right around your body to chase that bait. I know it's totally anecdotal, but in my one shore-fishing trip, I caught a nice one when it smoked by 8" Jake (a floating crank/twitch bait) right at my feet in the figure-8.
Of course the shoreline, bottom composition, bottom contour, etc. all influences what you can really do as far as positioning yourself for casting to where the fish [presumably] are located. Chest waders will really improve your ability to "cover water".
I'm not really qualified for this advice, so take it however you want, and good luck. | |
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Posts: 2097
| I would small mouth fish there. Getting a muskie there is like finding a needle in a hay stack. Good luck though. X2 on the waders. | |
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Posts: 396
Location: Northern Illinois | I don't know about your particular spot, but I have had some success from shore. It can be really tuff though. In spring, September, early morning or night (or other times) fish may be shallow and normal lures and techniques will work. However, when they are not shallow, wishing them to be there will not work. One thing I learned to do is get a long rod (as previously suggested) and launch a crankbait off a point or shore such that you can reach an edge, drop off, or deeper water. I sometimes like to use large floating lures with deep lips and twitch them in place right where they land so they stay in that zone for a longer time. The larger lip will give the lure action and allow you to get it down a bit with minimal forward movement. You will have to be patient though, and let them float up, when you bring them into shallow water.
Edited by mm3 11/8/2013 12:25 PM
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Posts: 4
| Thanks for the advise guys. Much appreciated! | |
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| Are you live baiting? If so, find the kind of structure muskies like--close to shore--and lay your bait out there under a bobber. You might get a take. If I was attempting this I would probably use spinning gear--sufficiently strong--to get the bait out there. If I were lure fishing, I would look for as many musky structures close to shore as I could find, and then move from place to place. I would fan cast a spot and then move on. But it is hard going without a boat. Good luck though. | |
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| Until you catch your first musky, I would only fish for musky on "numbers" lakes. Cave Run has a much better population of fish. If you fish Dale Hollow, choose a different species.
Brian
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Posts: 1000
| From shore I generally stick to bucktails or topwater. If they've taken the nets out, fish beaches. | |
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Posts: 173
| Good advise from Brian above. Dale Hollow is not a good place to fish from shore and one of the toughest lakes for muskies from a boat. | |
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Posts: 4
| Cave Run Is much closer to me also! I might give that a try once I get some time off of work. I went to the new Field and Stream store in northern Kentucky. Picked up a new rod, reel, lures, and other gear. Needless to say all thats left to do is get my "10,000 casts" in. I'm hitting some lakes outisde of Cincinnati this weekend that have musky in them.
Thanks again. | |
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Fishing from shore Techniques!?