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Posts: 388
Location: Northern Illinois | The question applies to both overall and on given outings/trips. I definitely like bass and pike fishing as well and wish I was better at walleye fishing. Are some of you just musky exclusively?
Also, when you go out musky fishing, is it exclusively musky fishing (i.e. get this pike off the line so I can make another cast) or are there times when you might downsize and target musky but enjoy "getting what you get". Obviously, if you're casting a pounder in the middle of the basin or working a breakline in the fall with a 10 inch believer you are exclusively targeting musky. But are there other times when you might use a hybrid approach (casting a Mepps or a small musky size spinner bait in/over the weeds can definitely get just about anything)? Or, take a break on a given day and fish for other/multi-species for a while? |
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Posts: 537
Location: Gilberts IL/Rhinelander WI | Musky or bust for me. The only time I fish for anything else is if my daughters want to chase some gills. It will probably change as my girls get older and want to go on the boat. Then I'll have to fish for something that is easier to catch, to keep them interested. |
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Posts: 447
Location: Waconia, MN | Musky or bust for this guy! |
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Location: Ontario | Same here, Muskie exclusively. |
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Posts: 441
| Bass and walleye, in May and first couple of weeks in June.
Then muskie or bust, for me. |
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Posts: 572
Location: Maplewood, MN | I enjoy competing in bass tournaments when I'm not musky fishing. I'm a musky guy but I enjoy competing too much to stop bass tournaments mainly because there aren't many musky tournaments in a year. But when I'm musky fishing, I am musky fishing. It always kinda bothers me when my buddy asks if he should bring his bass stuff when we're musky fishing… We did take a break at LOTW last year to walleye fish, you can't go to LOTW and not bring home walleyes seeing as it only takes an hour or so.. |
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Posts: 921
| Musky or bust. I actually went to LOTW for the 14th year this year and walleye fished for the first time.
I was lucky enough to get a bonus 2nd week on LOTW this year, so I broke down and walleye fished with my buddy for 3 hours one day.
Other than those 3 hours of walleye fishing on LOTW, I haven't fished for anything else since I started musky fishing 17 years ago! |
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| Used to be more of a muskie or bust, but have a kid now. Spent a week in MN and only spent a half day after skis. Took my nieces and nephews fishing most days and played with the family. I could have muskie fished as much as I liked, but just not super high on the priority list. Could be I chased them hard from early teens to late 30's. I am not sure what is harder work helping 5 kids catch panfish or muskie fishing:-) |
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Posts: 187
Location: West Metro, MN | Musky fishing is definitely my favorite, but I mix in walleye, bass pike, and panfish as well. I have friends that I like to fish with that don't want to fish for muskies and my kids are still pretty young so any day on the water is a good one in my book. Plus I have learned a few things about the way certain spots lay out and patterns, etc. from bass fishing. |
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Location: Not far enough north! | Im in the same boat as Midget. Actually fished for walleye on LOTW for the first time this year too. It was nice to do a shore lunch and bring home some fish. I even went up to whitefish bay to Musky fish not expecting much in way of action up there. we musky fished a whole day up there in typical trout water fashion. Targeting deep weeds, points and humps. Didn't see any musky but got several upper 30's pike and a 28.5" walleye all on mag dawgs and depthraiders... Not as exciting as musky but you know it was a lot of fun... |
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Posts: 311
Location: Lake St.Clair | Musky or bust here no other gear on board. |
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Posts: 192
Location: Quebec, Canada | Mainly musky when it's in legal date
At some occasions I'll fish bass with friends not used to musky fishing (don't want to waste my time on their learning or take the chance for them to break my equipment)
Walleye and pike fishing when musky is closed
Lake trout when everything else is closed
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Posts: 483
Location: NE PA | Musky are def my favorite fish to target, however I also fish for stripers in the spring, walleyes in the fall, make a few trips shark fishing in the summer. I also fish for bass and panfish through out the year. I just like being on the water... |
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Posts: 1283
| I find it really hard to cast for anything but Muskies these days, although I have spent some time targeting pike and bass on the kayak. |
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Posts: 98
| When it's musky season that's what I'm after except for an annual LOTW multi-species trip. I do love spring and winter walleye fishing though, our annual Rainy River trips every April is one of my favorites. Oh, and if the muskies put me on a dry spell I'll occasionally jig for a walleye or two just to feel what a bite feels like again, lol. |
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Posts: 682
Location: Sycamore, IL | I consider myself a multi-species angler and while I rank catching a muskie a bit higher than some other fish, I enjoy catching them all. I used to be in the "musky or bust" camp. As time goes by I find myself targeting muskies at certain times when the odds are in my favor and targeting what's biting at other times. |
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Posts: 252
| Probably 89% musky, 8% crappie, and 3% bass for me. With bass including stripers, hybrid, and smallmouth.
Every now and then it is nice to catch a bunch of crappie or hybrid and have a fish fry.
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Posts: 173
Location: Green Bay, Titletown, WI | During muskie season I'm pretty exclusive. I catch my fill of perch, walleye and bluegills during the winter. When I'm with buddies that can't fish a full day of muskies, and want to take a break and bass fish, I take a nap in the boat. |
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Posts: 32886
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | I fish everything during a trip, mostly because Sue can't muskie fish anymore or cast artificials for any length of time and because I enjoy fishing with her and watching her catch fish. Every year on the Spring Bay reports some smartarse jumps all over me for fishing pannies on Vermilion...now everyone knows why we do. And, I ENJOY it.
I never was exclusively a muskie guy because I like bass fishing so much. When I was guiding I also guided bass and 'eyes.
I'm a serious Ice guy, so the 'eyes, crappies, gills, and pike get attention almost year round from me now.
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Posts: 16632
Location: The desert | I'll fish anything. |
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Posts: 239
Location: Elroy, Wisconsin | If I am not going to catch anything, I would sure rather it be a Musky. Most shore hanger outers have low expectations of musky fishermen.
Mudpuppy |
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Posts: 246
| This year it has been muskies and walleyes but I will fish for anything. |
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Posts: 688
Location: Northern IL | Muskies are defiantly my favorite fish but have probably only targeted them about 1/2 the time and that seems to be on the decline. I enjoy catching anything that swims excluding pan fish.... maybe when I wear out.  |
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Posts: 2089
| Anything with gills and fins. |
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Posts: 2325
Location: Chisholm, MN | Muskies during muskie season. But I have a thing for big eyes now and then. |
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Posts: 410
Location: Wakefield, MI | Bass early in the season, them start mixing in musky, then almost exclusively musky. Might have a few more bass trips his year, but those musky boxes are heavy and hard to lift out, so they might just stay in the boat.
If I'm musky fishing I only bring musky rods, no bass rods. |
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Posts: 1000
| Almost exclusively muskies when they're in season and the temps are 80*F>
North of Brainerd/BWCA I'll chase walleyes when I'm with other people. Used to be big on bass, but it got to the point where you'd catch 20-30 fish a day and you just wouldn't remember any of them. Every encounter with a muskie is exciting for me. Muskie pictures get me through the 8 months of December we get here in MN. |
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Posts: 20219
Location: oswego, il | If I am musky fishing I pretty much stick to that. I like fishing for other species, bass, salmon, tonight I caught 6 big cats, 6 bass SM and lm, 3 drum, 2 gills, a crappie and a striper on the same gulp twister and jig. 5-7lb cate on a ml spinning rod is alot of fun. |
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Location: MN | Muskies only when they are open. I will fish walleyes or trout/salmon if I am fishing with my dad or taking some kids out. I get my fill of other species during the winter and spring. |
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Posts: 369
| I'll go for walleye, bass, pike, all panfish and even catfish every so often. But when I'm in Wisconsin it's usually 60% muskie. |
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Posts: 1036
| I usually have walleye gear and crappie gear in the boat at all times. If I'm fishing weeds or a weed edge and I see crappies hanging around, I'm going for them over muskies. At least until I slip three or four into the livewell for a nice meal.
And in the springtime, I love my walleyes. The older I get, the more I enjoy walleye fishing and walleye eating!
I won't purposefully fish for bass to often, but when I do, it is usually because my wife wants to catch something. But last week my boat did land the following bass (pigs). 18.5, 18.5, 19 and 20. They were hitting musky baits and the 20 incher fought like a musky. Crazy. |
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Posts: 335
Location: Minnesota | I'll fish for anything that swims. But, if I am going out musky fishing I am not going to intentionally target anything else.
Canada musky trips don't include walleye gear for me.
Kid's outings may include gear for everything and anything depending on location and time of year.
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Posts: 337
Location: Watersmeet, Michigan | Multi-species for me. While I love to fish for muskies, I also love fishing for bass, walleye, pike, salmon, and trout. Panfish through the ice. What I fish for depends on where I am, the weather, how much time I have, and whether or not I have a partner in the boat. Every time I'm on the water it's a new challenge and a chance at catching a trophy. Regardless of species, all fishing is great and I wouldn't trade it for any other past time.
Fr. K |
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Posts: 8782
| I think you're missing out on a LOT of great fishing if all you fish for is muskies. Gills, perch, walleyes, pike... It's fun catching table fare. You get on a rock bar full of smallies with a bucket of leeches and an ultralight rod, I guarantee you you'll forget about muskies for a couple hours.
I'd rather fish for muskies. But I'm fishing either way. |
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Posts: 13688
Location: minocqua, wi. | SMBs have become number one for me … wish i could consistently catch crappies. IMO those who can are the best freshwater fishermen. |
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Posts: 1141
Location: NorthCentral WI | Keep one spinning rod in the boat at all times. When suckers are hard to come by or simply not the size you're looking for, 10 minutes of panfishing can be well worth it. Had very good luck last year the couple of times I used 9-10" Perch on quicksets. I struggle to keep gills lively enough but Perch are much more active than suckers typically.
Edited by MartinTD 8/18/2014 12:38 PM
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Posts: 4343
Location: Smith Creek | I plan on spending more time pursuing dogfish.
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Posts: 34
| I love catching anything. |
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Posts: 13688
Location: minocqua, wi. | caught a beaver and a pelican … if you could consistently hook beavers, i'd quit targeting everything else. pelicans don't fight at all … |
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Posts: 66
| Trust me sled -- if we could all consistently hook beavers there would be a lot less fishing all together. |
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Posts: 200
Location: Minnesota | During open water, it's muskie or bust for me, except when sturgeon season is open. During hard water, I'll go after the little fish. |
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Posts: 1039
Location: North St. Paul, MN | I'm all over the place with this one...Early season I fish bass, walleye, pike, and the occasional pan fish. July and August, muskies, but if I'm at the cabin it's back to bass, northerns, and crappies. Fall I chase muskies, but will target big northerns if I'm at the cabin. Plus, it's nice to load up the freezer with 4 jacks that make a "mistake." :o) So no, not musky or bust. |
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Posts: 20219
Location: oswego, il | jonnysled - 8/18/2014 5:47 PM
caught a beaver and a pelican … if you could consistently hook beavers, i'd quit targeting everything else. pelicans don't fight at all …
fighting a beaver would be fun but having trapped them, the unhooking part not so much. |
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Posts: 255
| Gotta be fishing musky when I can. I consider it multi species fishing when I have a spinnerbait or bucktail on and I get a bass/hammer handle/bonus walleye. Fishing with my 4, 6, 8 year olds for small stuff is funstratingly ok.
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