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Posts: 1188
Location: Iowa | And so continues the 3 year drought for catching a muskie...Am I doing something wrong...am I jinxed...do I not use the right baits...do I not go to the right places...I have been to Eagle, Leech, and Mille Lacs in the past 3 years...the last muskie I got was a 41.5 inch Hybrid out of Eagle over 3 years ago...I lost the biggest one of my life last saturday though...thought that was the end of my drought but the behemoth spit the hook boat side...46"-48" class fish and very girthy...I was just sick...I was out last night from 5:00 till 30 minutes after sundown...NOTHING!!!!...what am I doing wrong...wrong rods, wrong reels, wrong lures, wrong boat, wrong place, wrong everything...anybody else have a problem similar to this or am I just that horrible of fisherman...doesn't help that I am from Iowa and primarily fish it but there are still huge fish in Iowa and I have seen them both in and out of the water...Can anybody shed some light on this...?
Big Perc |
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Posts: 2
| Big Perc, keep swinging, it happens. Also, I would recommend you shoot an email to Steve Jonesi. |
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Posts: 827
Location: Minneapolis,Minnesota | Fish better! |
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Posts: 1764
Location: Ogden, Ut | Don't sweat it Perc, you were gonna let it go anyway, right? 
Just payin your dues my friend (admittedly, more than most). The pendulum shifts, it always does, then you'll be the subject of a whole thread of congratulatory messages about your monster. Or you could come out to Utah and I could get you on a 30 incher... 
Hit a Mpls. metro lake w/ a guide of your choice for a half day, it'll probably end.
K. |
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Posts: 4266
| To quote a famous fisherman...."Shut up and keep casting."
It'll happen, don't sweat it. This happens to all of us.
Beav |
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Location: Athens, Ohio | "anybody else have a problem similar to this"
Dude, I fished muskies, hard, for over three years, hiring guides, boat slutting with some of the best, 21 different folks took me out - some more than once - before I bagged my first (Thanks again Mike Koepp!). During that time I would have killed to have the behemoth you described at boatside with my bait in its mouth (now, I did get some awesome follows, the one that came up behind Tony Grant's boat still haunts me).
"If this stuff was easy, everybody would be doing it!"
You are part of a small and unique class of fishermen who targets a very evasive species that is older and wiser than most fish swimming. You could go back to bluegills and take boatloads home but that is not your choice. Keep doing what you think is right, and sooner than later you will score. If not, there's always golf. m
ps - let me add, I would have given up long ago if not for the help, support and encouragement from the folks who frequent MuskieFirst. I kinda made it a mid-life crisis goal to catch muskies, and it is primarily due to folks I met and corresponded with on this website that I can now feel successful, with over 20 under my belt including the biggun pictured in my avatar. May I suggest you attend one of the MF outings? A week with these fine folks taught me more than I could have imagined. If I had to list thank-you's it would take up half this thread, but y'all know who you are, thanks again, m
Edited by mikie 6/24/2005 9:45 AM
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Posts: 1188
Location: Iowa | My buddy and I are going to Minnesota the 8th-10th and staying with Jonesi...I am hoping this drought with end that weekend...I thought for sure it would have last year...spent a week on the "Big Pond" and we caught only 1 muskie...biggest of my buddies life though...47"x22"...a nice 30 lb'er...thanks guys...by no means will I ever give this up...muskie are f@$king incredible...and yes I would have let it go anyways...but still...I see that fish everytime I close my eyes...it will haunt me every day the rest of my life...it was so thick...30 lb'er...easily...
Big Perc
P.S. thanks for the words of wisdom |
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Posts: 2754
Location: Mauston, Wisconsin | Hey keep on swinging, but if what you're doing isn't producing you've got to try some new stuff. New stuff= lure's and tactic's. I broke my 5 year drought with a 44" on a MF Outing. Learned a lot just sitting in the cabin at night chatting with the guy's. Last year I put 39 fish in the net, most of those I owe to all the great information I've gotten from MF members.
Read the muskie reaserch threads - there is some invaluable information buried in them. If you don't fish current's, either wind currents on the lake, or river currents, you're missing some great action. Muskies LOVE currents. Read Dick Pearson's book "Muskies on the Shield", then read it again..
Good luck!
Al
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Posts: 8848
| First of all, don't beat yourself up!
I doubt you're doing anything "wrong".
Even when you're throwing the right lure with the right presentation at the right time in a place where you know there are fish there are no guarantees.
You come here, that's a step in the right direction, but remember -- you're seeing pictures and hearing stories about all the fish that ARE being caught. Nobody is here talking about all the fish that AREN'T being caught, days on the water without a fish in the boat, days on the water with one lazy follow...
Forget about how long its been since you caught a fish! You're not fishing to put food on the table, you're fishing because you enjoy fishing, so for crying out loud, get out on the water and enjoy chasing muskies!
Learn
Analyze
Study
Strive to improve your skills
The fish will come
Jeff
Edited by esoxaddict 6/24/2005 10:08 AM
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| Try this approach.....
Go out fishing to spend time with your friends or family just having fun on the water, expect nothing more than quality time enjoying the time fishing and talking with them. Pick out a plain Jane Black & Silver bucktail and don't change it no matter what, stay near the weeds/cabbage and inside weed edges during a overcast day. Above all enjoy your time on the water and pick out a day that most would stay home.
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Posts: 1764
Location: Ogden, Ut | ONE bait???? how can that be any fun? 
I kinda suscribe to the theory that the one w/ the messiest boat at the end of the day had the most fun!
Of course, it helps if slime is part of the mess...
K. |
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Posts: 13688
Location: minocqua, wi. | a thought ... think about depth trasitions adjacent to shallow weedy feeding areas that drop to deeper water .... get to those spots, especially if their being fed by wind or current and work casting angles. get a mental image of what it looks like under the areas. some of this might be considered b.s. by some, but i try really hard to get an accurate visual image as much as possible. we all tend to just run the trolling motor and cast, but make yourself aware with a 3-d image of what's going on under the boat. if nothing else, it will make you think you are more prepared .... just add time to this and it's gonna happen again for you. |
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Posts: 880
Location: New Berlin,Wisconsin,53151 | Don't let it get you down, I didn't catch a fish all last year, it's something that just happens. Hundreds of hours on the water.They "DON"T CALL IT CATCHING"! I tried something different this year, I used some different baits and tried some late summer tatics and they worked. I've got 2 fish this year already, just rethink and go back to the areas that you saw fish. Pound those areas, you'll get one.
Netman
Edited by Netman 6/24/2005 11:37 AM
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Posts: 44
Location: ashland wi | Just keep givin her,it will happen. I went on a drought for a year and was trying a little to hard i think,which started to make me sloppy,then i sat down gathered my thoughts and weather conditions and also went by myself so i could really concentrate and what do you know a half hour on the water and catch this one,then go out the next morning early and 20 min on the water and BAM another one both over 45in,sometimes it's like you lose touch of the game and then wham your right back in it.
THAT'S MUSKY FISHING!!!
They don't say the fish of 10,000 cast's for nothing.
PROPWASH.
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Posts: 13688
Location: minocqua, wi. | awesome fish !! |
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Posts: 44
Location: ashland wi | YEAH,
But not like the one you caught recently,congrats to ya!.
PROPWASH.
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Posts: 122
Location: Pittsburgh, PA | I am in the same boat as you. Although last year I only logged about 3 days on the water... Hope this weekend ends the drought!
Rich D |
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Posts: 2384
Location: On the X that marks the mucky spot | Your obviously not spending enough money. Get all new rods/reels. All new baits, and a new boat. Then pay a bunch of guides to get you on fish. Then buy a cabin on a hot muskie lake. Then you'll get bit.
...or you could just fish better |
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| I know how you feel BP I'm startin year two I just lost evey hooked fish last year it started on the opener I cursed myself had her commin inches from eating and ticked my rod gone next weekend upper 40s low 50s topwater to the boat once back 5" to go gone then it was a lost fish every weekend I did everything different hooks you name it but I keep on keepin on like dear Mom said quitters never lose |
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Posts: 172
| maybe try fishing some action lakes and not 3 of the toughest lakes. eagle, leech, and the pond can all be incredibly brutal if you don't hit them right.
go get bit.
-MNmatt |
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Posts: 18
| Big Perc-
I think it has something to do with your post high school training...now if you would have gone to a good school like Central College, the muskies just jump in the boat 'cause they know they are licked. Seriously, hang in there and it will happen. Keep throwing good lures in good spots at any time and it they will find you. Don't forget the suspended bite if you aren't having action in the usual places.
CUI grad
Edited by FISHUNT 6/27/2005 10:40 AM
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Posts: 1188
Location: Iowa | Went out yesterday for an all day troll-a-thon on a near by muskie lake...the same one I lost my big muskie on...about 2 hours into the trolling a rod goes off and my dad grabbed it and set the hook...my first thought was "muskie" as I saw a flash of the fish fighting just under the surface about 30 feet behind the boat...so I cleared a rod to keep it from getting tangled and grabbed the net...as the fish got closer I was getting more excited...when it got boatside my dad goes "It's a walleye" and I scooped it in the net...it was a 28x14 inch walleye that we guessed to weigh around 10 pounds...the biggest walleye either of us had ever seen...what a fish...here are some pictures...
Big Perc
(Dad's 28x14 Walleye from BC redo.JPG)
(Dad's 28x14 Walleye from BC3 redo.jpg)
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Dad's 28x14 Walleye from BC redo.JPG (79KB - 104 downloads)
Dad's 28x14 Walleye from BC3 redo.jpg (67KB - 96 downloads)
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Posts: 41
Location: Minneapolis, MN | I just broke my 3+ year drought Saturday on Mille Lacs with a very fat 47”. I even netted it myself. I wish I could have taken a pic with me in it.
Mille Lacs is the only lake I fish, just about every weekend. I first started targeting muskies on Mille Lacs in 2002 but just got real serious over the last few years after seeing and losing some gigantic beasts. Seeing all those monsters on a regular basis kept me casting, spending money and seeking info from this site and others about the ‘ski. Sooner or later it will happen. I never thought it would, but I had a good feeling about this last weekend.
One tip about Mille Lacs, get away from the crowds!!!
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| MNMatt If it was easy I wouldn't do it, I guess Im not looking for a few 15# fish and the 30-35# fish I lose are more important than 20- 20s, the big girls got an edge that I know, reports are Al Maas boated 3- 50s on thursday Im not sure how accurat those numbers are, thats why I fish the hardest lakes always have always will, after all the name says it all.
Edited by Muskiefool 6/27/2005 4:56 PM
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| Perc,
I just broke a drought of 5+ years with 2 in the same night. They weren't big a 38" a 34" but it was nice to feel the pull again. Hang in there man, it will happen. Use the force |
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