Posts: 31
Location: Hoges Store, VA | In my opinion, which nobody really asked for, almost anyone can catch fish when they're bitin.....but a "fisherman" can catch fish when they're not....with that said, how do you all that catches muskies consistantly get them to hit........is it presentation?? ie, knowing when to throw bucktails vs. knowing when to throw crankbaits? when's the best time to throw "walk the dog" type lures? Is it the color?? The lures I've bought, I've tried to get something that atleast resembles a fish that lives in our local river....for instance, I've never seen an orange and black firetiger colored fish in this river, so I didn't even consider getting a lure of that color......OR, should I rethink my position and get one, just because it DOES look different?? Is it just plain old persistence?? The stand that "they're gonna hit sometime, you just have to be there when they do".....but, if that were the case, could I not save a bunch of money and just have a couple of bucktails, and just keep throwing them and throwing, until I run across the fish that's gonna hit?? You northern guys, what determines what you throw, topwater or bucktails or deeprunners....and what determines what colors you throw, sucker colored or flouresant orange with yellow stripes etc.....I've caught a few fish this summer, all on the same homemade bucktail, but I'm like everybody else I guess, and want to catch more fish.....I've caught them all on the same bucktail, so I don't have confidense in anything else......I've had a few fish follow other baits in, like a Grandma, and a creek chub pikie.....What's the trick to success?? |
Posts: 32881
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | I believe that many (most) fish I catch are not 'hungry' a bit. I think I am triggering a response to my presentation that the fish no more has control over than it's gills working. It's completely not necessary to try to match anything in nature, and a lure can't do that no matter how perfect the paint or shape. Think about it, NO fish swims like a glider, or a crankbait, really. The noise?? Unreal. Hooks banging, leader squeeking on the eye of the lure, completely unnatural. What normal fish would sail through the air, land in the water, herky jerk it's way back to the boat, and leap out of the water again?
What is the number one producing muskie lure? A bucktail. Why? Because so many anglers throw one. If a Pine cone was presented to the muskies as much as the Bucktail, THAT would be the number one lure out there. ( A friend of mine actually made a lure out of a pine cone, it worked like a glider, sort of, and caught fish). Let's look at why a Muskie eats a bucktail or any other ridiculous looking totally unnatural sounding lure.
First, in argument we do NOT need to be 'natural' and 'fool' the muskie, let's examine what a bucktail is made of.
1) A nice natural .051 hunk of wire
2) Beads, a brass body
3) a nice natural treble hook attached to
4) A pretty good hunk of a Deer's hinder, dyed a nice natural color like Orange.
I could go on, but I think you get my point. It's not whether a lure imitates anything, it's a stimulous/response, plain and simple. I submit that the MORE unnatural a lure sounds and looks, the more it will get a response; has to do with stimulous/response behavior in creatures like Muskies.
The trick is to have a lure tied on that matches the conditions for the stimulous you think is the deal at the time, including matching the presentation to the cover, part of the water column, retrieve speed to 'the muskie's available response', and much more; all based on what you think is the Muskie's location. Muskies see upward, so you'll need to keep the lure above the muskie as much as is possible.
Muskies rely strongly on sight, so the fish needs to be able to see the lure. Study color, light penetration, and contrast, that's the key to color selection.
There's more, mostly figuring out where the muskies are on any given day. If this sounds complicated, it is, but not horribly, most is common sense and paying attention to what you already know.
This is a very short answer to a very complicated question. It's a start!
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