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Posts: 13
Location: NW Wisconsin | Your point on sharpening hooks is great. I have been musky fishing for a while and it is a good reminder to me, especially rookies, that sharp hooks can be the difference between a musky in the boat or a musky that got away. Thanks for the tip
Ike |
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Posts: 1906
Location: Oconto Falls, WI | Quite simply just paying attention as Dave alluded to. You can still have fun in the boat, but pay attention to your bait coming in. Even go as far as watching a few seconds where your bait just came through by the boat while you are starting your next cast/retrieve. Tips you off to late followers that then can be used to adjust your presentation. Also as Dave said stay in it mentally. During long days the fish usually end up hitting after some pretty boring hours, and if you are not mentally in the game yet chances are you will miss the hookset, or lose the fish due to a poor hookset. It is difficult to keep a sane mind for 18 hours with no action so do what you must to try to because that fish may hit after 18 hours and 1 min.
Don’t only pay attention to your bait coming in and your mechanics, but also to your surroundings. Notice how all of a sudden the birds are going crazy, how the loons have started diving, the hatch that has begun, and so forth. By being able to read nature and your surroundings you will be more in-tune to the feeding windows opening and will be able to get yourself prepared for the upcoming strike. Also pay attention to your boat partner. What are they throwing, and make sure you are doing something different to find a pattern. Cast to different water they aren’t casting to. Even if you are in the front. If you realize they are fishing the same water you just fished then turn to the other side of the boat and fish that side. Or tell them to. Don’t be both throwing bucktails, or both crank baits in the same depth range, unless you KNOW that is the pattern to be doing.
Along with staying into it mentally comes keeping a bait wet. Don’t be changing a lure every 5 minutes until you have gone through both of your monster Lakelands in the boat, and start asking your partner to use some of theirs. Now if you find yourself not working a bait “good” anymore because you have thrown it for several hours straight by all means switch. By switching you keep yourself into the mental game, and work a bait much better. If you don’t know what to throw don’t sit there looking in your box for 20 minutes trying to pick one. At times like this just grab a bait you like to throw, and start chucking.
Last of all SET THE HOOK ON ANYTHING. Being a rookie you don’t know what a strike feels like. Most expect a bone jarring event. If something just doesn’t feel right (plays in with being mentally in the game) set the hook! What do you have to lose? I have too many friends and clients with me out suspended that say; “Huh, that felt weird”, “Are there rocks out here”, “Are there weeds out here”, but never set the hook. I see too many lost opportunities because they just didn’t set the hook.
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| Ciscokid brings up another one. 18 hourrrs with no action? Um dude your pattern isn't working. Being versatile and realizing there are probably fish eating somewhere on the lake every hour is important. Don't get stuck on one depth or presentation or pattern. If it isn't working try something else! |
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| My biggest fear when I see "rookies" on the water is that they almost never have a decent landing net. How many times do you see the new guys on the water and they basically have a piece of s*%t net they bought at wal-mart that is nothing more than a bass net with no rubber coating. They then bring the fish into the bottom of the boat and let it tangle up and basically ends up killing the fish whether they release it or not. Please help educate the new guys into proper landing gear and release tools. I use the biggest net available, the Frabill Big Kahuna, and there are many other great nets out there too. Once you net the fish, leave it in the water, remove the hooks, and only remove it from the water for a quick pic. We pay a lot of money for our rods, reels, lures, boats, etc, so there is no reason we can't fork out another $150 bucks for a net that will save a muskies life, and will last for many, many years. |
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Posts: 134
Location: East TN | BNelson - 3/30/2010 12:37 PM
as has been mentioned...figure 8s...
but here is another one...setting or pulling the hooks away from fish that hit topwaters!!! Just keeeeep reeling is what i tell guys when they hear or see the fish hit...many fish have been missed by jerking way toooo quick! takes lots of mistakes to get that drilled in your head but once you do you will catch a lot more fish on topwaters....
Being a rookie myself, I have to say I have been guilty of pulling the hooks/bait away from a fish before he actually gets his mouth around it. And for me, Its not just topwaters....if i'm fishing clear water and a fish comes out of nowhere or follows close and goes for the bait, I have been known to set the hook too soon, thus pulling the bait away from the fish. |
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Posts: 285
Location: NE Wisconsin | The rookie mistake I think of, is after the fish is hooked, the inexperienced angler tries to reel the fish in too close, too quick. I have seen some get so excited they don't stop reeling until the leader sticks in the rod tip. Most fish are lost close to the boat. Many come in easy until they see the boat, then all hell breaks loose. Take your time once the fish is hooked and less fish will get off. With a big green fish flopping with only a foot of line out, something has to give. |
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Posts: 264
| Probably not doing a figure eight with smooth enough corners. rookies always make it way to tight for any fish to turn. |
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| How about when sucker fishing while using the trolling motor recognizing whether or not a fish has the sucker or a weed, when your moving very slowly and the clicker is going , getting the "feel" before you just yank hard enough to get tiny weeds off but, hey there is a fish on there and donking the hook set and losing the fish, or realizing any cast you could get a fish, even the first cast with a new lure last weekend not paying attention and having a follow!. did not help that I was wearing a bright red jacket though!. Or trying to be quiet as you can not spooking fish by slamming doors, jumping around and being clumsy. Hmmmm what else, being calm when you get a follow and making sure your presenting your lure to the best to your ability!!! |
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Posts: 136
Location: Chicago | Learning from your mistakes really sucks when fishing ski's. So I learned early. Don't ever get caught stirring the soup. Bright bluebird day not a follow nothing and and I made an half hearted figure 8. Go to make another cast and what was then the biggest muskie I had seen in my first ever two days of musky fishing was looking at me asking why did I take that out of the water. |
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| Lots of good stuff covered so far! I just wanted to add one thing I see from people in other boats and hear from people all the time: BOAT CONTROL!!!!! I hear this all the time(And used to think it);" We were in 14 feet, I could see the weed edge on the graph, all the bait was right there, but all we saw was a few late follows." Many beginners drive the boat where they want their baits to be! Its sometimes a matter of blind faith; it can be hard to move an entire cast length out and see nothing on the graph, but thats what has to happen to keep your bait running correctly in the strike zone! |
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Posts: 169
Location: Houlton, WI | 1. It takes at least 10 follows to get the 8 right. 2. Focus, when you start talking or especially arguing you lose all your consentration.
Edited by mnmusky101 3/30/2010 9:53 PM
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Posts: 87
Location: Red Wing, Minnesota | The biggest mistake I made as a Musky fishing newbie was to not have the correct size net or the right bag material. Consequently, bringing the fish in the boat to unhook. Most non Musky fisherman will net their fish and bring them right in the boat, just like their walleyes. The ensuing fiasco is humorous except for what happens to the fish. I still see this a couple of times every year.
As to the original thread premise: Freezing or slowing down retrieve when a following fish is seen. Jerking the bait out of the water in fear when surprised by a fish at boatside then screaming like a school girl (My wife)
Not working baits in a purposeful manner. |
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Posts: 284
| Nets not ready |
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Posts: 1289
Location: WI | Talking or texting their gf instead of fishing. Rod angle while fighting the fish. If you hold it straight up, the fish will probably jump. Using line (lb test) that is not adequate. |
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Posts: 880
Location: New Berlin,Wisconsin,53151 | I see the rookie in the mirror in my boat not keeping enough tension on the line after the fish is hooked. The phrase "put a bend in that rod" should be next to all the other information displayed in the boat. If there is slack in the line a short head shake will remove a lure in a instant.
Bruce |
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Posts: 1916
Location: Greenfield, WI | Hi Joel, the biggest consistant mistake that I have seen among "newbees" is not doing figure 8's no matter if they see a follow or not, or pulling the bait out of the water, pointing, and screaming, "LOOK THERE's ONE!!!" if they see a follow. |
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Posts: 315
| Ben you are so right!!! Part of the reason y some of us consistently catch fish and some dont. I have a friend whos boat i jump into from time to time and i almost want to yell at him because he spends most of his time in the millfoil. Boat control is a pet peeve of mine... practice boat control and catch more fish. |
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| Since this has gone beyond the point of mistakes of presentation, I'll say a word about the basics that a new muskie fisher has to learn. I learned these lessons the hard way.
1. Absolutely never go out muskie fishing without a net adequate for muskie. You don't need an expensive one, but you need one that will do the job.
2. Master your knots. More times than you think, you will lose a fish to an unsound knot. Do not trust a standard clinch knot. It may be fine for other species, but muskies are much more powerful than what you have dealt with before. Learn a hard knot and always tie it. It is worth the effort.
3. Make sure your line is sound. If you are using mono, change it--without fail--every year. Always check the last three feet of line for wear. Cut it if there is even a nick in it.
4. Early on, go to water that has a lot of muskies. Don't worry about catching the trophy fish from the trophy water. Get experience catching fish. |
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Posts: 311
Location: Ontario | -Buying ten in every colour of everything.
-Trying to apply stuff randomly to from other fisheries to the ones you're on instead of learning the one you're on. "Info overload," no thought process or experience-base to draw on.
-Not considering the source when listening to the internet experts. There's a good chance they're as green or greener than you and just type well. Ie: giving you pro trolling tips when they've owned a boat for two years and are just learning how to back it off the trailer or dock it etc.
-Using gear that's too light.
-Trying to do it all in one day (learn every lake, own every lure, use every single technique). No game plan, not respecting the learning curve. People want it all right now these days. Not much time for trial and error/hard knocks.
-Not muskie fishing enough through the entire season. |
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| or better yet, some of the guys have never even owned a boat but sure can talk the talk!
"-Not considering the source when listening to the internet experts. There's a good chance they're as green or greener than you and just type well. Ie: giving you pro trolling tips when they've owned a boat for two years and are just learning how to back it off the trailer or dock it etc." |
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