|
|
Posts: 3
| I'm new to the forum but wanted to post my first experience seeing a Muskie yesterday while fishing on Otisco Lake. It was a Tiger Muskie I'm pretty sure and a big one.
My daughter, wife and son in law were out fishing. It was around noon and we caught a few perch and a small bass and my wife was fishing and watching some ducks on the water when she says "what's that big fish doing?" We all immediately see this huge head sticking out of the water showing his head to the gills and a bit of his tail out of the water about 30-35 yards off the boat like porpoising on the top of the water with his huge mouth open going back and forth. I know now that this behavior has been seen before but none of us ever saw a fish this big! I had binoculars on him as my son in law attempted to maneuver the boat closer in hope of tossing a top bait his way but he let us get a little closer continuing with his head above water then went under! We didn't see him again but plan to go back there. I estimate he was 4ft at least from head to tail. His head was broad and his eyes looked almost yellow. After seeing a fish like this I now understand a bit why the Muskie is such a special fish. Now, I've got to get geared up and learn a lot more so I can try to get a quick picture holding a fish like that! |
|
| |
|
Posts: 4269
Location: Ashland WI | Uh oh....
Seriously though, something like that is how it started for most of us. I remember fishing lakes with smaller fish when I was younger and had caught a decent number of fish in the 30'' range. I didn't really become "addicted" though until I had a large one (45'' or so) follow a bucktail to the boat. I told myself, I don't care how long it takes, I want one of those in the boat. Now that I have caught a few larger ones, the addiction has not gotten any less.
Be careful, it can take over your life. |
|
| |
|
Posts: 255
| There is no cure. Buy some gear and start to satisfy that feeling. It'll be painful learning that it ain't easy, but you just won't be able to quit. You saw something special, and time on the water does that. |
|
| |
|
Posts: 98
| for me i was fishing in algonquin park for bass with a hollow bodied frog and what i would assume to be a high 40" class fish jumped completely out of the water twice trying to eat it but got spooked by my weight shift on the canoe.
|
|
| |
|
Posts: 3
| Yes, I haven't been able to really think of anything but that since it happened. Being able to watch the fish as we did, and I had the binoculars on him with a fantastic view, it was magical. To see that fish that big do exist with your own eyes.... was one of my best memories on the water. I'm only about 15 minutes from the lake too! I've started my Muskie education on gear and I will be out on the water properly equipped soon. After thinking about it, none of us had the right line, pole etc for a fish of that size even if he did go after anything we tossed his way. I'll be focusing exclusively on getting an opportunity to take a quick pic with one before releasing it. The fish we saw yesterday was beautiful. I've caught salmon, big walleye and big northern before but seeing this guy just lit a fire in me that I haven't felt since my dad took me fishing as a boy. |
|
| |
|
Posts: 1144
Location: Minnesota. | Congrats kiddo. Now go to your bank or credit union and take out a loan, you'll need it..;)
Welcome to the obsession...
And another one bites the dust!  |
|
| |
|
Posts: 43
| There is no cure for muskie fever. Good news is you can treat the symptoms with lots and lots of casting, and by purchasing lots of muskie baits and other related tackle. |
|
| |
|
Posts: 612
| BTW casting right over a fish that has just proposed has produced 2 out of the 4 or 5 of the biggest fish I've ever caught.
Do not mistake this for when a musky-tiger just cruises along the surface with only it's head extending out of the water, never have gotten one of these to bite.
Musky's are cool! 
For the finger lakes only Conesus and Otsego have tigers, stocked by the DEC annually.
Edited by NPike 8/21/2017 1:31 PM
|
|
| |
|
Posts: 43
| Do male muskies propose to the females when they are in a serious relationship and want to get engaged? |
|
| |
|
Posts: 20219
Location: oswego, il | Always cool to see that. I seen one saturday evening going back to the ramp while fishing a 250,000 lake on the us/ canada border.
Interesting, are you talking about the finger lakes in new york? Are there fishable populations thsre? |
|
| |
|
Posts: 3
| This was in Otisco lake and I believe it's the smallest Finger Lake. If they are not stocking Otisco with Tigers now then I'm pretty sure they did at one time. |
|
| |
