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Posts: 16
| I have always been a fisherman but as of lately my passion is muskies. I'm young so my time on the water is still limited. I have just about every type of musky bait, and have tried them all, however I always find myself slapping on the bucktail and going back to the well. I've had success on the bucktail, actually all of my success on a bucktail. I want to diversify my fishing techniques and be comfortable throwing phantoms, dawgs, and topwaters. I am wondering if anyone else has had a similar learning curve as they became more ingaged in muskies. Aside from leaving all the bucktails home, what are some ways I may increase my confidence in other baits, and increase my success by adapting to other situations? |
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Posts: 34
| NEVER leave your bucktails at home. And then go do what you want to do |
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Posts: 1360
Location: Lake "y" cause lake"x" got over fished | Try to choose one specific fishing or bait technique to improve on a year. While doing this, make sure to keep your comfort bait in close reach just in case you need to get that confidence feeling back before throwing 'the other' bait again. This year for me I am choosing rubber. Last year it was dive and rise baits and the previous year it was gliders. I too am a huge fan of the bucktail as we all are. But like you said yourself you want to be comfortable and confident throwing everything. There are to many baits and to many techniques to try and take it all on at once every year. The stuff you do use probably wont get the time it deserves because of the lack of comfort with it. And if you do give it time you will feel like you lost out on "what could have been" if you would have chose something else... (obviously depends on how often you get out) Then you may become focused on that and not remember or process what you thought you learned with the baits you did use. Like I said, to much to think about with all of the other things you are already trying to analyze while on the water. As said above NEVER leave your bucktail at home. But choose one other style to switch to every outing and make sure to give it an ample chance. By the end of the season you should have a decent grasp on whatever you choose.
good luck
Edited by FAT-SKI 6/28/2014 6:23 PM
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Posts: 255
| I found that learning the water was the key to getting confident overall, and then you fine tune lure selection because you learned where the fish are and what conditions they prefer what lures. This led to me having much more confidence going deep or using bulldawgs in open water. I still have only a few lures that are my confidence ones, and others have said plenty on here over the years about that. Put the time in and have fun. |
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Location: Not far enough north! | The best way to gain confidence in a lure or technique is to use them when the fish are on fire. If you just use them when nothing is working then you will never see any results and never gain that confidence. |
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Posts: 166
Location: Merrill, Wisconsin | I'm a very inexperienced musky fisherman, I've read TONS of articles, watched all the videos, subscribed to every magazine, bought every rod and reel and bait it feels like, and i'm finding out that to make confidence in a lure or something the best way to go about it, is to not think about it and just do it. Don't get caught up in all the mumbo jumbo or everything and just go out and fish. Today I never had confidence in a suick, none what so ever, then when fishing was slow, I put on a 9" weighted one, jerked it a few times, closed my eyes, talked to my friends, and bam, I missed a fish boatside on one. My goal wasn't to see how many fish I could put in the boat on a bucktail like everyone else, but to learn to fish other baits so that one day i'll be a more versatile fisherman and be able to catch fish when a bucktail wont. |
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Posts: 441
| Try throwing topwaters. They should be fired up, in a week, or so.
Pacemakers, Weagles, low riders, Big Hawg Wobblers.
Nothing is more exciting!!
That's my confidence bait! |
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Posts: 791
Location: WI | Hire a guide that specializes in the technique you want to learn. Make it known that is why you are hiring them. I make a point of hiring some one every year that has a specialty. As far as I'm concerned there is no better way to shorten the curve then to hire someone, learn what you can and then try to hone that skill. Did this with open water last year and I know have the confidence to go fish that way with success. |
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Posts: 1168
| Simply clipping on a bait and chucking it is counterproductive. Take some time and just work with and learn what you can get those baits to do by tossing it out no more than 10 feet from the boat. Twitch, jerk, pump the rod up, sweep it from side to side, etc. Get a visual of what they do when you work them certain ways.
At times "just for fun" I've grabbed only 3 or 4 baits and left everything behind. A glide bait, a topwater, a crankbait, and perhaps a fuzzy duzzit or Bondy. That's what you have to work with....subconsciously it can become overwhelming having too many options. Here's your 3-4 baits, go to work. It's an "Apollo 13" approach. They couldn't get bogged down by what they didn't have, they had to be resourceful so they wouldn't die.
If your "home" water is good size...let's say 1000 acres or bigger...break that body of water down into distinct sections. Instead of running all over the place trying to stumble on to something, focus hard and learn one of those sections inside and out. Gaining confidence isn't just about baits, it's about feeling comfortable in the location you are at. Get that confidence built up and start applying those tactics to other areas and adjust accordingly. Depending on how dynamic of structure they have, you might have to break a lake as small as 150 acres apart section by section.
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Posts: 156
| I know everyone has had their suggestions, and they are really good. I break it down even more simply and go high level. It may seem cliche but the old F+L+P=S system from In-Fisherman works. It really forces you to consider those three factors while you're out there, and reassess what you are doing...which allows adjustments and confidence.
Bucket all the tips you've received above into the F, the L, or the P...and come up with your own method and thought process out on the water. THAT will give you confidence, especially when you start getting the results you are looking for. |
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Posts: 100
| I found that I always gained confidence when I went fishing with someone knowledgeable in the baits I never throw. For example, I never used to throw phantoms until I went with a buddy who boated two fish throwing phantoms. Then he let me hook one on rest the day while he coached me through the process. After an hour or so I got used to the motion and hooked into a fish myself. Musky are picky, some times they want blades and other times they will just stare at them so you need to familiarize yourself with all types of presentations.
Having the right gear for the different presentations can also be a challenge. However, as we all have, you will accumulate different rods and reels over time. My advice would to be go out with a few friends, or meet new people around your area that have an open seat and pick their brains. More often than not you will teach them something they don't know as well. If you're around the cities shoot me a PM, I may have an open seat now and again.
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Location: MN | I've only been at this game for a few years but I feel that I have caught a good number and size of fish as a rookie. None of those fish have come on the two most popular baits-inline blades and rubber. I have confidence and have moved fish on both but have yet to stick one on either. That's gonna change this summer.
I gain confidence in baits by throwing a bait when it fits the stucture, method, and time of year you are fishing. Each bait has certain time/place that they shine. If I am working a bait in a situation it fits I have confidence in it and typically I'll move fish with them. Many times I will switch baits or work a bait different when going from spot to spot to fit the situation better. Think about all the variables to the equation-wind, forage, structure, etc and how your bait fits in to that equation.
You need to give the bait some time to gain confidence in it but at the same time you should not fish a bait you are not feeling. Having a positive vibe about what you are doing is critical. There are a few baits I own that I haven't given enough time to get confident in because I don't have enough confidence in them to give them the time.
Edited by Nershi 6/29/2014 9:38 PM
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