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Posts: 77
| I am new to the game. What are your best "tips 'n tricks" for muskie fishing?
I was fishing this past week and got a 35" northern. One hook in the corner of the mouth. Go to net it and the net is getting caught on everything (bigger stowmaster). I was thinking a guy could rubber band the bag in a bunch at the bottome so it wouldn't be flying all over and catching every little thing on the boat. Just a thought.
What are your best tips or tricks? |
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Posts: 859
Location: MN | Hold the bottom of the net. |
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Posts: 77
| NathanH - 10/22/2017 10:26 AM
Hold the bottom of the net.
Good tip when with two people. I was alone and getting blown towards the shoreline. Mad scramble as I was trolling three lines. I am sure a lot of you guys have experienced the same thing. |
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Posts: 20188
Location: oswego, il | Yep, control the bag. You cannot rubber band the net, you cannot predict the size of the next fish that will be caught unless you are fishing a lake with only small fish. |
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Location: Green Bay, WI | I used to have a Big Kahuna and would experience the same problem at first. What I did was to tuck the bag inside the hoop, so it wouldn't catch on things in the cockpit when I was getting ready to net a fish. Then I would grab it when needed, rest the handle on the gunwale, and spin it with one hand so that the net fell out of the bag into the water. Problem solved. The problem with that net was that the mass of the thing is quite heavy to control with one hand, and it also catches quite a bit of wind. So trying to hold it up in the air was a challenge, especially in any sort of wind. Now that these net grips are out though, it would probably be a bit easier.
TB
Edited by tcbetka 10/22/2017 12:47 PM
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Posts: 77
| I was thinking just rubber banding the bottom 6-8" of the bag so it doesn't fly around. I figure a big fish would just break it anyways.
Any experience or suggestions for a "net grip"? |
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Location: Green Bay, WI | SkiNoob - 10/22/2017 4:01 PM
I was thinking just rubber banding the bottom 6-8" of the bag so it doesn't fly around. I figure a big fish would just break it anyways.
Any experience or suggestions for a "net grip"?
Yeah, except I can't remember who makes the one I have on my net right now. I'll hunt it down and list it here. Maybe someone will have the information sooner though, as I've also seen the same thing used on fishing rods.
TB |
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Posts: 16632
Location: The desert | Robohandle, though I've never used one.
Just keep your boat clean so there isn't much to catch on. I fish solo a lot and have never had an issue netting a fish. |
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Location: Green Bay, WI | Pointerpride102 - 10/22/2017 5:21 PM
Robohandle, though I've never used one.
Just keep your boat clean so there isn't much to catch on. I fish solo a lot and have never had an issue netting a fish.
That's actually not the one I have, but my net isn't easily accessible at the moment. Mine is just a straight handle, about 8" long, that clamps to the net handle. There is no pistol grip or arm strap. And mine cost about $20, as I recall.
TB
EDIT: This is the one I have.
http://outdoorgrips.com/
Edited by tcbetka 10/22/2017 5:56 PM
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Posts: 77
| Pointer,
Boat is clean. I have an older 170 Starcraft Superfisherman. It has screws all over the walk through windshield, buttons all over, etc. Net hangs up on every little screw or anything. |
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Posts: 4269
Location: Ashland WI | If you are fishing by yourself, can you put the net in a rod holder pointing up? |
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Posts: 271
| I lay the net in the back of the boat with the handle extended with the netting on the back deck laying as flat as possible to avoid snagging. Fish from the bow of the boat but step down to the main floor to net the fish over the side. No issues with net catching on stuff thus far.
Jaimy |
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Posts: 1220
| I see no reason to be tripping over those big nets. They get in the way, so for the (almost never) occasion when I might use one, I just just grab the bait firmly enough to pull the fish out of the water. |
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Location: Grand Rapids, MI | SkiNoob - 10/22/2017 12:05 PM NathanH - 10/22/2017 10:26 AM Hold the bottom of the net. Good tip when with two people. I was alone and getting blown towards the shoreline. Mad scramble as I was trolling three lines. I am sure a lot of you guys have experienced the same thing. If you have a bow mount trolling motor with auto pilot keep it in the water while you're trolling. When a fish is hooked, turn it on to keep the boat positioned into the wind.
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Posts: 221
| When I'm alone I leave the net open and the bag hanging off the back of the boat. It's not pretty, but it works.
I've also seen people out solo keep the net open and put it over their motor. That would work too. |
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Posts: 19
| Junkman - 10/23/2017 5:59 AM
I see no reason to be tripping over those big nets. They get in the way, so for the (almost never) occasion when I might use one, I just just grab the bait firmly enough to pull the fish out of the water.
Yeah that's gonna turn into a trip to the hospital!
Don't do it! |
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Posts: 1039
Location: North St. Paul, MN | Bob54 - 10/24/2017 8:32 PM
Junkman - 10/23/2017 5:59 AM
I see no reason to be tripping over those big nets. They get in the way, so for the (almost never) occasion when I might use one, I just just grab the bait firmly enough to pull the fish out of the water.
Yeah that's gonna turn into a trip to the hospital!
Don't do it!
Junkman, how big of a net do you need for a "Bob54"????? Cause you got one! |
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Posts: 1084
Location: Aurora | I make sure the net is accessible but never even think of grabbin it unless i have a 50+ on.
That's typically only 4 to 5 times per day so it's a non-issue fer me..
~ahem~ |
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Posts: 77
| muskyroller - 10/24/2017 9:19 PM
Bob54 - 10/24/2017 8:32 PM
Junkman - 10/23/2017 5:59 AM
I see no reason to be tripping over those big nets. They get in the way, so for the (almost never) occasion when I might use one, I just just grab the bait firmly enough to pull the fish out of the water.
Yeah that's gonna turn into a trip to the hospital!
Don't do it!
Junkman, how big of a net do you need for a "Bob54"????? Cause you got one!
What speed do you troll for a "Bob54"?  |
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Posts: 141
Location: Minnetonka | I've never personally tried it, but I've seen guys tie about 2 ft of thin rope to the bottom center of the bag mesh. When you hold the net straight up, you can grab the rope with the same hand you're holding the handle with and it will keep the bag up. Again, never tried it myself. |
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Location: On the O | I've seen the clips used for planer boards and downriggers used to hold the bag up. Attach it to the handle then gather up the net and clip on so the bag isn't dangling, once the fish hits the bag the net should release from the clip. Should at least give you a foot or two of clearance over all those screws and gremlns that jump up and grab the net.
Edited by BigC 10/25/2017 1:04 PM
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Posts: 77
| BigC - 10/25/2017 12:05 PM
I've seen the clips used for planer boards and downriggers used to hold the bag up. Attach it to the handle then gather up the net and clip on so the bag isn't dangling, once the fish hits the bag the net should release from the clip. Should at least give you a foot or two of clearance over all those screws and gremlns that jump up and grab the net.
Do you think I'm made of money?!?!??!?!
Thinking a clothes pin may work as well. Will have to experiment I guess. |
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Location: On the O | Made of money?
Think I bought two for like 8 bucks, what's that like 50 cents a piece in American money? ??
It's attached to the handle, you're not going to lose it everytime. |
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Posts: 77
| BigC - 10/26/2017 8:26 AM
Made of money?
Think I bought two for like 8 bucks, what's that like 50 cents a piece in American money? ??
It's attached to the handle, you're not going to lose it everytime.
There was a little sarcasm there...
That being said, I am going to upgrade my boards to the (Offshore) black releases, they are like $15 a piece.  |
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Posts: 617
Location: Clintonville, WI | 1. Attach some sort of elastic band or lanyard to your release tools and have the other end around your wrist. I use the "curly shoe-lace" elastic bands.....use heavy zip ties and connect one end to the tools and zip tie a loop on the other end for your wrist. No more Knipex, jaw spreaders, long-nose pliers, etc. at the bottom of the lake/river.
2. In the cold water season especially, tie a rope on a rear cleat and have it drag behind the boat for a man over-board to grab onto. Before tossing it behind the boat, thread the rope through a nice size segment of foam swimming noddle and tie a big knot at the water end of the rope so it won't come back through as it floats back there.
3. Learn an aggressive, offense minded figure eight. |
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Location: oswego, il | None of you can cast with one hand while holding the net in the other? Guess you are just not as optimistic as I am. |
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Posts: 486
Location: Northern Illinois | The guys on here are relentless! |
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Posts: 20188
Location: oswego, il | You can also get a frabil big game net easier to handle alone. |
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Posts: 1220
| Just for the record, when everyone doesn’t “get” the joke, it’s the failure of the writer (or teller), not the reader. Rather than “catch” someone, I was attempting to merely be funny poking fun at myself for not catching the most fish INSTEAD of someone else, which ends up happening far too often in these threads. I really only seek to employ humor because everyone seems to be so in need of a little humor these days. And, just for the sake of total truthful being on the record here, if my kid’s life depended on it, I could produce an unretouched (not photoshopped) of me with a musky. I really have actually caught one no matter what everyone thinks. |
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Location: Minnesota. | Junkman - 10/28/2017 10:59 AM
Just for the record, when everyone doesn’t “get” the joke, it’s the failure of the writer (or teller), not the reader. Rather than “catch” someone, I was attempting to merely be funny poking fun at myself for not catching the most fish INSTEAD of someone else, which ends up happening far too often in these threads. I really only seek to employ humor because everyone seems to be so in need of a little humor these days. And, just for the sake of total truthful being on the record here, if my kid’s life depended on it, I could produce an unretouched (not photoshopped) of me with a musky. I really have actually caught one no matter what everyone thinks.
I'm not buyin' it.........................................................................
Edited by Jeremy 10/28/2017 10:45 PM
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