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Posts: 32926
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | What are the top components of a COMPLETE Guide to Successfully Catching Muskie? List them in order of importance in your opinion; one to ten. Please don't try to break each down yet, just list them, in one sentence per component. I'm searching for your ideas no matter your experience level or where you fish. I have a project for this winter, and it's going to be fun....  |
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Posts: 41
| cutters
net
leaders
line
lure
reel
rod
pma
boat
truck to pull boat |
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Posts: 720
| Hi Steve,
1. Picking lake, flowage, or river that you are familar with.
2. Do your homework on that particular water. Maps, navigation charts and gps coordinates.
3. Call around to camp owners, local bait stores, and any muskie inc or musky clubs to see what going on.
4. Keep your equipment all of it boat, motors, rods, reels, tackle, and electronics are in good working order. Can't catch fish if your not on the water.
5. Develope a plan of attack with the information you have picked up. Give it a chance to pay off.
6. Now your on the water with good tools, good information and confidence in a plan you have come up with. CHOOSE LURES YOU HAVE CONFIDENCE IN USING.
7. Make your plan fit the weather conditions.
8. Thourghly work each and every structure you have in you plan. Only move to the next structure only after you have cover both the deep and shallow portions of it.
9 After fishing any new structure you have a mental picture of it . Draw it out on a piece of paper.
10. Have fun its fishing and its something you love to do.
I think we tend to make it more complicated than it has to be. The one thing I find that helps me the most is drawing out how I picture a particular structure in my minds eye. Whats interesting Steve is how over time and hopefully a few fish that mental picture may change. Anyhow, I hope this is what you wanted.
Thanks
Dave |
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Posts: 1168
| 1. Passion.
2. Positive attitude.
3. Confidence in yourself.
4. Adaptability/thinking ahead.
5. Experimentation.
6. Well maintained equipment
7. Focus.
8. Diversified tactics.
9. Good conservation ethics.
10. Ability to have fun.
Edited by ulbian 12/8/2006 1:18 AM
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| Good Attitude
Confidence in yourself
Confidence in a few baits
Equipment in good working order
Proper tools (nets, release tools, etc.)
Maps (do your homework)
Pool opinions from message boards
Participate in clubs
Be sportsman like and ethical
FISH HARD and have fun |
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Posts: 1996
Location: Pelican Lake/Three Lakes Chain | 1. Master the mechanics, casting, figure eights, retrieves, fighting fish, netting etc..
2. Achieve a working knowledge of the fish and its food.
3. Achieve a working knowledge of your lake/lakes and its available structures.
4. Know the whys and whens of the baits you choose.
5. Try to understand how (don't need to now why, just how) environmental conditions effect the fish.
6. Boat Control!!!!!
7. Learn basic equipment maintenance.
8. Be versatile, avoid the favorite bait/lake/spot syndrome.
9. Fish with proper etiquette and ethics.
10. Give something back to the sport via clubs, educating others, etc.
Edited by nwild 12/8/2006 7:58 AM
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Posts: 32926
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | Thank you! Keep them coming. |
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Posts: 1536
Location: God's Country......USA..... Western Wisconsin | 1. Map out your stategy according to seasonal patterns before your outing.
2. Be prepared to alter your plan according to local weather changes, water conditions.
3. Prepare your boat for where you are headed. (trailer also)
4. Prepare your rods and reels for all conditions you may encounter. ( jerks, bucks, jigs etc.)
5. Prepare your lures and terminal tackle properly for the water you have selected. (colors weights etc)
6. Be positive about your chances of connecting with your quarry. (positive attitude)
7. Be safe at all times, don't let an accident spoil your trip.
8. Keep in mind Murphy's law, if it can go wrong it will. Good planning will keep these incidents to a minumum.
9. Don't forget the Monster, Red Bull, Vault etc.
10. Be ready to alter all plans at the drop your trolling motor because these fish we chase do not always check this web site everyday.
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Location: Contrarian Island | I'll take a stab at this one...
1. Confidence/PMA - absolutely # 1 to me. Expect to catch a musky every time out, if you don't why are you going out there?
2. Precise boat control - what good is it to be 50 feet away from where you want your lure to land ? Slow and meticulous is better than fast and careless.
3. Proper equipment - quality rods, reels, line, leaders, split rings, hooks.
4. Focus - if you are daydreaming when she hits, good luck with that!
5. versatility - If you think they should be shallow but you don't find them there, being able to find them where they are is key. Being able to catch fish in all depth ranges and all structure and open water.
6. Knowledge of the lake/river etc system you are fishing. Knowing what bait they eat and where the bait is throughout the year.
7. Properly using the baits you own throughout the seasons and structure you fish.
8. Properly executing a deep, large, figure 8. Fish can swim faster than you can move that bait...so move it!! Reading the fish on the 8 as well. Getting them to react and eat on the 8.
9. Knowing how to put "triggers" in every retrieve.
10. When fishing w/ someone, fishing as a team.
Edited by MSKY HNR 12/8/2006 9:35 AM
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Posts: 1938
Location: Black Creek, WI | Wow... great input so far. Not much to add.
I agree with:
1. Confidence & ANTICIPATION
But I also feel that those who APPLY their own experience/ideas rather than trying to DUPLICATE other's will more quickly achieve #1 above and accelerate their learning curve.
Things people need to learn over time to continue their success?
1. As Norm already stated.... simple cast/retrieve mechanics (presentation).
2. How to "read" a muskies attitude.... and react/respond to it.
3. Basic fish biology.
4. General Limnology stuff (current, stratification, etc.).
5. Boat Control.
Some of these things help improve PREDICTION of what might work... and some are related to the EXECUTION of your goal.
Neat topic Steve!!!
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Posts: 3156
| Network trust
theirs a reason you see certain guides in Minn on lakes in central one week, north the next ,west the next two.
information on a 'hot bite' makes everything else second |
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Posts: 5874
| 1. Body of water.
2. Location
3. Presentation
4. Weather
5. Boat Control
6. Attitude
7 Tackle
8 Season
9 Net/Release Tools
10. Boat
My first three may sound familiar, if spelled out. F=L+P Been using the In-Fish formula since the early 80's. Works for me.
What do you have up your.....er, sleeve, Riddler?!
Edited by Shep 12/8/2006 10:43 AM
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Posts: 16632
Location: The desert | Being able to teach
Patient
Able to make any situation funny
Well maintained equipment
Well Rounded knowledge of the lake as well as a historical background of the lake
Confidence in self, baits, and that the fish will show
Relaxed fishing
Extra supplies
Passion |
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Posts: 32926
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | OK, More. I need more opinions, ALLOT more! |
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Posts: 2112
Location: The Sportsman, home, or out on the water | Education, education, education. body of water, time of year, patterns, etc.
I would hire a guide to learn from him/ her, and nothing more, whether or not a fish was boated. |
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| for me it was (sorry if mentioned above):
perserverance
listening/paying attention to what i was told
asking questions
paying attention to your presentation
proper hookset and general down pat fundamentals
finding the right baits for the areas i was fishing
structure attack
thinking abnormally ( not on purpose most times)
dedication
knowing what gear will work or works for you despite what everyone else thinks (including but not limited to raingear, footwear, fishing gear, lures, electronics and even boat and motor)
proper release and landing gear
skipping lunch, dinner, breakfast the next morning and eating lots of copenhagen instead (probably not good at all)
Beer at night, advil all day
and number one was having fun/enjoyment.....if you want to be on the golf course when you're in the boat..........what's the point.
Edited by The Yeti 12/8/2006 11:07 PM
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Posts: 2024
| 1. Passion for the outdoors, without it you will be a very lonely man/woman in this game (gotta have something to appreciate on those fishless days!!!).
2. Goals. I would consider a gameplan a type of goal.
3. A clear understanding that the next cast could change your life. In other words, positve mental attitude (something I often struggle with...  )
4. Stay open minded.
5. Adept at casting accurately.
6. Gain as much knowledge on a lake/river as possible.
7. Maintain/upkeep your equipment.
8. Understand the value of catch-and-release.
9. Let go of your ego, you will be humbled quickly in this sport so be prepared.
10. Make sure you find something positive to take away from each outing!!!! |
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Posts: 519
Location: Bloomington, IL | I know some of these have already been listed but here's my $.02:
1. PMA - the right boat partner(s) are THE best kept secret in the boat
2. Confidence
3. Persistence
4. Adaptable
5. Do your homework - study maps/structure, KNOW YOUR FORAGE, techniques, etc...
6. Know your gear - know what lures work best with which rod/reels - test them out BEFORE your trips - having confidence in your lures/technique is a must.
7. Proper gear - rods/reels, terminal tackle, etc..
8. Boat control
9. Fish catching "tools" (as opposed to lures - a successful muskie angler does not need 100s of lures, but rather the proper fishing catching "tools". When it comes down to it, typically, most of us only use a dozen or so lures anyway.)
10. Net/release tools
To me, my top 3 definitely go hand-in-hand, but positive boat partners (PMA) will breed confidence, which in turn will breed persistence. This defintiely proved true when my buddy boated 2 low 40lb. class fish at the end of his trip after going 5 long days w/o seeing a thing.
Spring won't some soon enough.
Nupe
Can't catch 'em at home sittin' on your couch! |
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| Good question. Wow a lot of great stuff. Here are mine.
1. Enjoy nature and the people you are with.
2. Understanding fish movements in water system.
3. Find and recognize fish feeding spots.
4. Know how they set-up on these spots.
5. Good boat control
6. Choosing baits wisely meaning use the best percentage bait for hooking and holding fish.
7. Know how to work your baits.
8. Pay attention to detail. Weather, lunar, and follows.
9. Being able to adapt to the things learned when your paying attention.
10. Have a little luck on how the fish hit your bait. Meaning if you land them or not.
Later Paul |
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Posts: 1106
Location: Muskegon Michigan | #1 fish productive waters, #2 excellent G.P.S. SYSTEM #3 Use all the tools(cast,troll,livebait)#4 dont waste time with lures that dont produce#5 quit your day job and become self employed so you can fish more days #6 Join Muskies inc so you can use the lunge log #7 Own multiple boats one small and one large. the small one being cost effective for small lakes #8 marry a fishing woman #9 research,research, research, #10 for me the best thing I ever did was to quit using production plastic lures. As soon As I switched to hand made wood baits I started catching more Muskies. Kingfisher |
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Posts: 2687
Location: Hayward, WI | Sworrall, this is a tough question! Trying to rank them is even harder since so many aspects seem so important, but I'll give it a try.
1.) Positive attitude: Having every other piece of the puzzle together won't help if you get discouraged after not seeing anything in the first hour.
2.) A good understanding of the patterns of other fish (baitfish).
3.) Good boat control.
4.) Good mechanics.
5.) Good and properly maintained equipment.
6.) Be willing to think outside of the box.
7.) Experience/time on the water.
8.) Learn something from all experiences, good and bad.
9.) Try to learn what makes a spot a "good one."
10.) Having a decent selection of different types of lures.
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| 1. Good water. You can know about all the lures you want and how to work them, but if you fish water with tiny fish and/or not many of them, you're definitely at no real advantage.
2. Be able to fish a lot. Live on/near near good water. Have the type of schedule that allows you to fish a lot, and fish a lot during the best times. |
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Location: Athens, Ohio | #1. Persistence.
all else will work itself out. m
As was once said: |
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Posts: 32926
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | Keep the concepts coming. Don't worry asbout what others have said, because your ideas may be in different order or slightly different. This will take us all winter, but when we are done we will have a pretty good base of ideas.
Thanks! |
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Posts: 199
Location: Nebraska | PMA
Time on the water--you can't catch fish from your couch.
Boat control--the time you find the spot-on-the-spot is not when you drift over it.
Concentration--you shouldn't be suprised when it hits. You should expect a fish on every cast. If you don't why did you bother with that cast?
Six good baits that you know intimately will outfish a boxful of the newest, latest and greatest most every time. |
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Posts: 13688
Location: minocqua, wi. | 1. cast, retreive and boatside equipment mechanics that both avoid mistakes and limit fatigue
2. good equipment ... first, including rod, reel, line, net, release tools etc...
3. good boat control mechanics and positive attitude toward it
4. understanding of food and transition basics with an awareness of wind, light, weather and their effect on location and boat position
5. understanding of water selection for the given day (dark, clear, river ... water movement)
6. a bait progression based on a plan (speed, cadence, depth etc...)
7. solid map study and breakdown of feeding and transition areas (80% of the fish are in 20% of the water and eat 10% of the time)
8. understand what the good fishermen are doing and where they are doing it (loons and retired old men fishing for perch)
9. respect for others sharing the water
10. respect for the wild outdoors and leaving it the way you found it |
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Posts: 2
| 1. having fun
2. knowing your weather report
3. preparation/ planning your run according to weather and season
4. tools/ net, cutters, etc.
5. boat control
6. keeping your bait in the water
7. confidence
8. concentration
9. being able to adapt when your game plan is not working
10. patience |
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Posts: 8828
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1. Love of the game. If you're not having fun just being out there, you're not going to last
2. Knowledge of the lake (structure, forage, seasonal patterns, etc.)
3. Boat Control
4. Focus
5. Lure Selection
6. Positive Attitude (or just stubborn)
7. Physical conditioning/Stamina
8. Timing (Ability to predict feeding windows)
9. Presentation (how you work the bait)
10. Proper Equipment (Rods/Reels/Line) |
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| 1) Know your target. Read and study everything you can about muskies.
2) Know the waterbody. If it's not home waters, prepare by studying the maps and spend first time on new water in "search" mode.
3) Consider the seasonal weather patterns and apply accordingly.
4) Consider the daily weather pattern and apply accordingly.
5) Fish Location. If you've done your homework, locations can be narrowed down.
6) Presentation. Try a variety of presentations and colours, and let the fish dictate what they want.
7) Spend the time. It's possible to catch a fish in the first minute of fishing, but time on the water is what = fish in the boat.
8) Fish hard if you catch one. A feeding window may have opened and it's time to fish quickly and hit similar spots.
9) Make sure you are well equipped with heavy tackle and proper release tools and techniques BEFORE you start.
10) Keep it simple, and have fun.....that's why you got into fishing in the first place.
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