|
|
Posts: 540
Location: MN | Is it illegal to take the hooks off your lures and cast? I just want the follows. I was thinking about it when I was crappie fishing today and the muskies were chasing the crappies like crazy. Just thinking out loud. |
|
| |
|
Posts: 968
Location: N.FIB | if so put a bulldawg on and you could probably land the fish then. |
|
| |
|
Posts: 142
Location: Appleton, WI | According to the warden I talked to in MN last spring it is illegal as you are still targeting muskies.
|
|
| |
|
Posts: 540
Location: MN | I thought of that too I cut the top hooks off allready so I should be good  |
|
| |
|
| Your kidding right????
|
|
| |
|
Posts: 540
Location: MN | Just a little. |
|
| |
|
Posts: 189
Location: West Bend, WI | I take the hooks off and practice the figure 8 in the bathtub. I almost had a 50 pounder, it was my son. |
|
| |
|
Posts: 774
Location: South East Wisconsin | LMAO! |
|
| |
|
Posts: 283
Location: beloit | I had a truck driver at work telling me how he was up north fishing for crappie and he told me he decided to throw a bucktail to see if he could move anything. when I told him musky was closed he says "that doesn't mean you can't throw a bucktail around" |
|
| |
|
Posts: 541
| it would probably just be a 38" anyway! |
|
| |
|
Posts: 2893
Location: Yahara River Chain | Here on the Yahara Chain I had the warden tell me she talked to a coule of guys that just come off the lake with muskie gear in the boat. She told them that it was illegal to have those bait while out there and they said they were just trying them out. Not too bright doing that. |
|
| |
|
| LLS, good one... |
|
| |
|
Posts: 540
Location: MN | Lol LLS at least you can dish it out. I had a low 40" chasing one of my crappies it was going nuts until the crappie froze then she just swam away. Got me all jacked up though 1 1/2 more months to go!! |
|
| |
|
Posts: 1030
Location: APPLETON, WI | Unfortunately, "practicing" isn't even something anyone should be doing right now. Whether or not you're actually targeting the species - it's still illegal. |
|
| |
|
| I took about 20 new basement baits over to the dam the other day to test them. I did not have hooks on any of them so I figured I was fine. And I really wasn't "targeting" muskies as much as I was just testing the action. Either way, no one stopped me and I was outta there in 30 minutes or so. |
|
| |
|
| If you are just "testing the action," there is plenty of water to do that on where there is no muskies. So, picking muskie water is pretty obvious in your intentions IMO. These fish see so many lures over the course of a season. Throwing lures past these fish before season is just educating the fish IMO and actually may hurt your chances on those same fish once the season is open because they have "seen it before." Not to mention, these fish are still in pre-spawn and we don't need guys harassing these fish at this time as the spawn is a very stressful time for these fish, even if it is with no hooks. Just my 2 cents.
Edited by Baby Mallard 4/12/2010 10:42 AM
|
|
| |
|
Posts: 829
Location: Maple Grove, MN | While Northern Pike fishing a couple of years ago on Pike/Walleye opener, I had a game warden question me about the net I had along. I explained that we were only fishing Pike with small Pike sized baits, didn't have any Muskie baits or rods along, and had the big net because we were trying for big Pike. And we caught a couple too. I explained that we weren't after Muskies and routinely pulled our lures away from them, but wanted to be prepared just in case we accidently caught one.
The warden suggested bringing a slightly smaller net next time. Like I own nets for each species. 
I have seen a number of boats ticketed for "fishing for Pike" with muskie rods and lures. The DNR does not mess around in the metro so if someone does it, they are asking for trouble.
I have also seen people ticketed when they were targetting Bass during Pike season. Throwing plastic worms into Bass spawning areas claiming one is fishing for Pike is not to smart either. |
|
| |
|
Posts: 1462
Location: Davenport, IA | What do they do when people say they're fishing for big pike and thus using muskie baits? |
|
| |
|
Posts: 541
| I guess I fugured that it was o.k. to target big pike with muskie gear as long as it was'nt designated muskie waters maybe I'm wrong though! I wonder what there law is that actually states this stuff, espicially not even having hooks, it's not hardly considered fishing without hooks! |
|
| |
|
Posts: 540
Location: MN | I'm pretty sure that I watched a clip of a metro guide casting muskie lures with no hooks last year before season. As far as pike fishing with Muskie lures I think as long as your not hucking dbl10 and pounders you'd be ok. |
|
| |
|
Posts: 633
| I just try to stay off muskie waters before the muskie season opens. I will go fish lakes that have good pike populations with my muskie stuff. That way it will be just like my regular muskie season. It seems the only thing I land are pike anyways. I get muskies to follow, pike commit. |
|
| |
|
| I let my wife 'try out' one of my set-ups while I was Musky fishing once and she was tagging along. (She didn't have a license.) WDNR L.E. just happen to spot us from across the lake and came over to investigate. He didn't agree with the 'just trying it out' point of view, and issued a $190 citation. I guess to him it looked exactly like NOT just trying it out.  |
|
| |
|
Posts: 1460
Location: Kronenwetter, WI | double post
Edited by Cowboyhannah 4/12/2010 9:20 PM
|
|
| |
|
Posts: 1460
Location: Kronenwetter, WI | I used to obsess over skis all pre-season too. I think we go through phases as muskie fisherman, and I've kind of 'gotten over' feeling like all other fishing is somehow detracting from my musky skills. Maybe I'm mellowing out or maybe I'm just more confident that I'll get my share of muskies each season. Either way, I now use this time of year to develop my non-musky fishing skills by seeing if I can find walleye (river) or crappies. For example, yesterday, I drove around the lake visiting what I thought might be likely crappie spots. After a couple hours of searching and getting el-blankoed, I pulled into a deep trench near likely spawning grounds. Set 1 slip near the bottom, one at 4 ft and one half-way down. THe half-way bobber got hit by a nice crappie--set them all that way and was soon headed home with dinner for kiddoes who love them rolled in pancake mix and fried in a pan!
I guess my point is why not develop your skills fishing for other species, this will surely make you a better ski fisherman--we all love muskies---the rest are just BAIT---if you can find the bait, you can find the skis! |
|
| |
|
| Or you could read the regs and just fish legally... |
|
| |
|
Posts: 829
Location: Maple Grove, MN | This subject has always left me a little confused.
I saw a couple of boats on Minnetonka throwing Muskie baits yesterday. I would have gone over to see what they were up to, but my kids needed a bathroom break and quick. After running the boat as fast as she would go and locating the much needed bathroom, we went looking for the two boats, but they were gone. One of the other boats at the landing mentioned they saw them too. He was obviously not a Muskie fisherman and it was a little emberassing because after he mentioned it he asked me if I was a Muskie fisherman. All I could say was that I wait for the season, but that seemed lame at best.
I called the DNR and told them about it. They said they would tell the game warden. Unfortunately, I didn't get a good look at their boats. I kind of just fixated on those big baits they were throwing and was almost in disbelief that someone would be doing that on April 11th.
I suppose it is possible that they were throwing lures with no hooks. For all I know, they may have even asked the DNR for their OK and even could have been filming it. And then they might have just been fishing when they shouldn't have been. I have no idea what was going on for sure.
While one shouldn't be targetting Muskies before the season, its almost impossible to prevent a Muskie from biting on your line if they want to. Like some have said, the best thing would probably be to fish non-Muskie lakes until the season opens. But that is not practical for some and many Muskie lakes have very good Pike fishing. And its hard to give up good pike fishing that is close to home.
I wish I knew the answers for all this. I guess there is the white (stay off Muskie lakes entirely) and black (fish for Muskies before the season). Then there are the grey areas which lie somewhere in between.
By the way, sorry I got crabby earlier.....
Good fishing all. |
|
| |
|
Posts: 720
| Wow,
There is a lot of bad advice on this thread. You can't target muskies, fish for them with baits without hooks and you certainly can't claim to be fishing for big pike while using musky gear. Any of these will draw conservation officers attention. All of these are considered poaching. I'll throw this one out. How about going to a state that doesn't have a closed season? |
|
| |
|
Posts: 829
Location: Maple Grove, MN | Hunter4, I totally agree that going to a state where the season is open is best. I'm "hoping" to do that in a few weeks. I'm also hoping to win the lottery.
The question may be more down the lines of "what is acceptable on Muskie waters during the offseason?"
I've been on Muskie lakes when the Muskies were hitting everything including small spoons and beetle spins. Sometimes you can't keep the Muskies off, but someone might think you're targetting them when they keep hitting your lures. I agree about not throwing Muskies lures, but what do you do when the Muskies are eating your Walleye jigs or small spinner baits intended for Pike? Pull off the lake and go to another one? What if that is not practical? Just go home?
Those are the tough questions IMO. |
|
| |
|
| Yes..you CAN use Musky gear to fish Pike in waters that have both Pike and Musky in them, as long as you're not catching Musky. Now, before somebody goes ballistic here--I wrote to and interacted with three different game wardens (WI) on this very matter a few months ago, because of the conflict of using similar gear and lures when fishing an upcoming Pike tournament, during the Musky closed season. While there was a warning that IF Musky were being caught we'd better be sure to do something different (use different tools'), there was also an acknowledgement that sometimes small Muskie baits and Pike baits are the SAME. And sometimes rods and reels are the same. And...location, etc. Let's not be so quick to assume that all Game Wardens are idiots, and just looking to write a ticket.
|
|
| |
|
Posts: 1460
Location: Kronenwetter, WI | A person's intentions are usually given away with their gear. A spin-cast rig with braided line is sufficient for pike fishing in most waters. These guys with big bait-casters tossing big baits that claim to be pike fishing are lying, maybe even to themselves. |
|
| |
