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Posts: 375
| happy new year to all!
curious if any one has had success targeting muskies specifically in areas where carp are visibly spawning in the spring? |
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Posts: 2384
Location: On the X that marks the mucky spot | Carp like this are muskie repellent. I got to spend some time in a DNR electrofishing boat and whenever we saw carp we NEVER saw muskies. We did however find them not too far away on either side and out from the school (none shallower). |
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| look at musky first video you will see a poor musky swiming in the midle of those carp |
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Posts: 829
Location: Maple Grove, MN | Some of the largest Muskies I have ever caught were right in the middle of schools of carp. I have seen this pattern a number of times on those nice, warm summer days when the Muskies were hard to find. Just put on a larger copper/brown spinner bait or bucktail and cast the area out. Sometimes one needs to run the lure at different depths - especially if the carp in open water. Be sure to hold on tight to your rod because the Muskies near those carp are often large and will hit like a ton of bricks.
Of course, finding those schools of carp at this time of year can be hard....  |
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| My pb was caught in an area where small carp were surfacing. |
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Posts: 375
| another thing that made me think about this to begin with is that possibly since the muskies are spawning sooner, temperature wise, than the carp, they may just hang around knowing that the pre-spawn carp are going to show up soon! as far as spawning grounds, does anyone out think they both may use the same types of areas?
thanks... |
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| Muskie Treats - 1/3/2011 7:49 PM Carp like this are muskie repellent.
That is rubbish, Muskies eat small carp the same way they eat suckers, food is food! |
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Posts: 16632
Location: The desert | Not True - 1/5/2011 4:46 PM
Muskie Treats - 1/3/2011 7:49 PM Carp like this are muskie repellent.
That is rubbish, Muskies eat small carp the same way they eat suckers, food is food!
Fish can have prey preferences. All food is not equal.
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Posts: 2312
Location: SE, WI. | Pewaukee has been known for years....Find the carp and you will find the walleyes and musky. It is not so much the musky feeding on the carp, but the fact that the carp move so much bait around and the walleyes and musky key in on that activity. Either the carp are up high in the column or rooting the bottom is where the game fish will key in on. I have known guys back in the early 80's casting right in the schools of carp for all specie, especially walleye. I'm sure other bodies of water are similar when carp , gars, catfish, and any other large fish moving lots of water are present.....  |
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| i dont think so
they are just oportunist,something that move too close from their mouth is food.
hey if they bite on something ugly like a suik orange black dots ,i dont think they have real preference |
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Posts: 829
Location: Maple Grove, MN | I totally agree. I don't know what the Muskies preference always is, but it seems to change when they get hungry. Think about it. What does a bucktail look like to them and yet they still hit it.
My expereince indicates that Muskies are quite picky when they are in an inactive state. One has to do just the right thing with the right bait to get them to hit. But when they get good and hungry, they will hit almost anything that moves and looks like it might be food.
As for carp, I have seen Muskies take them right in front of my boat. On one occasion about ten years ago, a mid 50 inch Muskie hit about a 20 inch carp up in the shallows and then swam right by my boat with the carp in its mouth. I can't tell you how fast we had large brown bucktails and spinner baits on. We finished the day with five Muskies, three were +45 inches, and all were caught in the "carp" zone. We have duplicated that success several times over the years. Muskies aren't always with the carp, but it can get real exciting when they are.
My experience is that Muskies don't go by our rules. They do what they want. If they want to eat carp, they will - even if they aren't supposed to.
On those warm, sunny days when the Muskies aren't moving and the carp are surfacing, you all might want to try casting the area out. It just might pay off.
Edited by Herb_b 1/6/2011 9:16 AM
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| Herb_b - 1/6/2011 9:12 AM
On those warm, sunny days when the Muskies aren't moving and the carp are surfacing, you all might want to try casting the area out. It just might pay off. :)
Or not... |
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Location: Sun Prairie, WI | Three years ago, I saw a pretty good sized Musky, well over 40", chase a large Carp up onto an exposed rock pile. Both fish were out of the water and onto the rocks, with the Carp being completly out of the water and the Musky about 2/3 of the way out of the water and onto the rocks. Both fish had to wriggle and squirm their way off the rocks and back into the water. Don't know what triggered this, but it was an obvious attack on the Carp. Very cool to see. Scared the bejeezuz out of me when the water exploded from this happening. I was only about 15' away from both fish when this took place. |
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Posts: 829
Location: Maple Grove, MN | Yeah, but isn't everything Muskie related a "might" or a "could" or a "possibly"? Something that "might" work one day "might not" work the next.
The one thing I have learned about Muskie fishing over the years is that there are no rules. Muskies do what they want. There are no sure-fire lures or sure-fire methods of fishing. All one can do is try different things until one finds a pattern and often times there is no pattern. All to often, if one can just get one Muskie to hit your bait, you are doing good. And sometimes that one hungry Muskie just "might" be following a school of carp. And often times that is all one has - a big "might".
Just my experience.
Edited by Herb_b 1/7/2011 12:47 PM
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Posts: 1148
| Pointerpride102 - 1/5/2011 4:49 PM
Not True - 1/5/2011 4:46 PM
Muskie Treats - 1/3/2011 7:49 PM Carp like this are muskie repellent.
That is rubbish, Muskies eat small carp the same way they eat suckers, food is food!
Fish can have prey preferences. All food is not equal.
I remember reading a study of muskellunge diet where they had actully checked stomach contents. If I remember correctly, suckers were the #1 food source. It was the same study that proved walleyes to be roughly 5% of a muskie's diet.
However, would that mean the muskies prefer suckers over walleye or are the walleye just harder to catch? |
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| MartinTD - 1/7/2011 2:21 PMI remember reading a study of muskellunge diet where they had actully checked stomach contents. If I remember correctly, suckers were the #1 food source. It was the same study that proved walleyes to be roughly 5% of a muskie's diet. However, would that mean the muskies prefer suckers over walleye or are the walleye just harder to catch?
It will be dependent on the location, some will have more access to white fish, etc. One-third of the fish in the Ottawa River are catfish, so guess what the Muskies are eating
Take care. |
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Posts: 375
| it just "seems" to me that in an lake where the carp have been doing their "thing" in the exact same areas for a couple of decades that musky would "learn" this, and talk about easy pickins, hundreds and hundreds of carp in very shallow water for a few weeks every year just there for the munching!
i'm just sayin... |
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Posts: 4080
Location: Elko - Lake Vermilion | Stushsky,
You can't apply Logic to this thread LOL ! what's wrong with you.
Like the old saying goes: "If it swims, it's food"
Jerome |
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Posts: 375
| what was i thinkin...! it must be january...! |
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| FYI: The state record musky caught in Kentucky had a 2 foot carp inside it when they cut it open at the taxidermist... So yes, they do eat carp. |
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| Don't know about spawning carp, but...
1. The first musky I ever hooked was at the mouth of a creek where it flows into the Allegheny River. This area is frequented by carp of all sizes. My impression was and is that the musky was hunting. (He got away, by the way.)
2. I have seen big carp leap out of the water in a way that indicated that they had been startled or were being pursued.
3. I have seen a big carp up on the surface struggling with something that was trying to pull it under. In this water, only a musky or a tiger musky could have attacked that fish. |
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| A few years ago, there was photo in the Stevens Point paper of big musky either in the river or nearby slough, that had choked to death trying to swallow a big carp. Carp had to have gone five or six pounds.
Edited by North of 8 2/22/2011 9:56 PM
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Posts: 5193
| saw carp surfacing threw 10 to 12 inch jerkbaits two fish sev eral follows.I bet they eat carp.caught some nice pike in there also. b ram |
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| I live on a 100 acre private lake and have seen 40+ inch Pike following very close behind and right in schools of carp. Im thinkin the reason would be like mention that the carp are moving the baitfish around or spooking em... making easy pickings for the pike? |
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Posts: 8835
| I'm of the belief that muskies will eat whatever is available. They my not prefer carp in a lake full of ciscoes and suckers, but if the forage base is predonimantly carp, that's where you're going to find the muskies. They have to eat. What they eat depends on what's there. Pretty simple, really. |
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Location: Grand Rapids, MI | Muskie Treats - 1/3/2011 8:49 PM Carp like this are muskie repellent. I got to spend some time in a DNR electrofishing boat and whenever we saw carp we NEVER saw muskies. We did however find them not too far away on either side and out from the school (none shallower). I agree, spawning carp are muskie repellant. Yes muskies eat them but muskies are wierd about socailization and "elbow room". Spawning carp are something that seems to really move muskies out of an area. I've seen this with tigers and pure strain. |
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Posts: 392
Location: lake x...where the hell is it? | we have seem for years at the dam skis and carp swinin togather. when they are in spawn mode they dont care. the carp seem to show up a bit later then the skis but we have seem 20 skis with 30 carp, big carp. |
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Posts: 829
Location: Maple Grove, MN | Keep in mind that big carp, even carp over 5 lbs, are generally not going to be considered food and will just be ignored. But, a carp under one or two lbs is another matter entirely because they are small enough to eat. It seems that large spawning carp might be avoided because they do thrash around a lot when laying eggs and Muskies may not care for that. Know I wouldn't if I was a Muskie. Could you hold it down over there????
Sure is fun shooting those big carp with a bow and arrow though. Not as much fun as Muskie fishing, but close.
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Posts: 2691
Location: Pewaukee, Wisconsin | Plenty of storys about big muskies with carp T-boned and swimming by anglers. I personally find muskies like to hand around carp or the areas carp are using.
If you see packs of carp in May on Pewaukee Lake you better fish the areas around those fish.
I don't mean shallow water areas. 7ft and deeper water areas are the best. Anything shallower the carp are too much of a pain in the a$$ for the other fish to deal with. Maybe this is where some of the people think the carp will keep the muskies away.
There is a great pattern in late May or early June where the carp are moving out to deeper water and the muskies are all over the areas they are schooled up in. This is one pattern that I directly target the carp areas. Find the carp and you will find some big muskies.
Are carp the food or are the carp and muskies there for the food? Not sure but big carp colored baits catch the muskies.
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Posts: 149
| I remember reading a study of muskellunge diet where they had actully checked stomach contents. If I remember correctly, suckers were the #1 food source. It was the same study that proved walleyes to be roughly 5% of a muskie's diet.
However, would that mean the muskies prefer suckers over walleye or are the walleye just harder to catch?
You answered your own question. It doesn't matter if the muskies simply don't prefer walleyes or if it's because the walleyes are harder to catch, or if it's because they have sharp dorsal fins and are more difficult to eat. All those factors can be inter-related. If the walleyes are harder to catch, or are more difficult to eat they won't be preferred over species that are easier to catch or easier to eat like suckers (or carp).
In the study you quoted, musky stomach contents were sampled in 34 northern Wisconsin lakes. None of those lakes contain carp.
The study can be read here:
http://files.dnr.state.mn.us/fish_wildlife/fisheries/species/muskie... |
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