I need Advice on Musky fishing?

Question

My boyfriend is crazy about Musky fishing. He has all the equipment anyone can have. still wants more.. he says he has the musky fever thats what it is called. :) well my question is if you have any advice on how i can help him to catch a musky, he hasnt caught one yet.and he started fishing for them like 1 year ago. He has stuff for musky that value around $2,000. He reads lots of books and articles, hes subscribed to Musky HUnter. Any advice?

Answer 1

1st. of all, muskies are teritorial. I used to live in central Michigan. Many of the big lakes there have muskies in them. Since I had a cottage on an Island I had the chance to learn more about them & there habits than most books give. For instance, they don't socialize well with other muskies. When & if you finally find a muskie or school of them you've found the gold mine. they don't venture out to far from a certain area. I've had at least a 40 pounder on a deep sea rod 4 different times. It was in the exact same area each time I locked into it. The most memorable was when a friend of my step son was with us & supposed to handle my landing net to help get it out of the water. I managed to bring it up about half the length of it's body. We were on a pontoon boat & I could see the dorsal fin in his back. I had betwee 2 1/2 to 3 foo of him out of the water. I couldn't even stretch my hand out wide enough to cover it's eye span! Michael just stood there with his mouth agape and couldn't move. the muskie spit out my bait and dropped into the water. When it circled it was as long as the pontoon tips are wide. 66" +. My deep sea rod had 40lb test on it. The other 3 times he broke my line, or pulled the not loose to the piano wire leader had. Each time I'v had this mean *** fish on my line he's gotten away, but not without my having a different witness to the fact with me. Once was an Indian friend of mine with his wife. He was a former under cover narcotics officer & seargent with the Detroit's Nasty boys! When my fish got away, it went after the 3" ball bobber on my line. It was one of those with the stem in it. It removed the ball & left tooth marks in the stem. If he gets ahold of one of these bad boys, use extreme caution due to the amount of razor sharp teeth. they can inflict a serious amount of pain & damage. I use a very large hook, & a very large pan fish for bait. Usually the biggest bluegill I catch. Trim off part of it's tail fin with scissors so it can't swim fast. Trim down it's top dorsel fin & then put the hook through it's back through the meat area. Don't get to low and puncture the air sack,ie lung. Set your float at 6 to 7 feet deep. Open the reel lock or bail on open cast and wait. Fish around for something else as it may take some time and until you've found your first one to locate a specific area, you'll really get bored waiting it out. Believe me it's worth the wait & finding there spot. In the case of this lake it had a deep trench in it by one of it's islands. It was several hundred feet long, and around 90 feet deep. the local marina had told me about seeing some down around 60 to 65 foot deep. they figured by the size on the chart that they would probably go from 60 to 80 lbs ea. One of those that size gets away in your boat it can almost take off your leg! I know it's been long, but Live bait and finding area is the best thing I've known about. All the artificial crap can't hold a candle to their natural food. Especially an injured fish that can't get away into the weeds easily.

Answer 2

It really depends on the local laws regarding the use of bait. My best setup for fishing for musky and tiger musky is just a simple one. I use a 6 foot ugly stick fishing pole with a monofiliment line. I attach a steel leader with 2 treble hooks on it. On the hooks I use 1/2 of a small sucker fish as bait. This is the part you have to check with your local laws on. Some states do not allow the use of garbage fish like sucker for bait. I put a 4" bobber on the line. I slowly troll and fish the drop-offs of a lake, especially in the cold weather. You may have to fish deeper. I use a very small, very quiet trolling motor to get into position. After that, I cast and wait. It is probably the waiting that is killing him. Some times I have to wait 1/2 to 1 hours. As soon as you see the bobber go down (it will go down fast), wait 1-3 minutes before setting the hook. The musky has to relax his jaws before you set the hook. If you set the hook too soon, the hooks will hit all those teeth and pop right out.

Hope this helps. I've been fishing musky since I was a small child. Just giving you my experiences.

Answer 3

He just wants to catch one? If he's not picky, he should downsize. He may be trying to catch a 30 incher with a 25 inch lure. Maybe he should spend more time in the boat and less time reading Musky Hunter. He needs to be out there pounding the water. Or trying a different lake.

Answer 4

Where has he been going ? I've been three times and have caught only 2 ,,one was 41 inches and the other was nothing to bragg about,,,I no its hard,but I just stuck with the same lure(black and red buck tail in line spinner),,,My brother and I had 25 follows one day at lake Vermilion in Minnesota but no bites,,you just have to keep going untill your there on the right day that their hungry! We went a little to early in 2005 water temp was low 50's
We only saw 1 Muskie ! in 5 days

Answer 5

The biggest trick is when he is retrieving his lure and it is about 5 feet from the boat he needs to make a figure 8 with it in the water. This will allow him to see if a muskie is following the lure. Also make sure his lures haven't been contaminated with any foreign substance that would make them stink.

Answer 6

It sounds like you need to find him a lake with Muskies in it.

Coach

Answer 7

my dad caught a musky once, and heres how he did it. all he did was sit his rod on the edge of a dock in really shallow water, with no bait or anything. no special rod, or line or hook. and the fish comes right up and bites the hook. but i dont recomend this cuz it would be a waste of time. but good luck anyway...

Answer 8

well, get a boat! you cannot fish for musky if you dont have a boat. then you topwater lures, make sure the lures are LOUD!

Answer 9

take the boy fishing you cant catch them in a book