Muskie Help

[DHost21]

Ive fishing muskies for 3 years now and am really struggling catching some. I go out probably once a week and i read forums and colums all the time to figure out what to do where and when and i still cant figure the fish out. Just asking for some basic muskie advice. I fish the weed breaks and reefs the most but still dont have any luck. I fish mostly minnetonka, mille lacs, and waconia so if anyone has any info about those lakes that would be helpful.

[50inchpig]

I replied because I feel your pain D - my first few years time was limited and fishing was really tough. I read all the articles and stuff too but what really helped me was fishing with some other guys once I moved up here and seeing how they did it, things will start to click then. Plus tonka has been a little hit and miss this year.

Reading advice online isn't different than reading a magazine article, it only takes one fish to sound like an expert.

I'm up in the NE metro if you want to jump on my boat for an evening sometime. I do ok for myself and really once you fill in some of the basic gaps and start thinking right and building a little confidence things will start popping for you, sooner rather than later. Lessons learned up here can easily be applied to your normal lakes down there.

Networking with others is important too, joining MI and meeting other guys who fished my lakes helped me tremendously. Nice to know if you're not on the lake a few of your friends are and you can get a good report from them.

airmarc00 at yahoo it's airmarc zero zero

[urban cowboy]

Good stuff Pig,

I can relate to that as well. First couple of years I only had luck trolling. I couldnt get one casting. I hired a couple of good guides that helped me understand and match up the some of the puzzle and things seemed so much easier. Like the light bulb turned on to a curtain extent.... There is still so much to learn but learning from an experienced muskie hunter on the water is second to none.

Good luck and stick with it. You will be rewarded.

[urban cowboy]

I think the number one thing I learnded from them is boat control and how to fish curtain spots the right way.

[hunterjoe]

Marc's a good help. I'd take him up on his offer. He's put me on a lot of fish and whether we're in my boat or his, I let him run the TM and it seems he's always put us on fish. We haven't always gotten them to go, but we see them and that's a good day in my book.

[RK]

Hiya -

The learning curve with muskies can be a pretty steep one that's for sure. With a low incidence fish trial and error results in a lot of things on the "error" side of the equation.

Getting in the boat with experienced anglers really does help for sure - that's great advice. Other than that, keep things as simple as possible in terms of lure selection, write things down as you go to help you remember what you've experienced, and apply as much as you can what you've learned fishing for other things. Muskies are still just fish, and what you know about, say, bass fishing, can help you more than you think.

Above all - keep at it. Nothing can help you more than time on the water. I took my first cast for muskies 27 years ago, and I'm starting to think that someday I may get good at it.

Cheers,

Rob Kimm

[smeese]

Been fishing em for 3-4 years now, still no fish, but I sure have had fun shopping for the gear.

[hunterjoe]

BTW... if you do go take Marc up on his offer, make sure you unhook your own fish. He likes to let other peoples personal best jump out of the net before pictures. :-)

[Nick Kuhn]

Well one problem with Minnesota lakes is none of them are what could really be considered action lakes. Might be worth a trip or 2 over the border to hit some action lakes just to get some patterns down. The biggest thing is to just keep throwing at good structure and be observant.

Based on what I've seen this year, on Minnetonka I would be hammering the weed edges near channels between bays. I've seen a lot of esox along the baitfish highways this year.

[DHost21]

Wow thanks a lot guys thats a ton of helpful info! Esox id love to go fishing sometime and learn some things ive been trying to find a guide but just havent had the money so that would be awesome!!

[Apex]

Go out and fish every day and as hard as you can, unlike most people who claim to fish muskies

[delmuts]

You can learn alot if you spend a day( or a weekend!) with an experienced angler! I got to fish with Esox at a tournament thinking it would be not only fun, but i could learn a few things. Man was i right!!! I had a blast! You will have the chance to learn about techniques, equipement, locations, and the attention these guys pay to details. Plus you learn about thier obsession/addiction to all the lures they have! Any time you get a chance, do it!

[DHost21]

Yes I will have to do that it sounds unanimous that fishing with a experienced fisherman is the thing to do. So yes 50inchpig id really like to go fishing sometime. That would be awesome

[APCfishing]

Smart choice. He's as good as any guide out there if not better.

Im surprised he let me back in his boat after hitting him square in the forehead with my DCG after missing a hook set.

[HugoBox]

Dhost - I have no advice to offer because I'm a rookie at best an luck into a fish or two once in awhile. That said, in recent years I've gotten to know a bunch of guys who put quite a few fish in the boat and the one common factor is that these are VERY humbling fish. I'd also second or third the advice to jump in with 50.

Rob's advice about paying attention and noting things you notice is very good advice. If you figure out a lake with a decent musky population stick with it and try to learn a little bit of it at a time. I got made fun of last year for hitting the same lake for about a month without hardly every turning on the outboard. I probably wasted a lot of time doing that but I'd like to think I also learned a thing or two about 3 spots. Now if I can just find the darn keys so I can motor to three new spots...

[brad coin]

You didnt mention if your "seeing" muskies follow because if you are your not doing things all wrong,,,because alot of the metro because of pressure is turning into a night or figure 8 fishery in which the people that do well are the ones with the best figure 8 tricks,,you might try hitting the same spots at night and also speeding up your figure 8's

[50inchpig]

What Brad said there is what should be in the magazines. It's really that simple.

D, email me and we'll hook up sometime soon this summer.

Boxmeyer is definitely the king of catching fish close to boat ramps!

And T, at least I was wearing Velo's headlamp that night and not mine sorry, Velo, I still got that spot marked, maybe i'll jump in one hot evening and see if i can find it.

[Zelmsdawg]

I'm curious what everyone else thinks, but I've kinda written waconia off as a lower number but bigger fish lake. Do other people share this opinion or think differently?

What I'm getting at is it might help to fish a lake like Indy where theres more fish. And brad coin brought up a good point. If you're seeing fish thats at least a good step in the right direction. If you haven't seen many then something needs to change. But I'd take up offers to go out with someone. You'll learn a lot and perhaps have a boat partner for the future

Good luck,

Zelmsdawg

[justinT]

I would consider trying a smaller body of water. I fished the Minneapolis lakes from a little rig my first year and found them easier to break down and was fortunate to get the hooks in a few pretty early. I don't fish Waconia, but I know tonka's got plenty to wrap the head around and Mille Lacs is just huge.