Following muskies

[Moneymurphy]

What's the ratio of fish you catch at the boat vs on the retrieve?

[50inchpig]

almost need 3 categories - on the retrieve, at the boat/end of retrieve, and on the figure 8

53% on the retrieve (57% of these are trolling fish)

15% boatside/end of retrieve

32% figure 8

lost fish are evenly distributed across the categories.

[john skarie]

That can vary greatly. This year 80% of my catches have been at boatside, either on the L-turn or in the oval.

Other years have seen little boatside action for me.

Fishing at night also tends to lead to more boatside catches.

JS

[50inchpig]

thought this was gonna be a good thread - nobody else is catching anything this year?

[kingfish689]

this is my first year fishing skis so I am still just practicing. I have caught 6 in past years on walleye gear with the largest being 53" caught that one on about a 22" walleye. I was just about to hand land the walleye when the fish came out from under the boat and ate my walleye with my fingers only about 6" from the walleye needles to say I thought I was going have change pants.But only have two this year and they were both on the retrieve. my figure 8 still needs a little work as I am seeing lots of skis boat side but cant seem to get them to commit this is where it would be nice to spend a little time with someone that knows more then I do so I could learn a little more about this part of it

[HugoBox]

I've caught more on the retrieve. I'm beginning to think that its not so much that I'm a "better retriever" but more so that my 8's aren't so hot. I fish a ton at night and have really tried to be diligent about 8's in the dark and for whatever reason I haven't had as many go at boatside. As far as blind 8's during the day, I keep thinking back to a post RK made a year or two ago about doing blind 8's in daylight as being similar to shooting randomly into the woods hoping to hit a deer.

And no, Mr. 50-Pig, maybe no one else is cathing fish!!

[RuKiddingMe]

Figure 8's are over rated I prefer to stop the retrieve and watch a pig swim away...

To answer the question, I have nothing on a figure 8 this year only retrieve/short line trolling.

[50inchpig]

"RuKiddingMe" is exactly the phrase that went through my head when you stopped your bait dead in the water as those gills flared and her mouth opened!

[RK]

Hiya -

Skarie's right - it varies from year to year and at different periods throughout the year. Sometimes it's 1 in 5, other times it's 5 in 5 that are caught at boatside. I went on a solo trip to Canada a few years ago and caught 29 in 9 days, and 20 of the 29 were at the boat. Other trips it's been the opposite.

I think the success rate with 8s has a lot to do with where you fish too. I know my success rate on lakes like Lake of the Woods are through the roof compared to heavily-pressured stateside waters. The other thing is lure type. I catch way more on fast-moving bucktails than jerkbaits, for example, and spinnerbaits are way up there too.

Bottom line - many, many variables.

I had the good fortune to spend a lot of time in the boat with Jack Burns, who for my money is one of the best there has ever been at getting fish to bite on an 8. I learned a lot watching him. One of the things I learned is to not give up on slow lazy fish.

Basically, my philosophy with figure-8s is to just keep playing keep-away with them. When they want to win the game, they will...

[Nick Kuhn]

7 of 7 this year for me have been on the retrieve (although one hit only about 10 feet out). I've had two smaller fish strike boatside, but didn't hook either. Also this year I've only had one fish just follow. Seems like I either catch one or get completely skunked, there's no middle ground this year.

[Foreverfish1]

2 for 2 on the retrieve for me this year. I've had follows but after my L turn they just swim away, never even had one hooked boatside...

I have had a few small northerns hit on the 8 that scared the daylights outta me but no muskies. Mostly I'm fishing pressured lakes so that may be a reason.

[jkahler]

3 out of 11 were on the figure 8 this year, a couple others hit pretty close to the boat. Had a few others strike during the 8 but didn't stick around long enough for a picture.

[nater]

5 out of 6 fish on the retrieve. The only figure 8 fish was at night. Had plenty go around on the 8 during the day but not commit. The baits I caught them away from the boat varied from bulldawgs, topwater wtd, and glide baits. Of course the figure 8 fish at night was on a bucktail. I'm enjoying fighting the fish to the boat for a change.