how long did it take you to get you first musky?

[piker007]

I'm new and came up to Miltona last year to fish musky for a week. I had 2-3 follows and my wife caught her first but I never connected. Now we're back this year. So far 2 follows and managed to bring 1 back with figure 8 after he left. My bro had a follow too. But still haven't connected. Its only been 2 days of fishing this year and a week last year of pretty hard core fishing. I think I have my thousand casts in? I read on here some guys getting multiples in a day or weekend is that normal. I'm kinda wondering if I doing something wrong?

[BrianLucky13]

Took me 2 years before I connected. Keep trying cause they can come easy after the first one. I'm on my 10th year now and I've had over 500 hundred that have hit the net. Good luck and keep casting. Try open water over Miltona now...

[10,000 Casts]

I went about a year before I put one in the net. Saw fish pretty much everytime out but just couldn't get one to go. Finally got my first one on a topwater when I wasn't really paying attention.

[Scoot]

Sorry to be "that guy", but I boated one about an hour into my fishing musky outting ever. Took a whole lot longer to get #2 though!

[Esox_Magnum]

2 years for me fishing 20-40 hours a week....

[Jcup]

Two summers for me. Lots of follows but none connected. I'd like to think I have learned a lot since then. Put six in the boat already this year with two, two fish days! But, still haven't joined the 50 club. Thats my next goal. This could take awhile

[Stringerless!]

Took me two years also.

[Yooperguy]

If it were easy we'd call them walleyes instead of muskies.

[Nick Kuhn]

A few months. I actually had my first muskie on about 15 minutes into my first trip. Lost it and then was quite humbled for a long time after that.

[mainbutter]

Four canada trips with multi-species fishing not specifically targeting muskies.

Or, my first outing specifically targeting them.

[tonyjor]

I'm going on my 6th year and still haven't landed one so don't feel too bad. I typically go fishing 8-12 times a summer for 4 to 6 hours each. I should be at 10k casts by now. Vacationing at Kabekona bay on Leech next week so I hope it's my time

[Fred_Bear]

If you can find a good, seasoned musky fisherman to take you out, your learning curve will be greatly shortened.

I spent my whole first season of musky fishing by myself and with other friends who had never musky fished and it was a rough season with no fish in the boat.

The next year, I went out with someone who had been chasing musky for many years and knew what he was doing. I didn't catch a fish with him (and still haven't actually) but just being in the same boat with an experienced musky fisherman taught me 10x as much as I learned the year before by myself. The following week after fishing with him, I put 4 in the boat and missed a bunch more and have never looked back. Find someone with experience to take you out a time or two, it's invaluable for someone new to muskies.

[leechlake]

my first time out I caught a 42" on Leech Lake and it had a radio antenna wire sticking out it's belly and the next four times out I went 3 for 4 although they were pretty small. I thought I was legendary. I then went about zero for 30 but in that streak of not catching a fish I had a 50" or so slap her tail against the boat chasing a Mud Puppy and that was the most thrilling thing I had ever experienced fishing for musky's.

[SmellEsox]

First time muskie fishing back in 1987 on Lake Chicagon in Upper MI. Caught about a 28" muskie on an oversized bass spinnerbait (I didn't have any muskie lures). The thing went instantly airborne to almost head high (or so it seemed). I was hooked from that point on. Its been hard to fish anything else since.

[camando56]

This is my second summer chasing musky and I have not put one in the boat yet, 3 dozen plus follows last year and after 2 outings this year I have had 2 follows so far. I get excited enough when I get a follow dont know what ill do when I catch one. Probably have a permanent smile on my face.

[nocturnalmotors]

Little over a year here and I still struggle until Late September, then it gets easier to use suckers.

What kind of patterns are going on now? I'm going on my 3rd year of busting my butt in the spring and summer and having a heck of a time finding them. Maybe because my lake is more of a trophy lake than a numbers lake? Weeds are just starting to come up @ 70 deg_F surface temp. Deep weed edges are 18'-24'... 12' clarity.

[MuskieFever]

Took me 3 years to put one in the net, lost one at the boat the year before that. Since then I've put at least one in the boat every year. I fish the metro a lot, and am finally learning good tactics out there. My best advice is to go north to a smaller lake with numbers and less pressure. Confidence is huge for muskies. Also, don't make the mistake on buying a ton of lures right away like I did and have been doing. Buy about 10-15 lures total and learn to fish them well; get one black and another in a brighter color and that should do it. Best of luck to ya! These fish can drive ya crazy but they're worth every cast!

[piker007]

I'm going on my 6th year and still haven't landed one so don't feel too bad. I typically go fishing 8-12 times a summer for 4 to 6 hours each. I should be at 10k casts by now. Vacationing at Kabekona bay on Leech next week so I hope it's my time

[raiserlures]

one year and 4 days. mantrap lake. Good luck and i know how it feels.

[Tommy1990]

I got my first one the first year I was allowed to use my Dad's boat without him being there. It was the summer after I graduated high school and he started to trust me enough to take the boat out of the garage and take it to the metro lakes. Since I didn't have to fish on his schedule, I was able to put in a lot more time on the water and stuck a 51" as my first.

As others have said, fishing with someone who has experience is huge. Time on the water is the other biggest thing. Keep fishing and trying different types of spots. Weedlines, midlake humps and reefs, rock bars etc. They all have their times to turn on. You just have to be there when they do.

[Shammy]

It can take a while and guys that have caught plenty go through rough times or years where they don't catch squat. I have caught several 40+ muskies..lost count. I haven't boated one in 3 years. I have fished lake bemidji, plantangenet, minnetonka, french, lotw, little fork river, little boy, big boy lake in all of those three years and I have struck out completely. I have had several on and many follows/swipes and firgure 8 ters. Im to the point where Im getting pretty darn frustrated. BUT! I know from fishing these toothy bastards that it can go like this if you fish them long enough. It will turn on though, it's just a matter of time.

[Bucktailer]

HIRE A GUIDE!!! It's worth every penny. Pay attention to what they are doing, how they work structure, what type of structure they target when and why, etc.

Josh Brovosky, and Jason Hamernick are top notch guides that are more than happy to share a tone of info with you. I have fished with both of them. Both know the metro very well, as well as Mille Lacs, Vermillion, Miltona, and many others.

Jerry Sondag, Dustin Carlson, Pete Brzynski, Bob Turgeon, Dave Williamson, Ty Sennett, are others that can teach you more than you can imagine.

To answer your question...I caught 8 muskies my 1st year on my own.

I've fished with several guides since then and caught 60 last year.

[Cicada]

A couple of years after I moved to Minnesota, the walleye fishing was slow in our area. I started going to a small local muskie lake. Had some follows the first few times out, but no hookups. The baitshop owner in town thought I might be figure 8ing too slowly. Next time out, I had a small follow and picked up the pace. He crushed it like a big boy even though he only ran about five pounds. A few weeks later, I picked up my first legal fish. In the next two and a half years, I boated just over eighty muskies, mostly in the 36 to 42 inch range, but a few over 18 lbs including my personal best 48". The following year, the walleye fishing picked back up and I rarely fish more than a couple of times a year for them anymore.

[CANOPY SAM]

Spent a few years for my first, and an insane amount of money!

Oh if I could only have one musky in the boat for every shiny fandagled musky lure I've bought over the years!

[hauntedbywaters]

It took a few months. I agree with the other guys who said going out with an experienced musky hunter will help a lot. Also, hit the numbers lakes. I also found that sometimes they can be sitting in shallow water a lot more often than you would think.