Jump to content
  • GUESTS

    If you want access to members only forums on HSO, you will gain access only when you Sign-in or Sign-Up .

    This box will disappear once you are signed in as a member. ?

Muskie Sickness....pls help....


cableguy031

Recommended Posts

Please Help.

A week ago I was at a Metro Lake at the storm drain inlet to the lake after a good storm. I saw at least 5 rather large (40+ inches) Muskies in the water. They were sitting at the inlet waiting for things to be washed down from the rain. There were 2 people fishin', myself included. The other guy caught a bluegill and he let it dangle over the ledge for maybe about 10 seconds and a Muskie came at it like a torpedo and slammed it like there was no tomorrow.

I caught a Muskie myself about 1 hour later with a spinner bait. He was only about 30 inches so I let him go. Ever since then I cannot get this sickness out of my head. I've been wanting to catch more Muskies but for the last 3 days I saw Muskies at the same place yet I cannot get them to hit my lures.

I've tried from small suckers, fatheads, crappie minows, even leeches (secret stash), and artificial lures. I've getting frustrated because I can see them sitting on the sand bar and move up and down as if they're taunting me.

Please tell me what am I doing wrong and what can I do to make a more attractive presentation. All I want is a Muskie or even a Tiger Muskie before the 2005 season is over.

Thanks,

Jason

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You may be catching them right after dinner time, and they may be digesting a nice fat carp or sucker. Seriously though be ready for lots of outings like this , that is musky fishing and that is why alot of people don't partake in it....takes alot of patience sometimes. Try bouncing a j-mac jig with a plastic trailer, or a bulldawg along the bar or if you get desperate try a black weightless plastic with as long of a snake like tail you can find and jerk it along. Sometimes no matter what you do you can only come back to try another day. It can be an excercise in futility but when you least expect it one can be destroying one of your baits.! You now have the disease that drains bank accounts and makes the common man nuts! Congratulations!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's the end of the world, as you know it..........

Life is over, other than spending a bazillion dollars on gear and tackle (note: most of those lures you will never use, but dang do they look COOL!!!!!!)

You will find that you will get to a point of where you can't converse with anyone in public, unless it is about muskie fishing.

Your best buddy will tell you about his 10lb walleye, and you will smirk and shut him down with your story of a 40" follow and get just as excited about telling the story, as you were when you saw the fish follow....

You will also find that your friends will be much older than you and those new found friends only muskie fish......

Then when the smoke clears.......You will hate these fish.......It is a love/hate relationship..........You will go out on a "non-perfect" day, with blue-bird skies, during the vast heat of the summer and find active fish shallow........Boating 3 fish in 15 minutes...........Then for the next month, you won't see a fish...........

Good luck and have fun!!!!!!!!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I guess you're right, they do know how to screw with your mind. I just realized that I've been crabby and dry around my wife.

Those darn Muskies!!! I'll get them!!!

Can anyone show me some basic know-how? I live in St. Paul and I usually fish anywhere from Bald Eagle, White Bear, Fish Lake, Calhoun, or Harriet.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I got muskie fever two and a half years ago, haven't been the same since. I totally agree with Gig G. It will drain your bank account and make you insane at times. I have friends that tell me about all the big walleyes they catch and it doesn't excite me like it used to. I just tell them about the 45"er that followed my lure to the boat, smiled at me and then turned and swam away. grin.gif I would suggest joining Muskies Inc. or start reading Musky Hunter magazine. And also fishing as much as possible. There is no known cure for muskie fever. Catching a 45"er helps, but then all you will think about is catching a bigger one next time. Good luck. grin.gif

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I hear you man! I am leaving tomorrow for Florida and am going to Bass Fish Monday. I should be excited, but all I can think about is my trip Oct 6 - 10 to vermillion to Muskie fish. I think I have fallen victim as well. I live in the west metro (Victoria), I am new to the area (muskie and walleye are new to me as I am from Missouri) I have an 18.5 foot Lund fisherman and am game to fish anywhere nearby. If anyone wants to show me the Muskie ropes, I will supply Boat and Gas. I do have some basic Muskie gear and am adding to it at every chance I get. I am anxious to learn. Shoot me some e-mails (randalltmiller@msn.com) as I am usually fishing solo.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I fell victim to the muskie sickness a little over four years ago. I have always been an avid fisherman but never gave muskies much of a thought since I didn’t live on a muskie lake.

A little over four years ago I met a friend who was very much into muskies. I sat and listened to all the stories about this massive and magical fish. Follows to the boat, strikes on the eight..etc.

Being an avid fisherman I thought I would just give muskie fishing “ a try”! Oh my lord, four years later I have six muskie rods, a new boat and well over 300 baits. I am truly a muskie nut. I love these crazy fish. These darn fish are about all I think about when I am on the water. Even when I end up on a body of water that does not hold muskies, I figure eight my bait at the side of the boat...even if its just a hook and worm! My wife thinks I need to “see someone” to get help!

One of the best experiences I have had since becoming a muskie nut, is meet all the other muskie nuts out there. I have met so many nice people on this web site...and I am grateful for all the wisdom that is passed around. Thanks to all. smile.gif

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Quote:

One of the best experiences I have had since becoming a muskie nut, is meet all the other muskie nuts out there. I have met so many nice people on this web site...and I am grateful for all the wisdom that is passed around. Thanks to all.
smile.gif


Definetly a good group of anglers from all corners of the state, and even a few we let in from wisconsin(cooter,jkh431, ect.) wink.gif We all can share information, ideas and even a debate from time to time. What I really like about FM is we are all equal from the pros and guides to the poor fellows just getting started into musky fishing.I cannot recall a time that I had to clean up a post or read some attack on somebody personaly on the musky pike forum, other then some good old ribbings.

This is why I had no question about advertising on this web site and not another, I put alot of work into my business reputation and wouldn't risk having it drug through the mud on a forum.

Good point cliffy, a good forum without the drama just alot of friendly poeple. Thanks every one for all the help getting me adjusted to the metro waters. This forum was the key for me finding success after I moved down to the cities.

Now all we have to do is convert a few more bass guys. smile.gif

Link to comment
Share on other sites

One of my main suggestions to anyone starting out in this "disease" is to be prepared. By that I mean, be prepared to land, handle, and release a very large fish. If you don't have the tools to do this, I would strongly suggest not fishing for them until you do. This is not only for the fish, but more importantly for your own safety. If you aren't prepared with proper release tools such as a long needle nose, hook cutters, a good quality landing net, etc., a musky can quickly do some serious damage to your hands.

I've been fishing for them for 15+ years. So I feel that I could definitely handle a good sized musky even if I didn't have all the proper release tools with me. But that being said, if I didn't feel that I had all the tools to land, handle and release the biggest fish of my life, I would not target muskies that day.

I took a rookie of the musky game out fishing yesterday. He's a good fisherman. But he just hasn't handled fish of that size. He caught a 39" fish (his second ever). Not a huge fish by musky standards. But even a fish of this size, he really struggled to handle this fish. He had me unhook the fish (while we kept the fish in the net in the water; this is very important to do!) because he didn't feel comfortable handling a fish of that size with trebles hanging there. Once the hooks were out, I got a quick measurement and put her back in the water in the net.

At that time, he went to grab her so we could get a quick photo or two for him. Again, because he hasn't caught fish of this size, he really struggled with grabbing it, not knowing how to grab or hold a fish of this size. He did fine. But it just took awhile for him as I coached him through it. Each time in the future will just get easier for him.

My point again, just be prepared to catch the biggest fish of your life. Have the tools to protect yourself and ensure a good release. Catch and release is critical in musky fishing to ensure that we continue to have the great quality musky fishery that we have today. And to ensure that you can continue to fish for them, you also want to keep all your limbs in tact, and not bandaged up because you had to get stitched up from hooks or their razor sharp teeth. This sport is expensive enough. You don't need to add to it with a trip to the ER!

One other important thing...proper equipment...rod, reel, line. I don't know if you're equipped with a musky set up. But you don't want to target them with your typical bass or walleye rig. Several reasons...you won't be able to use the best baits for muskies. They're simply too big to use with light tackle. You also greatly reduce your chances of landing a fish on light tackle. When you finally get that big one to eat, you don't want to lose it because your equipment couldn't handle it. And another big reason is the fight time. If you're lucky enough to land a big musky on light tackle, this fish will likely be pretty stressed out. It will take a lot longer to successfully release this fish. And unsuccessful releases are much more common with long, stressed out battles.

Welcome to the sickness. If you have questions as you go, ask away. You've come to a great place to get answers to any questions you might have!

Aaron

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yup, all great info here, and who would except anything less from this great site we call FM!!

I think the biggest thing to have in musky fishing is patience coupled with a diehard attitude... I sometimes compare seeking out muskies on the water like hunting trophy deer on land... There are no rules when it comes to chasing big green fish or big racked deer and this is what compiles the problems you call "muskie sickness"... it seems each day on the water, an angler will learn something new and totally off base from what we knew from the previous year or the previous day... It's one of the joys of fishing, and what draws us anglers back to the water!!

But by being patient and using a diehard attitude, that day will come when Mrs. Big engulfs your lure and let's you pose with her for a photo!! All your hard work and patience finally paying off, leaving you with a memory that no angler could ever forget!!!!

So the more time you put on the water and seek out these fish, your sickness will be cured, well for that day anyways!! grin.gif

Link to comment
Share on other sites

About a year ago after I bought my bait Shimano bait casting rod and Shimano Calcutta reel I was playing around and practicing how to cast on White Bear Lake.

I had a Jitterbug on the line trying to learn how to adjust my reeling so that the lure works the way it supposed to. I must have cast about 20 or so times not to mention about 15 times of back-lashing and inventing a few new words. As I was confident enough I began to losen the brakes up a bit and launched a good one some distance.

Now, I've hit bass and northern before but never a Muskie so I didn't know how it would hit on the line. The next thing I saw was rather large swirl and my Jitterbug disappeared out of sight. I tightened up the line a bit and felt a tug, went to set the hook and all hell breaks lose.

Here I am thinking I've hit the king bass or something but as I was haning on, my drag got pulled out quite a bit. To make a long story short, it took about 15 minutes for this Muskie to give up and let me bring him in. Got my scale out and took his measurements. It was a 22 lb. 48 in. Muskie. I couldn't believe my eyes and ever since then the urge and the "sickness" for Muskies have been creeping closer and closer to me.

Want to see my Muskie? Go to Gimp's Bait Shop on Rice and Maryland in St. Paul, my pic is on the wall.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

AWH Thanks for the prepared post. Some good points for someone like me. My question is with hook cutters, when do you use them. Deep hooked fish I am guessing and where do you cut the hook. At the O ring? On the shaft? I have caught several northern and never gut hooked them with an artificial lure, I guess a muskie being much bigger will get a deeper hook on occasion. Do you use single hooks or keep the trebles on? I have also heard of Muskie anglers using barbless, what are your thoughts?

Thanks again

Randy

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You want to cut the hooks as short as possible when they are hooked deep, sorta like leaving a sliver behind. The fish will dissolve this hook and be just fine. My rule of thumb is if I have pull, tug or tear I will cut the hook off. Also if hook removal is going to create bleeding, or is even close to the gills or rakers I cut it off. Hooks are cheap. As far as barbless hooks that is an age old debate that no one can really decide on.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I agree with Jon on the hook cutting issue. Sometimes “where” you cut depends on just how the hook is embedded in the fish too. But the best place to cut is as close as you can get to the barb. I don’t have to cut a lot of hooks. I find that a quick jab (rather than tugging on the hook) with my 11” needle nose usually does the trick. If not, then I’ll take the hook cutters out.

The one thing that I’ll do when cutting hooks is that I’ll remove the piece that’s left in its mouth. Although the fish will probably be fine. I like to grab the loose piece with my needle nose and leave the fish without any debris in its face. However, I’m not going to struggle with this. If it’s not going to be a quick thing to do, I’ll forget about it and let it take care of itself. I want to handle the fish as little as possible to ensure a good release.

A note on hook cutters. They aren’t all created equal. There can be a huge difference in quality. And with musky hooks being as big as they are, you want one that will cut them with ease. The first set I had looked to be heavy duty. But you had to be at just the right angle to cut a hook. And it made the job very hard. I now have a Knipex cutter and I would recommend it to anyone. I’ll never go out without one.

Barbless? I haven’t tried barbless. But if or when I do, I’ll probably experiment on my bass/walleye baits first.

Aaron

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think I caught muskie fever while visiting my brother's in-laws up in Eagle River, WI in early August this year.

I've never heard of this before, but the muskie in those lakes are actually the predominant predatory fish. The Northern Pike are far and few between for some reason.

My wife bought me a 7-foot custom Medium/Heavy spinning rod from Midwest Rod & Reel along with a Quantum Energy e40pTi spinning reel for my birthday which was coincidentally before our trip up north.

The night before our trip, I bought a Bucher SlopMaster Buzzbait, a PaceMaker, and a couple of Mepps's Musky Killer's. I didn't have a line in the water and felt like I already had this disease known as "muskie fever". grin.gif

Since this was my first time muskie fishing (I normally fish for bass), I was bewildered when it came to chucking these enormous lures into the water. I felt like I was throwing pieces of 2"x4" wood into the lake with a couple of treble hooks hanging off for good measure.

At 7:45 p.m., I tossed my Pacemaker against a wooded shoreline with extensive cover as far as reeds and cabbage. Halfway to the boat, I had my first follow... I could hardly continue reeling in my lure after seeing the swirl this beast had made in the water in front of me. He didn't strike and I didn't catch anything that trip... but I managed five follows that outing with my brother.

Not only will I never forget the trip and memories I made with my brother who I don't get to see too often... but I can officially say I now have muskie fever. grin.gif

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Welcome to the club. Though I've had my fever/sickness level elevated a bit more today. I caught a 36 in muskie at a metro lake. He fought about 15 mins, all well worth the fight.

And yes, the muskies are bting and yes, they're fattening up for the winter. Woo hoo!!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.


  • Your Responses - Share & Have Fun :)

    • You got word censored cuz you said        B o o b ies….. haha.   Yeah, no… grilling is on hiatus for a bit.
    • Chicken mine,  melded in Mccormick poultry seasoning for 24 hours.  Grill will get a break till the frigid temps go away!
    • we had some nice weather yesterday and this conundrum was driving me crazy  so I drove up to the house to take another look. I got a bunch of goodies via ups yesterday (cables,  winch ratchet parts, handles, leaf springs etc).   I wanted to make sure the new leaf springs I got fit. I got everything laid out and ready to go. Will be busy this weekend with kids stuff and too cold to fish anyway, but I will try to get back up there again next weekend and get it done. I don't think it will be bad once I get it lifted up.    For anyone in the google verse, the leaf springs are 4 leafs and measure 25 1/4" eye  to eye per Yetti. I didnt want to pay their markup so just got something else comparable rated for the same weight.   I am a first time wheel house owner, this is all new to me. My house didn't come with any handles for the rear cables? I was told this week by someone in the industry that cordless drills do not have enough brake to lower it slow enough and it can damage the cables and the ratchets in the winches.  I put on a handle last night and it is 100% better than using a drill, unfortatenly I found out the hard way lol and will only use the ICNutz to raise the house now.
    • I haven’t done any leaf springs for a long time and I can’t completely see the connections in your pics BUT I I’d be rounding up: PB Blaster, torch, 3 lb hammer, chisel, cut off tool, breaker bar, Jack stands or blocks.   This kind of stuff usually isn’t the easiest.   I would think you would be able to get at what you need by keeping the house up with Jack stands and getting the pressure off that suspension, then attack the hardware.  But again, I don’t feel like I can see everything going on there.
    • reviving an old thread due to running into the same issue with the same year of house. not expecting anything from yetti and I already have replacement parts ordered and on the way.   I am looking for some input or feedback on how to replace the leaf springs themselves.    If I jack the house up and remove the tire, is it possible to pivot the axel assembly low enough to get to the other end of the leaf spring and remove that one bolt?   Or do I have to remove the entire pivot arm to get to it? Then I also have to factor in brake wire as well then. What a mess   My house is currently an hour away from my home at a relatives, going to go back up and look it over again and try to figure out a game plan.           Above pic is with house lowered on ice, the other end of that leaf is what I need to get to.   above pic is side that middle bolt broke and bottom 2 leafs fell out here is other side that didnt break but you can see bottom half of leaf already did but atleast bolt is still in there here is hub assembly in my garage with house lowered and tires off when I put new tires on it a couple months ago. hopefully I can raise house high enough that it can drop down far enough and not snap brake cable there so I can get to that other end of the leaf spring.
    • Chef boyardee pizza from the box!
    • Or he could go with leech~~~~~
  • Topics

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.