My musky experience.......

[Fluker]

Hey guys,

Thought I would share this. Pre fished Waconia a week ago and caught a 40" Muskie. It was my biggest. Had a 38"er earlier in the year. To be 100% honest with you, I don't get the hype. It's like a big northern. Pretty fun, but would take a 5/6 lb bass anyday. (Maybe a 50 incher would change my mind I dunno).

Anyway, Sat was tourney day on Waconia. With about an hour left I flip into some deeper vegetation and upon bringing my bait back I notice something chasing right as my bait comes out of the water. It looked like a huge bass at first as it was coming head on. Then it turned and it was a monster muskie (45+ plus, but I'm not one to realy know for sure). It stay 10 inches under water and started to ease under the boat. I dropped my bait back in the water.... nothing. I stuck my rod in and figured 8'd and the Muskie made a 180 and came after my bait like a mad man. I pulled the bait away just in front of the Muskie as he was wide open trying to inhale. I pulled it out of the water just as he almost had it. I stuck it back in the water behind him, 180 once again and same thing. My partner and I were yelling. It was awesome. Had only 1 hour left in the tourney and needed to cull up about 3 more lbs, so I didn't chanve letting him have it to only get bit off.

So with that said, FIRST off, that firgure 8 thing really does work. Wouldn't have believed it until I saw it. Secondly, I honestly think that was MUCH more fun than actually catching one. Pretty awesome.

Fluker

[Ray Esboldt]

Chuck,

Thank God you stopped short of saying you would actually fish for them. I would lose all respect for you.

[Deitz Dittrich]

LMAO @ Ray!!!

they can be fun.. expecially on bass gear.. I caught a few in the 43" range on Forest Lake this year...

[RK]

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Chuck,

Thank God you stopped short of saying you would actually fish for them. I would lose all respect for you.

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Heeeey now...

Very cool encounter with a muskie Chuck. They really are pretty amazing sometimes. When they decide they want something, they don't really take no for an answer. I've had a couple jump out of the water after a bait I'd lifted up too soon... One went right over the trolling motor and scared the bejeezus out of me...

Figure-8s do work. Just a game of keep-away you hope you lose. I live for that stuff. It's what makes muskie fishing such a blast. Really gets exciting when you hook a 30-pounder with 5 inches of line and a 12" leader.

Funny thing though - figure-8s work on other fish too. Caught lots of smallies figure-8ing crankbaits, and even walleyes where they're stupid and unpressured. Even largemouths - particularly on rattle traps for some reason... None of 'em do it like muskies though...

Cheers,

Rob Kimm

[Fluker]

Hey Rob, I went back and re read your green weeds post and used that logic on waconia to find the greener weeds. There were still plenty of green weeds left that I couldn't tell how well it held true, but look forward to finding out.

[10,000 Casts]

It's funny how I catch a 5-6-7 pound bass and think so what..... and you guys catch a Muskie and think so what... My biggest bass is a fat 23 1/2er that went in the mid to high 7's. Caught her on a 2 1/2 oz Rad Dog Spinnerbait on 80 pound test and a 7 1/2 ft heavy muskie rod. Needless to say I flipped her into the boat. She had folowed the spinnerbait all the way to the boat and hit right at the boat. I have caught quite a few bass over 5 lbs too.

On the other hand you bass guys hold your own in the Muskie catagory and don't care. Funny how that works.

[Deitz Dittrich]

10K- I care... just dont often target them. They are fun! For me its a matter of my ADD... I really enjoy catching more than 1 fish every 5 trips.. LOL

[Aaron Carrell]

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Funny thing though - figure-8s work on other fish too. Caught lots of smallies figure-8ing crankbaits, and even walleyes where they're stupid and unpressured. Even largemouths - particularly on rattle traps for some reason... None of 'em do it like muskies though...

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Adding to this, I had one of the most enjoyable fishing experiences this weekend, and got a couple funny stories to go with, but the best is regarding the statements above.

I often travel down to LaCrosse, WI with my wife to see her family, and on every one of those trips I fish on the river down there. Now, granted, river fishing can be very different than the lakes, but I still use quite a few of the same techniques. Anyways, this past weekend, I get stuck fishing by myself for my 2 outings, Sat morning and Sun afternoon. Well, as most everyone knows, the weather on Sunday was pretty nasty in most areas, but I got lucky and it was just very overcast and misting every once in awhile. So I went bass fishing.

Well, a quick recap of the trip was that I ended up boating 26 largemouth, all on rock piles or deep breaks that typically hold smallmouth and walleyes when I hit these spots. But I had at least 4 fish (LM) follow my lure right to the boat, a couple of those really surprised me including a really good sized one that came outta the water after my lure. But the best part was that 2 of these fish came a little late and I didn't realize it until my lure was out of the water. Well, most of the time these fish bolt when they get near the boat, but they honestly looked like they had this dumbfounded look like a kid watching a magic trick when that lure disappeared. The fish just swam in a circle for a second, and my quick thinking (never tried this before)had me toss my lure down there and figure-8 once or twice. Well 2 of those 3-4 follows took the crankbait and I had a fun fight with it. So keep in mind, especially if a fish follows very lazily after your lure... bring it around again, and they might grab it! Who can ask for a better fishing trip when you learn a thing or 2 and can manage to catch 26 largemouth in only 2 1/2 hours!

[cjac]

I've had a couple smallies on Mille Lacs follow that could have been quite remarkable.....

Dietz.... I wanted to get you in my ride at the FM gathering at Appledoorn's with the 'ski gear just for this very point......blackmail pics your bass boys!

It's all good, multi-species = milti-fun!

Chris

[Deitz Dittrich]

LMAO @ Cjac