Help with Tiger Muskey ice fishing

[Ceedub]

I have a lake nearby my home in Utah that has Tiger Muskey. Rarely does anybody catch one and often by mistake when they do. I figured some of you Minnesota guys had to have some expetice on the subject. No one here has a clue.

Any advise on general methods tackle to use would be great. Depths, bait, jigs, "tip up" heck I havent a clue.

Any info sure would help.

[mn_bowhunter]

I know pure strain muskies are pretty inactive throughout the winter. Not to sure about tigers. If I was to target them I'd use smelt on a tipup. Another lure that draws in pike is the Northland airplane jig so that should work for tigers. Depths will vary. You'll want to be near a breakline, whether on top, break, or deep will be up to the fish.

[NyQuiLlama]

I've only caught one tiger muskie in the winter. It was on a tipup with either a sucker minnow or a shiner hooked just below the dorsal fin. They aren't exactly common, at least in the lakes I fish. Good luck in beautiful Utah!

[Ceedub]

Thanks for the ideas. There are plenty of Yellow perch in this res. Do you think they might be good bait? I dont think I could find smelt here in UT.

My apologies for my ignorance but I havent a clue about Tip Ups could you give me a quick run threw on how they work and how to use them? I understand you hand line them in. Some tigers are upwards of 30lbs and 48in wouldnt this be tuff on the hands pulling them in?

[Ceedub]

What lakes in Minn have tiger muskey?

[eyewarrior]

Thanks for the ideas. There are plenty of Yellow perch in this res. Do you think they might be good bait? I dont think I could find smelt here in UT.

I think if you try to use perch as bait(not legal in MN)it might be a case of how do you get them to bite your perch out of the millions they can chose from. Better bet would be to use airplane jigs, Swedish pimps, jigging raps etc with combination of green/yellow/orange colors(perch colors). Tip jigs etc with the head of a minnow. Good Luck

[GlassEyeangler]

I catch a lot of Tigers when fishing for other species. They are more Northern than Musky when it comes to temperment. There are two lakes close by that have been stocked roughly 15 years ago. I must say they are a blast to catch and make a great pic.

I haven't heard of anyone catching them through the ice. If I were to spend a day targeting them, I would try medium to large sucker minnows on a tip up. I would also try shallow, as I catch most of my Northerns in about 4' to 6' of water.

The biggest one I've ever seen in my boat hit a small jig tipped with a fathead minnow...45", i guessing 12 lbs?

Fun stuff, and good luck!

[AngelicFatum]

This is a basic tip up, I generally use dacron braided line and then some heavy mono for a leader. For pike or musky you'll need a wire leader, you can buy "quick strike rigs" which are a leader with treble hooks for hooking large live or dead baits. If you have more q's just ask.

And yes battling a 30 lb 'sky would be a bit of a challenge bare handed, I guess I would wear some gloves. Good Luck and let us know how you do.

[Ceedub]

Thank you everybody. Im heading over to the tackle shop today and going out fishing Sun/Mon. I will be sure to give a report and probably will have more questions. Thanks again.

[walleyematt]

back when we could catch them threw the ice. i would just set up with some tip ups near where all the guys are fishing cause if they where catching we will say pirch and puting them back sometimes those pirch have a hard time geting back down so i would set my tip up about 6 feet under the ice with a sucker

[smeese]

Potentially any lake with Muskie and Northerns together.

What lakes in Minn have tiger muskey?

[goblueM]

Lots of the metro (MPLS-St. Paul area) lakes have been stocked with them, as well as the occasionally naturally occuring tiger that can happen in any lake with muskellunge and northern pike

[gt408]

Ceedub are you the cast iron cooking guy? If so I use to watch and enjoy your TV show.

[knoppers]

30 LB fish on a tip up, be very carefull, I have heard the horror stories from canada cathing larger lakers doing the line fist over fist, to have the line wrap around a finger just to have the fish take a big run and you guessed it, less a digit.

[WyoChris]

U say you have perch in your lake....... if you can find an area that has perch, throw down a large minnow and go for the muskies, they will move in to feed on the perch. Find the baitfish, you will find the bigger fish.

Keep in mind, they are far and few between. You may fish for days and not catch any muskies... but when u do get one they are awesome. I have caught all my muskie accidentially, while fishing for walleye or crappies, which makes a great fight on 4 lb test.