[Guest]

bait suggestions for stubborn tiger muskies ...ive tried water dogs with small bites but no massive strikes to I can set the hook ....what do you guys think about crawdads or a dead sucker?

 

[epic]

nothing dead muskies like live bait... try fatheads rigged threw the head.

 

[roadkill]

i have heard people fishing with dead suckers or even just large strips of sucker meet. i have been saving any suckers i catch up here to go after muskies i go with the suckers over the craws and if live baitfish was legal and available id try that first

 

[Guest]

well im gonna get some large crawdads and try it tonight

 

[McFish]

I have landed my biggest tiger muskies on soft plastic crawfish imitations while bass fishing.

 

[scorpion_bsk]

bait suggestions for stubborn tiger muskies ...ive tried water dogs with small bites but no massive strikes to I can set the hook ....what do you guys think about crawdads or a dead sucker?

Muskies can be hard to get a hook set on. Half of their mouth is solid bone so the hook needs to be either in the corner of their mouth or in the bottom jaw.

 

[Guest]

well still havent gotten my big tiger muskie...have had a few hits ...sucks I feel like im so close then bam ...nothin .....oh it looks like I have a couple thousand more casts to go

 

[Rip Lip]

Muskies are said to be the fish of 10,000 casts so you just have to keep trying and trying and trying. I would stick to baits you have confidence in and know how to fish. This time of year I would think their metabolism is high and they can be pretty agressive, you just have to get your bait infront of a fish that is ready to eat, or piss them off to the point of hitting. If you are getting follows or short strikes you might try a more subtle presentation. I think it is more of a timing thing than anything else and more people catch muskies while fishing for another species such as Walleye and Trout, but I think that is simply due to the fact that it was time for those fish to eat. I wish I had an exact answer for you, but you simply have to keep castin' and put your time in.

 

[roadkill]

Muskies are said to be the fish of 10,000 casts so you just have to keep trying and trying and trying

thats for pure strain muskie our "inbread" tigers might be the fish of 5,000 casts...lol

no really in recent years that fish of thousands of casts mistque as changed and lots of folks target them and catch fish all the time but they have spent there time studdying the habits and haunts of the fish and are not just flailing the lake with spnner baits for hours on end

 

[Guest]

I caught my 48" tiger muskie from Lon Hagler on a 10" live sucker that I was fishing for big cats. He didn't really have much of a chance as I was using 50lb mainline and a 100lb leader. My dad caught his 50" tiger muskir from Lon Hagler also casting for bass. He caught him on a Peco Perch.

 

[Guest]

someone needs to help catmann post his pics .....I also need to get a camera going the picture posts are always a fun read

 

[Guest]

Still Learning the pic thing Ken. I'm really slow. No, they don't make the Peco Perch anymore. My dad has caught almost all of his biggest fish on them. He caught an 8lb 2oz lm bass out of Barbour Ponds about 6 years ago. On that same day he also caught two 6lb lm bass and one 5lb lm bass. He still has tons of them, but won't give one to me garsh darnit. One lure is still being make that closly resembles them. Its called the Bayou Bogie. You can find it in the Bass Pro Shops Master Catalog. The only difference between the Peco Perch and the Bayou Bogie is that the Bayou Bogie has slighly more rounded sides than The Peco. The Peco has much more side to side action then the Bayou.

 

[ChrisNM]

I fished alot for both pure and tiger muskies when I lived back east, and to be honest I averaged about 50 hours per fish on decent waters.  You can get down to an average of 10 hours per fish if you fish the best waters in the country, but that's only during the right time of year.  So, either way it's a long time between fish but when they are on you can get strikes from several in one day.  Here are some tips in no particular order:

-I know that tigers don't reproduce, and that it may be the biggest fish you ever caught, but please release the fish for the next person to enjoy.  If everybody keeps their muskies, it will make catching them that much harder.  It's hard enough already.

-Have the right equipment to safely handle the fish.  Teeth and hooks can do alot of damage really fast.  At a minimum, you should have good hookcutters and long nose pliers.  There's plenty of websites out there with a good list of release tools.

-If a musky is ready to go, it will show itself on the first few casts.  The goal is to cover water, not to beat specific spots to a pulp trying to convince the fish that might be there to eat.  This is why lures will usually outfish live bait.

-The most productive type of lure in Muskies, Inc history has been the silver and black bucktail.  Fish one as fast as you can over weeds anytime waters temps are over 60 degrees.

-Don't fish with anything smaller than 6".  Muskies prefer food about 1/4 of their length, meaning you should be starting at 8".  I've caught 20" muskies and 10" bass on 9" long lures.  Of course they get caught on minnows and little jigs, but there are alot more of those in the water.

-If you're trolling, don't be afraid to troll fast.  Very few crankbaits run as fast as I like to troll.  I used to fish with a guy who would start at 2MPH and then speed up until he caught fish.  We would be going awfully fast by the end of the day.

-Tigers begin to slow down when the water temperature goes above 75 degrees.

I guess I'll see if my own advice works when I get out this weekend.

Good luck,

Chris

 

[Zman]

Awesome post Chris!...I have just started to fish for them...thanks for the info and welcome!

What do you fish with under 60 degrees? Or do you stop fishing for them?

Thanks again...

 

[ChrisNM]

Zman,

Jerkbaits (Bobbies and Reef Hawgs) and crankbaits (Believers) work pretty well until the water gets down to about 40 degrees, then it's rubber things (shad bodies or Bulldawgs) from there down to freezing.  Back in PA, they fish the rivers for them whenever they aren't frozen.  The best river fishing of the year (for pures at least, tigers are similar) happens between 40 and 50 degrees, in fact a friend of mine missed the PA state record by 2 pounds with a 52 pounder he caught and released in January.  Lakes slow down a little bit after turnover, but then pick up again until they freeze up.

Chris

 

[ChrisNM]

One other thing I forgot. If you weren't aware of it already, there is a Colorado Chapter of Muskies, Inc that is full of knowledgable muskie fishermen:

http://www.coloradomuskies.com/

They have meetings and catch and release tournaments that are open to the public.

Chris

 

[Zman]

Thanks for the info Chris...will keep fishing deep into fall early winter...do you slow the lures down with the decreased temp or doesnt it matter?

Thanks for helping a total rookie...and I am a Minnesota boy...we caught plenty of pike but there werent any Musky holes near us...

 

[ChrisNM]

You'll want to start slowing things down a bit below 55 or so, but until then pretty much any speed is fair game.

 

[Guest]

thanks chris ill put all that info to work .......

 

[Guest]

This is the new method being used by In-Fisherman magazine on muskies, pike, and tiger muskies: Take 1/2 oz to 1 oz white bucktail jig with a red feather and tie it on your line. Then add a 3-4 inch white twister. Add a dab of red paint on the very tip of the twister tail and this rig should improve your catch percentage. I do really good on it. I retired all my Suicks and switched to this set up/