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Musky Top Water Lures – The Forgotten Classic

Musky Top Water Lures – The Forgotten ClassicBy Scott R

Weagles, bobbel head lures, 65 dollar carved ducks, plastic dog replicas. Sounds like a flea market right? Well yeah, it does, but it is actually some musky fisherman’s tackle boxes. Why must you choose these lures when there is one lure, that is amazingly priced that will out fish any of these dying sucker replicas any day of week. What is that lure? Oh, it’s a favorite of ninety year old grandfathers everywhere. It is the good old jitterbug.

Thats right, the jitterbug. They make jitterbugs in some pretty huge sizes for under ten bucks. In fact, you can get a huge 6″ one and a half ounce jitterbug for 7 bucks. And the lure comes with three 2/0 hooks. 7 bucks! These lures comes in black and fire tiger. If you need some more weight on them you can drill a hole in the top and fill them with ball bearings or bbs. These lures are the perfect musky topwaters. They float at all times, and can be shuffled along at a high rate of speed or made to barely ripple the surface. And, they have an amazing shape.

The one drawback to this lure is that the hooks are not razor sharp. They should either be sharpened or replaced. The split rings are pretty solid, but if you are a tackle freak, I am sure you will want to redo those with the hooks. The jitterbug can be the topwater lure in your tackle box that you pull out when you just know there is a beast against shore.

Grab some musky jitterbugs [http://www.squidoo.com/muskyfishing] now.

Take a look at these bluegill lures [http://www.squidoo.com/sunfishfishing] recommendations.

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Spring Fishing for Pike & Musky

By David Wright

It may sound silly to say that Inland Northwest anglers have discovered “Esox” fishing. After all, the “Northern Pike” and its half brothers and sisters, the “Tiger Musky”, have been around this neck of the woods for several years. Northern Pike were illegally introduced into the lateral lakes of the Coeur d’Alene river system in the 1970’s with a mature pike fishery being pretty much established throughout all of Lake Coeur d’Alene by the 1980’s. There is also a well-established Pike population in the Pend Orielle River system. While the debate rages over the negative impacts to the native species and established cold-water fisheries, the fact remains, the Northern Pike is probably here to stay. During a recent visit to Coeur d’Alene, “In-Fisherman” personality, “Al Lindner” was quoted as saying that the next U.S. record pike may very well come from Coeur d’Alene Lake.

In addition to the Northern Pike, intentional and planned introduction by fisheries biologists of the Northern Pike/Musky hybrids, (known as the “Tiger Musky”), have been stocked in select lakes in Washington State to provide a large species trophy fish and to predate on populations of less desirable species.But do many anglers actually fish to intentionally target these species? The majority of catches of Northern Pike fall into the category of “incidental catches”. That is, they are caught while fishing for other species, predominantly by bass fisherman. The fact is that fishing lures and techniques utilized for bass work quite well for pike also. Furthermore, since bass and pike tend to inhabit the same areas this further elevates the frequency of pike or musky catches.

Many area have anglers found that the thrill of the strike and the subsequent battles to boat these behemoths were worth the effort to target them specifically. Taking advantage of the opportunistic feeding behavior of Pike, “dead-baiting” or “smelting” was born. A waiting game, “smelting” involves the use of a frozen dead smelt or herring embedded with two hooks and suspended off the bottom by means of a large foam float or bobber. The fisherman simply waits until the bobber starts to take off and then sets the hook. While effective, and responsible for some very large Pike, the technique misses the excitement that comes with a top-water strike. Bass fishermen know what I’m talking about. Nothing gets the heart thumping more than seeing your quarry ferociously attack a lure while aggressively ripping it across the water.

Actively targeting and pursuing Pike and Tiger Musky often involves utilizing good fish-finding sonar to track submerged weed lines, research into where the fish stage and spawn in the spring, and often hundreds, (if not thousands), of casts of large heavy jerk-baits, spoons, spinner baits, and buck tails. It’s definitely not for the fisherman who is happy to sit and nap on the shore waiting for the fish to bite. Sometimes all the angler will get for his trouble is sore arms and shoulders, but often, he is rewarded with a heart-stopping strike where his prey pounds the lure resulting in a water-churning fight.

Large Pike in the early spring take to the shallow, weed-choked bays and inlets to spawn. Often retrieving baits through this salad of vegetation is nearly impossible. Making it even more maddening… you can often see large monster pike just below the surface. You know that there is no way that you can retrieve a jerk-bait past them without snagging huge clumps in the process. Even if you could, they often turn their noses up at larger baits during this time. The answer is often “finesse baits”. Small soft plastic fish imitations, weighted only with an off-set hook, and cast past the targeted fish. Spinning rods and reels seem to work best with such light weight baits but some adept bait-casters will do just fine as well. As you retrieve you attempt to bring the bait within eyesight of, but not too close. If you see the Pike aggressively moving after the bait you might actually speed up your retrieval. You might get a fish to eye your bait, approach to within inches, and then turn away. Varying your presentation by a series of twitches, stalls, jerks and teasing movements can often trigger the strike. The really exciting part of this is actually having the conditions to watch the whole process. It takes a relatively calm surface with little or no wind, a good pair of polarized sunglasses and a boat with a quiet electric trolling motor. Still quieter approaches might be attained with a push-pole. Obviously, you want to get close enough to see the fish, but not so close that you spook them.

Pike and Musky have very sharp teeth and are quite capable of neatly slicing through even heavy monofilament line. Steel leaders have been a staple of pike fishing for years, but because of their added weight, they are nearly impossible to utilize when finesse fishing little plastic fish baits. The solution has been the introduction of fluorocarbon lines. Strong, nearly invisible in the water, and highly abrasion resistant, fluorocarbon works quite well as a leader material with these toothy critters. It needs to be at least 18 to 20 pound test and you will still loose a few to line cutting, but the majority will be unable to sever it. After each fish you would do well to feel the line for any nicks, cuts, or abrasions, then trim and re-tie. The best I have used has been the “P-Line” products of pure fluorocarbon. You should try to select a color matched to the water you’re fishing.

One other thing needs to be said regarding weather. One of my best days fishing for Tiger Musky’s was an early spring day during repeated rain squalls and lightning. I don’t recommend being on the water during an electrical storm. That being said; during a two hour period of brief rain storms, I caught six Tiger Musky trolling a Lucky-Craft Pointer 128 in Aurora Black. This bait actually has been my “Go-to” bait for Pike and Musky.

Try some of these techniques the next time you are on the water where there are Pike and Musky. You just might find that the next Pike or Musky you catch was not an “incidental” catch, and was actually the fish you intended to catch.

Where to go: Lake Coeur d’Alene and the chain lakes of the Coeur d’Alene River, Idaho, (Pike), Fernan Lake, Idaho, (Pike), Long Lake, Washington, (Pike), Silver Lake, Washington, (Tiger Musky), Hauser Lake, Idaho, (Tiger Musky). Google searches will also yield several destinations in Montana Rivers and reservoirs for pike.

Equipment:

Rod: 6 ½ to 7 foot, medium to heavy rods, ¾ to 1 ounce.

Reel: Bait-caster for heavy weight lures, spinning for light.

Line: Heavy braid with fluorocarbon leaders, (2 to 3 foot length).

Ty-Gear®, tie-able steel leader.

Lures: Large heavy jerk baits, swim baits and crank baits.

David Wright has been a resident of the Inland Northwest, (Spokane, WA), for more than fifty years. He has fished the area since childhood and knows the waters of Washington, Idaho and Montana well. He is the Editor and Publisher of the Monthly On-line Fishing Magazine, “Max-fishing”, (http://www.max-fishing.com). Dedicated to providing current fishing information by printing articles, providing a fishing forum, free classifieds for used fishing gear, boats and finding a fishing buddy. The site also provides product and video reviews, an events calendar, area fishing reports and a section for visitors to post pictures of their catches.

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The Number 1 Method For Catching a Muskie – Night Fishing For Muskellunge

By Sergio DiGirolamo

Alright, so we want a muskie and we want one now! Go to your local bait and tackle and pick up a 10-inch, 3/8-ounce Double Cowgirl. This lure might scare you just by its size and PRICE alone (weighing in at a hefty $25 +/-), but trust me – this is what you want. So again, don’t be frightened by its size, its not like you’re going to have to impart much technique, its basically a cast out and steady retrieve type of lure.

There are most likely other lures you could purchase, such as the Magnum Boo Tail or the Shumway Giant Flasher, but to avoid any confusion if you’re new to this, just pick up the Double Cowgirl and you’ll be satisfied if you follow these tactics and tips.

So no we have our lure, but we’re definitely going to want some rod and reel power. If you don’t own a heavy-action rod, now’s the time to invest in one if you plan on actually landing a muskie. Go with a long rod – 8- to 8 ½ feet – heavy-power, combine this with a reel with a low speed level-wind built for power.

The Abu Garcia 7000 is great for this type of fishing; a very powerful bait casting reel with a great rate of retrieve that will definitely last you quite a few years. 80-pound test Spiderwire Stealth is a great choice of line; steel leader is optional, but not recommended.

Once you’re all set on gear and tackle, it’s time to get to work. As the title implies, the best time to make use of these tactics is at night. Check your local fishing reports at www.weather.com and look for the top menu bar that says “Outdoor Activities”, scroll over it, click on “Fishing”, type in your area code and you’re good to go. This will show you the best times that you’ll want to start fishing, but even without your local fishing report, if you head out at about 8:30-9:00pm you’ll be in good shape to get started regardless. Start by targeting an area about 5 to 10 feet deep, cast beyond your target and crawl your lure back to the boat (this can be done on shore as well but might not be as effective) slowly.

You know you’re going the perfect speed when you’re reeling in your lure just fast enough to allow the blades to spin. When the blades start spinning, they create suction behind the lure which imparts a life-like action to the tail. Work the lure over submerged structures such as sand and rock bars. If you just so happen to excite a muskie and you see it follow your lure back to the boat, stay calm and do exactly as I say: when the lure is but a few feet away from the boat, plunge the tip of your rod into the water and start working it in a figure 8 motion. If the muskie didn’t strike before, he’s almost bound to after the figure 8. Work the figure 8 for as long as you can hold the muskie’s attention, and if nothing happens, then cast out and repeat.

For more information on freshwater fishing, visit http://www.Live4Fishing.webs.com . How-to videos and articles as well as product reviews and all the information you’ll ever need to start catching bigger, better fish.

Join here at http://live4fishing.webs.com/apps/auth/signup?next=

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Catching Muskies – All About Muskellunges

By Alyssa Bentley

Quick Facts:

• Muskies can live to be 30 years old
• Maximum length of a Muskie: 6 feet
• Maximum Weight of a Muskie: around 70 lbs
• Trophy Length: over 4 feet
• Trophy Weight: over 40 lbs
• Mature females tend to be bigger than males, but mature and grow at a slower rate.

Muskies are a non-schooling predatory fish, who are generally tend to stay out of eyesight of each other.

They usually lurk near drop-offs from rock or sand bars in the middle of lakes, along weed beds or other vegetation, and in shady waters close to shores that are fringed with overhanging trees. They prefer larger lakes with deep and shallow basins and large beds of aquatic plants.

They have a typical ambush predator design, elongated body, flat head, and caudal fins placed far back on the body.

The stealthy muskie hunts by waiting motionless. When a fish swims by (any fish, including other muskies) they strike, impaling the prey on their large canine teeth, rotating it, and swallowing it headfirst. Strangely, the size of the fish a muskie eats appears to be related to the ultimate size it can attain. As the fish grows larger, the size of its prey naturally varies more. Even if plenty of small fish are available, a muskie may not be able to grow large without large fish to eat. Muskrats, ducks, shrews, mice, and frogs also appear in the stomachs of muskies from time to time.

A Varied Diet:

Muskellunges are known to have a varied diet. They will eat other muskies and any fish they see, as well as ducklings, smaller muskrats, shrews, mice, and frogs, and the largest Muskies are known to eat whole adult ducks. There is one report of a Wisconsin man in 1999 who was dangling his feet in the water (not fishing), when a medium sized muskie lunged and attempted to swallow his toe! He ended up pulling the muskie out of the water and extracting it from his foot. The foot required 66 stitches and he was eventually allowed to keep the fish, despite the non-legal size and non-legal method of fishing.

It is not recommended to use your toes as bait.

Other Facts about Muskellunges

Muskies and Pikes (or “Northerns) look very similar. The foolproof way to tell a muskie from a northern is to count the pores on the underside of the jaw: A muskie has six or more. A northern has five or fewer.

The tiger muskellunge (E. masquinongy x lucius or E. lucius x masquinongy) is a hybrid of the muskie and northern pike. Male hybrids are almost invariably sterile although females are sometimes fertile. Some hybrids are artificially produced and planted for anglers to catch. Tiger muskies tend to be smaller than non-hybrid muskies but grow faster. The body is often quite silvery and largely or entirely without spots but with indistinct longitudinal bands.

Though interbreeding with other pike species can complicate the classification of some individuals, zoologists usually recognize from zero to three subspecies of muskellunge.

• The Great Lakes (spotted) muskellunge (Esox masquinongy masquinongy) is the most common variety in the Great Lakes basin and surrounding area. The spots on the body form oblique rows.
• The Chautauqua muskellunge (E. m. ohioensis) is known from the Ohio River system, Chautauqua Lake, Lake Ontario, and the St Lawrence River.
• The clear or barred muskellunge (E. m. immaculatus) is most common in the inland lakes of Wisconsin, Minnesota, northwestern Ontario and southeastern Manitoba.

Catching the Muskie:

If you want to catch a muskie, you’ll need a heavy bait-casting rod, substantial level-wind reel, 20-35 pound test line, a variety of artificial lures or live bait, and a lot of patience. Allow at least 20 minutes in each location before moving on-the large fish usually aren’t very active.

It takes the average angler 20-80 hours to catch a legal musky!

Muskies are generally not food fish. As predator fish, if the food fish in their region have small amounts of toxic substances in their systems, they will gather in much greater quantities in the muskellunges who feed on them. Before eating a muskellunge, pay attention to the fishing advisories of the lake or the state that you are fishing in.

Threats to the Muskie:

The health and success of the muskellunge relies heavily on the health and availability of aquatic plants in their environment. Minnesota anglers are beginning to notice that some of their favorite “weed beds” seem to be disappearing, thus reducing the spawning sites and hunting grounds of the muskies they like to catch. Measures are being proposed, including greatly reducing the number of docks allowed on a lake shore, thus reducing the human footprint on the lakes.

The Muskie and the Northern Pike are both considered sport and trophy fish in Minnesota, and are thusly valuable to the sport fishing community and the tourism economy, but over-fishing does hurt the population of this solitary fish.

So fish carefully, and practice catch-and-release fishing with this fish in order to preserve its continued abundance in all the great lakes.

Alyssa Bentley works for a Website Advertising company. This article is written for Fishermans Pool.com – a great resource for finding a Chartered Fishing Boat where you want to fish.

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