muskie offshore

[jd_7655]

I decided to go out fishing Tuesday, and man did I stumble onto some big fish. I was over off 10 mile rd just messing around hoping to catch a walleye or 2 and I hooked a monster muskie. It was about 5pm and I was throughing a firetiger bomber when this fish hit. I set the hook and this things head came out of the water it was mamoth and then snap i lost it. I only had 8lb line and I was'nt expecting that. So I tied on another bomber one of my favorite glow in the dark ones that they dont make anymore and about five casts later I hooked up with another one then snap I lost that one. It had to of been a big fish it hit right at the wall and left one hell of a swirl. While i was fishing I saw 3 more after that hit the surface and the minnows were jumping all over the place. Going back sat with heavyer equipment time to bust out the 8ft uglystick and 20 lb line. I'm gonna try some large minnows and bobbers If that dont work gonna through some muskie baits.

[WALLEYE MIKE]

I decided to go out fishing Tuesday, and man did I stumble onto some big fish. I was over off 10 mile rd just messing around hoping to catch a walleye or 2 and I hooked a monster muskie. It was about 5pm and I was throughing a firetiger bomber when this fish hit. I set the hook and this things head came out of the water it was mamoth and then snap i lost it. I only had 8lb line and I was'nt expecting that. So I tied on another bomber one of my favorite glow in the dark ones that they dont make anymore and about five casts later I hooked up with another one then snap I lost that one. It had to of been a big fish it hit right at the wall and left one hell of a swirl. While i was fishing I saw 3 more after that hit the surface and the minnows were jumping all over the place. Going back sat with heavyer equipment time to bust out the 8ft uglystick and 20 lb line. I'm gonna try some large minnows and bobbers If that dont work gonna through some muskie baits.

Rather than change to heavier equipment, check your knots and how old is your line? Is your drag set correctly? Should be able to land a musky on 8 lb test with no problem. You might also consider using Fireline instead of mono. Just a few suggestions to consider before changing equipment.

[ESOX]

Minnows and a bobber aren't going to cut it. They are lurking around looking for bigger prey than that. Besides, live bait fishing for muskie is a bad plan unless you use a quick strike rig, as you would be putting a death sentence on dang near any fish you hooked. If you want to catch some muskie shoot me a PM. You must be in my area, I'd be happy to take you out and attempt to get you into some fish.

[Gone Fishing]

I agree with the heavier equipment. You don't want to fight the fish to near death. 20 lb. is a little light but should work. Definitely use some heavier leader. I use 60 lb Big Game but I'm a troller so I don't know how that set-up would work for casting. ESOX can tell you how to set-up for that. It's time for those big dogs to start packing on the weight for winter. Good luck! :)

[WALLEYE MIKE]

John, I've had a couple of guys in my boat fishing for walleyes and perch using 6 and 8lb test line. Brought in 40"+ muskies and put back to grow bigger. Took just a few minutes to revive and away they went. They did a great job for such small line. Of course we were'nt targeting musky per se but even when I do its with Fireline of 10lb. with 6.5 ft med. action rods.

I was more concerned with his line snapping. Bad line and/or bad knots or drag set too tight.

[Chasin 50]

Between mono and a superline, I would strongly recommend on of the superlines. I have tried many of the superlines and I prefer Power Pro hands down. I use it on all of my muskie and pike gear. I personally would recommend heavier than 20lb line. I use 30lb line on my lightest pike rods, but would not consider using that light of line on my muskie gear. My lightest setup for pike is a 7’ graphite rod rated to 1 ½ ounce lures with a Calcutta reel and 30lb PowerPro. I would typically use this setup for tossing baits one ounce or less on a lake where I didn’t have much chance of catching anything over 30-35”. My heaviest muskie setup is a 7’ glass jerkbait rod rated to 8 ounce lures with a Calcutta reel and 80 lb Power Pro.

The line/rods you use are influenced by the weight of the lures you are throwing and size fish you are targeting. For the most part, when fishing muskie, I am throwing baits in the 1.5-5 ounce range. These heavier baits really require heavier line. If you ever get a backlash and the spool stops quickly, the line is likely to break because Power Pro doesn’t have much stretch. In my opinion, 50lb is even too weak for baits this size.

I have landed some mid 40’s fish on 30 lb line, but I was throwing a 5/8th’s ounce bait. I got the fish in on 30 lb, but it took me a while. My objective once hooked up is to get the fish to the boat quickly and not risk tiring the fish to the point of exhaustion. I personally feel that when fishing LSC, the minimum would be 50 lb, but most of my stuff is 65 or even 80lb on my jerkbait rods.

I know there is a lot of talk about fishing with thinner/lighter lines will get you more strikes. In some cases, I think that can be true. However, I personally error on the side of heavier gear because you never know when you are going to hook in to a 50+ on LSC and I want to be fair to the fish and get it in and successfully out of the boat as quickly as possible. I am good friends with a guy who fishes with 80 and 100 lb Power Pro on every setup he has and I don’t know anyone who catches more muskie casting than him. So, I don’t think this top of the line predator is all that concerned with the diameter of the line that you use…

When casting, I would also strongly recommend using leaders. I use solid 105 lb or 120 lb stainless with a split ring. With this setup, there is almost no way you can have a terminal tackle failure. If you are careful and check the snap often, you can also use a titanium or multi-strand stainless leader, but I would recommend at least 75 pound rated leaders. I personally would not recommend using fluorocarbon or hard mono for casting. They work great for trolling, but I think they are risky for casting. I had a low 30's pike bite clean through 60 lb fuorocarbon earlier this season while casting a topwater bait. If the fish hits the bait from the side, they can get the leader in their mouth very easily.

Just my thoughts...

[jd_7655]

Both the fish that hit where 20lb or bigger and the inhailed the bait I did'nt feel much weight when the line broke must have been thier teeth. I went back Saturday and I saw some monsters hitting the surface thier were some big fish out there 20 lb or more. I caught some 8 inch perch and put them out under a bobber with no sucsess. I also through some big muskie baits nothing I could'nt get them to hit. As for light line I belive its possible to land big fish on light line but your chances are higher with heavyer line I cought a 17lb king salmon on 8lb line wasnt easy especialy from shore. I'm going back monday and I'm not giving up till I get one I know thier there.

[Gone Fishing]

Hey Mike, I wasn't knocking anything anybody does as reguards to Muskie but if you're going to target them, I was just thinking about trying to give them the best chance at a successful release. If they hit my 6 lb while Perch fishing, I'll play the game for a while! :p Fish On! :)

[GOTCHA]

Where are you fishing? I'll go run some big baits up by that wall :evil: