Michigan Muskie Alliance

Hey,

I'm new here and fairly new to musky fishing. Let me start off by saying this site is great and lets me know that I'm not going crazy. I've fished a whole year going on my second and still haven't caught a single musky.

This year has been much better I had three follows and one hit a top water but I missed him some how. (I proceed to punch myself in the face for missing such a rare chance encounter)

Anyways, I'm curious if any of you have experienced a particular musky on round lake in Van Buren County, near the west shoreline. Me and a friend went out there around 11am. What looked like the same musky followed our baits at least five times in the exact same spot within an hour. And yes we figure 8'ed like madmen! After awhile we left went to the other side of the lake but no action. We went back to that same spot around 3pm and that dam musky followed two more time.

Two weeks later we go back and sure enough first few cast it followed again and then again, it followed in three times. Again we proceeded to figure 8 like bats outta hell but the fish just slowly lurked around the boat each time.

Can someone explain what the hell is going on, why does this fish keep following but not bit? Has anyone else experienced this particular fish or one like it?

Welcome to Musky fishing!!

Pharm,
You have experienced the first stage of success: you have located a spot that has a fish hanging around it at least for one particular time of year. Follows are a good thing. To fine-tune your chances of getting a strike, try some of the following:
Go faster, speed up the retrieve
Go slower, leave a neutrally-buoyant bait twitched in its face
Go smaller, use a smaller bait
Go bigger, try a bigger bait
Approach the spot from a different angle, maybe from the shoreline casting out instead of the deep water casting inward.
Fish it at different times: sunrise, sunset, at moonrise, moonset, during full sun, dark clouds, dead calm, strong winds, or rain.
This is the stuff that makes you think and makes fishing an enjoyable challenge. The stuff you learn on one fish can be applied to other situations and make you a more effective angler.
I am betting on the same bait worked faster with a strong wind blowing into the spot, but then again other muskie guys will have completely different answers. Have fun.

Hey guys,

Thanks for the reply and the helpful information. I'm learning that this is one of the hardest fish to catch or at least they require lots of patience but I love the challenge. I have fished for trout, salmon and bass most of my life with my dad who was a hardcore bass angler, non of the fish I caught gave me the thrill of just seeing that big musky lurking behind my lure. I got so excited I might of been the reason he didn't bite, yelling to my friend like - look at this fish, look at this fish!

I am going fishing a couple of times in the next few weeks and if I get any follows I'll try the suggestions. Most of the follows I got I kept a steady speed which obviously didn't work. The speed up makes sense to me. I'm learning you have to provoke the reaction, excite that musky!

Any lure or lure color suggestions for murky water would be welcomed.

I'm ready to fish now! Thanks again for the suggestions.

Don't worry about not catching a muskie yet. I am in the same boat! I have not caught a muskie yet but I am getting multiple follows each time I am out. I have acquired a few "hot spots", just like everyone else, that I know hold Muskies this time of year, I just can't get them to strike! Remember every time you get a follow the fish is telling you something.

did you try floating a sucker next to the boat? sometimes that will work, i havent tried it but from the sounds of it you put the biggest sucker you can find about 3 feet under a "beach ball" bobber right next to the boat. sometimes thats all it takes

That fish has identified where it holds. It is always good to see them but follows are only half the game. It sounds to me that you need to step up to the the next level and start using twitch baits and jerk baits. I would suggest you call us and visit the shop. We have taken Muskies on Round lake and Bankson with several twitch baits. The Crane 205 and 207 and Talonz Little Claws. You wont get any better deals on Bucktails either unless you build them yourself. 231-821-9020 Mike

Lots of good tips given. If you have your heart set on catching this fish two words come to mind... low light. If this fish doesn't use the area during low light times then my opinion is that you have found where that fish likes to rest/digest but not where it feeds.

If you're going to consider using a live bait please research how to do it correctly to ensure a successful catch but more importantly a successful release.

Hey,

MuskyHunter1 - Thanks for letting me know I'm not alone. I don't know you but I'll be hoping you catch one so you can get out of the newbie boat with me!

mattman & Will Schultz - Thanks for the tips. We actually were thinking of doing that but its hard to get large suckers from a bait supplier. I have done lots of research on how to properly release them and have all my tools ready, including gear to clip hooks if needed. I also clipped the barbs of most of my lures to help reduce damage. I've caught Pike with chubs so I understand that using live bait can be problematic. With that said when I started fishing for pike it was always really exciting to see the bobber disappear, you know it's a big fish, ohh the excitement!

Kingfisher - I definitely want and need to step my game up! I really like jerk bait, that's actually what he followed in. I was using one of those Lucky craft LL pointer 180 in gold and perch color. I'll be giving you a call for sure. Can I order them online? Can you suggest a color as well?

This is the color that's had the most follows, you can see a recent hit that happened over on Thornapple lake/river.



My latest addition is a nice orange subwalk and a case from www.justencase.com. Bob was great at working with me. Its hard to see from the picture how good the build quality is on this tackle box!

Makes a little more sense now. While both good lures for getting fish to follow they're not very good at getting warm water fish to eat, they're great with springtime fish though.

I'm thinking that fish needs to see a Dadson 9mm or Lazer burned at about 4mph, a mag Dawg or a 9" Grandma ripped through where it's hanging out. Speed and imparting triggers is key to getting them to eat this time of year.

The sucker deal is really a fall thing, keeping them alive for more than a half hour this time of year is almost impossible. Besides that, as you've found, finding muskie appropriate suckers (12-20") is nearly impossible in Michigan at anytime of the year. What I meant about doing it right is to rig suckers with a good lift off rig and setting the hook right away. Muskies don't mess around and will turn and start swallowing a 16" sucker faster than most people think.

Hey Will,

Thanks for the heads up, now I think I understand whats going on. I might need to upsize things, bigger than what I've been throwing. I started out with bulldawgs and cowgirls, I tried them all summer last year and started to think I was going too big so I downsized. What do you think of the Blue Fox super Bou Twin, 8 or 10"?

Any color suggestions for murky water? I heard Black is the best but I see lots of debate about this.

I like those Blue Fox bucktails, but this time of year.... speed kills. Don't neglect to reel them in as fast as possible at times.
Hitting that spot at lowlight, or dark will give you an aadvantage as stated as well. After dark, I prefer a medium to slow retrieve.

Will - I just ordered the Grandma in hitec gold and the Dadson 9mm in Purple Haze. I'll let you know if anything happens on my next few trips out. I have about 3 trips out in the next 3 weeks. One of them out on Thronapple, I haven't caught anything there but I did have that strike in which the top of the fishes tail came out that murky water and got me all excited! That gave me the confidence that it is possible there so I decided to plan another trip back.

Scott - I'm using the new calcutta 300D. It doesn't have the fastest gear ratio but with a little bit of work I think I can get them moving decently fast. I feel like I know the next suggestion " get a reel that can burn'em"

This might be sacrilegious to ask but does anyone have any good lake suggestions for Michigan beside lake St Clair & Thornapple?

Any suggestions on how to use those Grandma lures would be welcomed!

Have you thought about hiring Will? If you want to fast track your learning curve I would highly recommend booking a trip. You won't be disappointed and will learn more in a day than you will just wingin it for a year.

Not sure if you are a muskies inc member, but joining the club (Chapter 47 Michigan Muskie Alliance) will give you access to fishing reports, and wealth of great information on the forum here.

Also, be leary of fishing with water temps getting over 80... fish have a harder time recouping in hot water, and chances of mortality increase drastically.