Skunked...again

[Anzomcik]

I am in a rut, a pretty big one. I went out last night thinking it would be good. I was wrong i could not even get a pike bite. It seems that the past few weeks i can not get anything to move. In fact i happen to float up on two muskie layin by a log, and i could not get them to move. Well I am looking foward in a few weeks some fall fishing.

If any one has tips to break out of my slump that they are willing to share, ill take anyhelp you can share. Thanks

[Red Childress]

I wish I had a definite answer for you but here is my .02 cents............

We have had nice fish moving the past 3 weeks but getting them to eat AGGRESSIVELY has been the toughest part......welcome to August fishing where the bait supply never ends.

If you are fishing pressured muskies, maybe try working baits slowly then when you get one on your tail, burn it back to the boat and hopefully close the deal. Smaller, erratic baits like hellhounds, phantoms, freestylers, 7" grandma twitchbaits, and 8" mantas might help as well.

[Anzomcik]

I went out friday morning, at a lake with a high pike pop. and good rep for muskie. I know the lake fairly well. I fished all my favorite spots. I could not beilieve the pike activity, they were aggressive, but could not seal the deal they would jet out like lighting and then the last foot or so just take a ho hum swing at it.

I missed six pike this way, i did manage to boat three pike. One real healthy 32 incher. While the other two were hte skinnest hammerhandles i have ever seen. these fish were 20-24 inch fish with a girth of like 7 inches. I did manage to lose my 12th muskie this year. But i am learning.

My question is what do you guys do when small pike (like the ones i described) Are hitting fairly large bucktails and cranks? I enjoy catching pike but i am really after muskie. I am perplexed when those pike hit bull dawgs that are longer than themselfs. Anythoughts?

[Jim_Bortz]

In 30 years of musky fishing... this is what I've learned about hammer handle pike... When the pee wee pike are chomping, the muskies are not. You can have a ball catching pike, but anymore, they just annoy me. I've never had a follow from a musky (not even a small one) on a structural element where I caught a small pike on the same pass. NEVER! Now, when I catch a small pike, I pull up the trolling motor and try something completely different. If I caught the pike in the weeds, I go look at rocks or wood... maybe even try trolling. When the muskies are eating, the pike seem to know and they hide.

Now big pike are a completely different story. If I stick a 3-foot or better pike, I head right to my best big fish spot. And more often than not, I connect! 15 to 20 pound pike are often harder to move than a big musky, so if you stick one, pay attention! It's a good sign.

[Anzomcik]

Thanks Jim, I am not sure if you are aware of how helpful it is to have people that not only listen, but comment and give there experences they have lived. I am sure i mentioned that i am still on my first full season muskie fishing. I am having a blast, learning new things, making alot of rookie mistakes but thats all part of the game. Looking back i have learned so much, and with you guys backing me up on questions and answers it makes my life alot easier.

Ok here is another question. When you set the hook, i know a strong hook set is necessary but how many times do you guys set the hook? I have heard people setting the hook 3 or 4 times, anyone do that? Also when you feel the strike do you imeditally set the hook, or give it a secound before swinging the rod?

[Red Childress]

IMO, if you have your drag cranked down, sharp hooks and using some type of braid, there is no reason to go King Kong on the hookset. One set is all it will take as soon as you FEEL the fish. There is a huge difference between setting too hard and the fish simply mis-hitting your bait.

If the truth be known, a "committed fish" sets the hook for you most of the time provided the drag is cranked and hooks are VERY sharp........that little "grunt" and tiny "boat rock" should do the trick UNLESS you are using big rubber, then it is ok to give her whiplash. :)

You will get many differing opinions on this one.

[toothyfishman]

One thing about the 3-4 hooksets.....if you hook the fish good the first set and turns out the fish bit the lure to where it only has lighter skin and you keep setting and opening up that "hook hole" it increases the chances that you'll loose it.

I'd go with one set, keep your line tight. Don't horse the fish in but don't mess around either to keep from over stressing the fish.

If your using mono you need to switch to eliminate line stretch and you'll get a better hookset. At least 65# braid....most guys run 80# for casting.

[RiverRunt]

This is my first year of musky chasing too, and I also have not hooked up yet.

But on Sunday I had an interesting experience.

I don't have a boat, so I wade. I keep all of my tools and lures in a backpack. I also carry a fly rod in the back pack just in case I see a nice trout.

I was throwing a big bucktail with no luck. I spotted a nice trout rise, so I put down the musky rod and rigged up the fly rod with a small Joe's Fly spinner. The trout never rose again, so I was just fishing in the general area of the trout rise. I cast into the bank (about a foot out) and was retrieving slowly. The little spinner was working hard, so it was easy to watch. Suddenly, I spotted a huge fish following slowly behind it. I watched closely and the huge fish attacked. I struck hard and hit nothing but air. I suppose I should have just waited, but that was a natural reaction for trout fishing. I must have pulled it out of his mouth before he chomped down. Needless to say, I never saw him again, but it was quite an exhilerating experience.

I really don't know how big the fish was, because I was just watching his head, which was massive. The fish was a light brown color, at least it seemed, because the water had a deep bluish green color to it. The water depth was probably 4 feet deep.

I was surprised a fish so big would follow a small lure like that. Does it sound like a musky, a pike , or just a huge trout ? Do you think it was just my imagination? I don't think so. Next time, I will wait when I see a big fish attack. My nerves are fine, and I can do that.

Thanks for reading my story.

[NitroMusky]

its like Red said, you gotta FEEL the fish first...when I'm fishing topwater, and not worried about fouling on a weedpatch I will sometimes actually close my eyes or at least look away so that my first sign will be the feel of the fish hitting the bait (as long as my ears stop working too LOL) ...I know that I can get over-eager too otherwise...

[Red Childress]

With the long rod generation and low stretch lines, it is much easier to pin down the fish when compared to the good 'ole days of monofilament that had 20-25% stretch. With the quick responsiveness of modern-day tackle, it is very easy to pull the bait away (or out of) the fish's mouth.

Sharpening your hooks the right way will absolutely help your hook-up ratio. There are some very informative video/pictoral illustrations out there showing step by step how to get the sharpest points on your hooks.

[Anzomcik]

My main rod i use is a 8ft med/heavy. 65lbs Powerpro. Thinking back to all the fish i have lost/missed/plainscrewed up. many have come with in the first five secounds after the hook set.

I put down i pretty good hookset (at least i think) And i fight the fish for a few secounds then it head shakes and gone, like when i set the hook all i did was move the fish, not the bait in its mouth. I use alot of soft plastic, my thinking was its teeth have such good hold on the bait that unless you tear the bait from its mouth (almost ruining your bait) that it has less of a chance to have the hooks make contact.

I have so many baits with teeth marks on them (mean, deep ,nasty ones), but so few fish in the boat. One of these days i will figure out what i am doing wrong. Its kinda fun doing this whole learning thing, i am glad i can share this with out being made fun of.

[Red Childress]

If it makes you feel any better, we have hooked/lost/rolled as many fish as we have put in the net this year. This seems to happen more with an erratic running bait like a twitch/jerk bait than a straight retrieved bait. It sounds like you are pretty efficient at getting them to eat it, which is the toughest part.

We all go through mini-slumps.....crank down the drag, get your hooks ULTRA sharp and always try to increase your "musky IQ" each time you are out there.

[Anzomcik]

Went out last night on a body of water that i thought i knew well. All of my go to spots did not produce, just a swing and a miss from a pike. But here is the flip side my partener and i worked this one area that we had never worked before. He is more bass than toothy fish fisherman, he managed to bring up 5 smallmouth and a nice pike, i landed 2 nice pike. The pike were upper 20s maybe thirty.

On the last few feet of our "new" old water i had a hit that rocked my world, i lost a little sleep over it. Same senireo as last friday, was not really paying attation, last 10 feet of the cast lookin more or less where to move the boat to. For everyone to know i was working a swimjig and it was right below the boat strait down. the universe checked to see if i learned anything from last time and i must not have. I was lookin around with the dangling and it started to move to the side so i picked up, not set the hook, but picked up and the rod kept going to and then bent way over i just picked up, still not hook set, and then i pulled up a fish i wish i could have seen two head shakes and it was gone. I did not see the fish, but i was heavy. Thats my trip last night