Will it be a record year?

[Pescatore]

Does anyone think that this is going to be an excellent year for musky or any fishing? I have only been out 4 times for a couple hours and have already seen a 34", 48", 2 pike in the boat and several follows. I think alot of fish perish naturally under the ice, but with no ice this past winter on alot of lakes and rivers this summer should be different. We also haven't had any fish kills this spring(knock on wood). Has anyone else seen more fish activity this year soo far?

[Ivan]

One thing is for sure...we are still a bit ahead of schedule as far as water temps and spawn this year (although things have evened out some recently). I think it will remain to be seen how that may affect fishing, and it's too early to draw any conclusions.

I have been out 7 times and we've boated 8 and lost 2. Not great numbers, but not bad either for early spring. The most impressive thing I've noticed so far this spring is an average size of 43" on fish we've boated, but that may have more to do with where we've been fishing than anything else.

I always have my normal rotation of PA and OH lakes I hit in the spring before I go to LSC in June. If these warm trends continue, I'll probably be looking for different patterns and fish locations where I fish in the spring because of the warmer temps. In other words, I might be looking for summer patterns on lakes I'm not used to fishing during summer type temps. That might be challenging.

I have heard or talked with a couple people that said the last time we had a mild winter and warm spring like this was 1998, and fishing was great. That was our first year seriously muskie fishing, so I can't compare numbers to what we do now, but I do know we got some big fish that year.

Good luck to everyone. I hope it is a "record year".

Adam A.

[TRE]

Here's hoping for a mild, wet summer so we can actually have some water!

[Red Childress]

It has been a good Spring up here as well. We have hit fish every trip thus far but it has not been easy in some instances. I expect the good action to continue unless we have a very successful spawn (bullhead, carp, suckers) since our river levels have been very consistent over the past few weeks. Normally, we have higher/fluctuating water during April and early May which wipes out some of the potential spawn. Our water temps are around 48 which is still above normal but with the big snow melt the past couple of days, the temps have stabilized. Warm weather is coming back early next week so we will see how things progress.

[EMA-SON]

Red,

Forgive me but I'm confused at why the action would slow with a successful spawn of baitfish. Is it because the food supply would be more plentiful and therefore the predators would not be as agressive or is there another reason I'm not thinking of?

Bryan

[Red Childress]

Yea, just a food supply issue. I hate to wish a bad spawn on any type of fish but it sure makes the fishing 'easier' for that particular year. :)

We already have so many dang trout around here. The buffet table is always full.

[toothyfishman]

Fat and happy laying on the bottom with trout all around waiting on the next belly grumble to grab up the next one.........lol......

[Ivan]

I have the next two weekends off from fishing before we leave for LSC, and I was reflecting on what a good spring it has been for us. We got a bit of an early start this spring with the warm weather in March, but this has been the best spring I can remember for a while. We've boated about 35 muskies in 15 days of fishing this spring and 1/3 of them have been over 40"s. I hope this better than average trend continues at LSC and Chautauqua for us. Maybe it will be our year to get a giant at the Larry this fall.

The last couple weekends we have done really well on more of a summer type pattern...trolling open water suspended fish. In-line planer boards have been doing well for us this year also. Some of that is due to the new 3 rod rule in PA though. If anyone is considering in-line boards, check out the new Church Tackle TX 44 boards. They are the best in-line boards I have used for muskie fishing.

How has everyone's spring gone? Red, it seems like you have had a good spring. Good luck the rest of the season.

[Red Childress]

It was going very well until Memorial Day weekend and we went fishless for 4 straight days. 7 hook-ups but nothing landed. The fish were just slapping at the baits and even after we downsized, we still could not get solid hook-ups. I took this past weekend off to take care of some house/property chores.

Good Luck to you guys as well!

[HD Fatboy]

Adam-

I bought the Church TX-22 boards. I have ran them but no fish yet, but thats not the boards fault. I did not know about the TX-44. The TX-22 seems to run well though!

[Ivan]

I didn't know about the 22s. I guess they are smaller than the 44s. I never really looked at the Church products until I heard about the TX 44s. I always used the OffShore brand yellow boards when I've used in-lines in the past.

[HD Fatboy]

You are correct, they are a little smaller than the 44's.

[Ralph]

Any of the Church boards will work but the 44's are great for heavy lines/lures! Plus the 44's come with the Vise grip clip. If you have some of the other boards already get the Vise Grip clips to replace the old clip. They work in reverse so the line can not pull out.

http://www.churchtackle.com/Product%20Pages/Clips/Vise_Clip.html

[HD Fatboy]

I am not sure, but I think the 22's caome with the same clip. If you tighten the adjustment screw down all the way, the line will not realease at all.

[wadealexander]

maybe some one will get lucky trolling for walleye... lol