So You Want to Start Muskie Fishing?

CHICAGO MUSKIE SHOW - Is the worlds largest show for Muskie Anglers is January 8, 9, 10th, 2010 in Chicago IL

Muskies are some of the well known breeds of sport fishes, which inhabit the waters of Canada and United States. You can find two main varieties of Muskies; there is the indigenous Muskellunge and the Tiger Muskie. A natural Muskellunge can reach great sizes, and in some instances, fishes reaching 48 inches have been recorded. Many Muskellunge in the 40 to 50 pound range are caught every year by anglers. Tiger Muskie is a highbred between a Muskellunge and a Northern Pike.


Muskie are more like Pike, more often they like to ambush their prey. They are known to be more aggressive too. Muskie will hang and loiter around rocky shoals, weedy lines, river current or deep holes and near large shoal of smaller fishes. You can catch Muskie by trolling fast with heavy line and big lures, but you can also catch many more, if you refine and retune your strategy.

Here are some refined strategies which can help you in fishing:

While it is true that you should troll a little bit faster, never go fast down the lake at higher speeds. One can catch Muskie going fast but not near as many as you would go at a slower speed.

Anglers catch Musky using big 8 inch long crank baits and swim whizzes, but you can catch twice as many using a nice 4 or 5 inch floating fire-tiger or orange Rapala (the joined Rapalas work even better). Fire-tiger is best during the day and the orange is best at night or just before dark. If the muskie is not hitting either, go to a brown or silver color.

Like any other fishing, the characteristics of the line play an important role. The thinner the line, the more fish you catch. The visibility of your line makes a big difference on your fishing efforts. In a lake water body, that does not have very many weeds; try to use 8 pound dark green line. In a weedy area or an area that has sharp rocks, then you might want opt for a 10 pound test. If you use 15 +pound test, you will not get near as many hits.

Smell organs of Muskie is highly developed and thus they are very sensitive to human smell as well as other chemicals like gasoline and oil. Always wash you hands with sugar before you handle your lures. Do not forget to use fish scent on the lure. Another trick is adding salt to your lure. Muskie has receptors on the bottom of its jaws which react to positively charged water particles which are created when feeder fish swim through the water. If you want to boost your fish scent, add salt to it. It really works!

Try to leave out a line of about 50 feet length as muskies are known to be very sensitive to the sound of boat engine sound. If you angling with your friends in the same boat try to have your lures out the exact same distance to give the appearance of a school of fish. This also helps attract attention.

Crank Baits: During early spring Muskie is known to wade in to shallower waters of 5 to 6 feet deep for feeding. This time is more preferable for catching this fish.

You can get best results for Muskie by using a medium rod and 8 to 10 pound test dark green line. Always use medium sized jointed lures with fire-tiger, orange and chartreuse colors. Muskie is very sensitive to the scent of gasoline and always avoids gas on your hand. Use lots of fish scent. Muskie will be found along weed beds, off rocky points, at river mouths or deeper holes that hold good populations of feeder fish. Try and use all proven techniques.

Article source: http://www.qualitybooksonline.com/muskie-fishing.htm

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