This isn’t immediate help, but when you do get shoulder tuned up, or casting now. Practice perfect casting form, I see a lot of muskie guys pulling these odd half side arm type casts. Perfect form will use the muscles that need to be used and minimize stress on joints. I muskie fish a lot and can tell the difference on my body when I get sloppy.
You could sit there with a quick strike rig and a big sucker for hours on end. Bring a lot of beer.
Sound advice
Sound advice
Lol its just about the most boring way to fish that exists to be honest. Not to mention a big decoy sucker costs about 15 bucks these days and its a one-time use, if your lucky.
If that was my only option, I’d quit. Its like watching paint dry. And its pretty useless during most of muskie season because the water is too warm. Fall is really the only time its that effective, when the water is below 60 degrees.
As long as I can cast, that’s what I’m going to do. There will be a day when I can’t, and that will be the end of my muskie fishing.
60 degrees to 54 degrees, one has to jerk a 10” phantom softtail (only 10 oz if I don’t add the weight). I have had too many fish swallow that lure whole along with half the leader. Keep to the soft tail version or they get throat hooked and cut hooks going through the gills. I don’t soak suckers until it is below 54 degrees. I am not a big fan of trolling. I enjoy casting or I don’t feel like going.
Get an MRI, x-rays didn’t show the damage to my rotator cuff, which was shredded.
Get an MRI, x-rays didn’t show the damage to my rotator cuff, which was shredded.
Good to know. The x-ray and ultra sound didn’t show anything was wrong. One would have thought the professionals would know these methods would not work. I find it funny I must come here to find out what I need to ask. 
The only one who can advocate for you with the doctors is yourself. You have to ask lots of questions and throw stuff out there like the MRI.
Don’t just go with the flow! Ask.
What they did for me was a physical exam first – push,pull, resist different directions with your arms. Suggested PT.
Said i couldn’t lift my arm to do that. Then it was recommended I get an MRI.
It was explained to me the rotator cuff tendon is like a bungee cord – made of many little fibers/bands. As the bands “snap”, sure, it still works, but you gradually lose strength.
But yeah, sounds like MRI time.
Don’t ask – demand.
I fish for walleyes and not muskies but I had scaphoid excision and 4 corner fusion surgery on my right wrist (which is my dominant) several years back because of painful arthritis. I have little strength in my right hand and really can’t bend my wrist anylonger. Casting gets painful very quickly and can’t do a whole lot of it anymore but I’ve learned how to troll and still catch alot of walleyes. It works for me and I’ve learned that trolling is a whole different game than casting. I actually like it.
2nd the MRI
Just bc you can’t lift your arm doesn’t mean you can’t exercise your muscles, a good PT will accomodate and gradually buildup resistance, and over time you’ll find more range of motion and strength to add more weight.
Mine started me laying on my back taking stress off shoulder and going thru several motions with just weight of arm, which was not fun, big day when I got up to holding a 4lb weight thru same motions.
Took me 11 sessions over the course of a couple months to get good enough to keep the regimen up on my own. And that’s with 2x as many home workouts in between. Not everyone has my shoulder issue, some need surgery some don’t, but even with the majority of tears I was told you’re still probably gonna need to go thru PT first to be a candidate for surgery.
I saw u lift some heavy sturgeon in the boat this spring, my couch doc degree tells me your shoulder isn’t a disaster.
Did you see an orthopedist first before seeing the PT? If not, I would start there. If the second round of PT doesn’t help, push to get the MRI.
1 3/4 years ago I wrenched my back and had to miss duck hunting season. That’s my passion. Said to myself, “Self, if I want to do everything I’ve planned to do in retirement, I need to get in better shape.” Started PT and after a while I injured myself doing one of the exercises I “modified” a little. Went to TRIA urgent care and saw an orthopedist. He suggested PT and also the TRIA neck and back program which is a weight training program on specific machines to strengthen the core and back. During this program I was still having sciatica so I did get an MRI. My lower back hadn’t changed since the MRI from 2005. All nerve channels were very open. The sciatica was from an impingement of the nerve by the piriformis muscle in the butt. Targeted excercises/stretches fixed that. The weight training changed my life. I turned my musculoskeletal body clock back about 6 years to when I was weight training before. Had a full hunting season last fall. Last fall thru winter I cut down ~25 trees on my property, limbed and bucked (Milwaukee M18 chain saw is a beast) and hauled to city almost all my myself. Yesterday, I returned a bunch of lumber to Menard’s and estimated I lifted 2.2 tons throughout the day. Hardly tired after. I’ll be lifting weights ’til I can’t.
Sorry for the long post.
I saw u lift some heavy sturgeon in the boat this spring, my couch doc degree tells me your shoulder isn’t a disaster.
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Lol, just walk it off. You’ll be golden 
When Tony Rizzo was in his later years he told me his secret to being able to still fish. “Most muskies hit the first and last 10′ of your cast. Cast 20′.”
My GP doc had the x-ray performed (indicating no damage!) and made me go the PT and ibuprofen route to “strengthen the muscles”. At that time I was working a job that had a lot of manual labor, more use = more pain. Tried the PT and it only got worse. Decided to see an orthopedic surgeon, who ordered the MRI (after reviewing the x-rays) as in his words “x-rays are not effective at depicting the damage”.
You need to push, managed medicine tries to go the cheap route and hope you go away. They must incentivise the docs as my current GP acts the same way,ignore the root cause. Specialists are more interested in identifying root cause and resolving the issue.
The only one who can advocate for you with the doctors is yourself. You have to ask lots of questions and throw stuff out there like the MRI.
Don’t just go with the flow! Ask.
X2. I had to tell the professionals repeatedly when my heart didn’t feel right to keep running more and DIFFERENT tests because I wasn’t satisfied with what they were telling me, turns out I had both pneumonia and pericarditis(inflammation of the sac around the heart). Was then hospitalized for 5 days. Don’t blindly trust any healthcare professional, as respectable as many of their positions are. After all, it’s your own life and well-being at risk, not theirs.
Thanks for all the great advice. 
I know you said you ‘messed’ up your shoulder, but are you sure you don’t have a frozen shoulder?
I had one about 3 years ago and it was a painful 12-16 or so months of dealing with it. Shouldn’t still isn’t 100% but I think it’s the best it will ever get..
I know you said you ‘messed’ up your shoulder, but are you sure you don’t have a frozen shoulder?
My shoulder blade also was frozen and that took some time to work that out.
Well I can’t validate your specific issue however 18 months ago I slipped on some ice and landed on my shoulder. Nothing torn but couldn’t hardly lift it. Went to PT for almost 6 months before I told my doctor I feel like I have plateaued and not getting any better. He scheduled me to see a sports doctor who agreed to do a cortisone shot into my joint. After a day it felt like a new arm. He stated it will help it heal and I might need another one in the future. It’s been almost a year now and is some soreness has returned, nothing like before but I am going to call to get his opinion on another one.
Well I can’t validate your specific issue however 18 months ago I slipped on some ice and landed on my shoulder. Nothing torn but couldn’t hardly lift it. Went to PT for almost 6 months before I told my doctor I feel like I have plateaued and not getting any better. He scheduled me to see a sports doctor who agreed to do a cortisone shot into my joint. After a day it felt like a new arm. He stated it will help it heal and I might need another one in the future. It’s been almost a year now and is some soreness has returned, nothing like before but I am going to call to get his opinion on another one.
I’ve watched many co workers go through this and injure them selves worse because a actual injury is being hidden behind a shot that makes it feel good. Always tread lightly with those kind of shots. They are a temp fix to a larger problem
The x-ray and ultra sound didn’t show anything was wrong. One would have thought the professionals would know these methods would not work. I find it funny I must come here to find out what I need to ask.
Shoulders are very tricky to see the totality of damage on any scan (MRI, CT or even XRays). Both times I had surgery (Labrum, then replacement) they missed some of the damage on the preliminary scans. If PT isn’t working there is something wrong, and you need to keep getting it looked at. I had great luck with Tria, but TCO is awesome as well, and once you get a diagnosis, go to the other one for a 2nd opinion. I had Dr. Braman, who is now retired I believe, but he was one of the top shoulder guys in the cities, worked on all the pro athletes, and I even had his opinion double checked. Gave me quite a bit of peace of mind, as I started on the road to bionic, T-2000 here I come!
I had both my shoulder and wrist surgery done at the same time. I did almost everything right handed and if I wanted to keep bowling I switched to left handed. It wasn’t pretty at first but I continued to improve and after several months I was bowling better then I did right handed. I also switched to casting left handed when fishing. In open water fishing it was easy. But trying to hit a target next to a dock or tree was tough. Most of the time I was tangled up. After a lot of practice I got almost as good as right handed. I also went to physical therapy for 3 months on my shoulder. Insurance would only pay 15 visits, but eventually most of the pain went away. I still bowl and fish left handed.
My old roommate had his rotator cuff surgically repaired. One of the last Dr appointments before surgery he asked his doc “Will I be able to throw a 95 mph fastball after surgery?” The doc looked at him deadpanned and said, “Were you able to before?”
Only get cortisone after an MRI. It masks the symptoms and doesn’t fix anything. You feel better almost immediately but that can lead to overuse and worsening the injury. If the MRI shows the damage has been done and really can’t be exacerbated, cortisone can be a great way to get back to some activity and pain relief.
I had a cortisone injection in my lower back yesterday (timely thread). I have spinal stenosis causing pinched nerves. The stenosis won’t get better but it’s not an acute injury that I can make much worse. Cortisone will give me relief until we decide to do a surgery. It’s a little more complicated with shoulder injuries but I have shots in those pre-surgery too.
when i was dealing with my back issues back when, and prior to surgery i had one of those shots…..it was the worse friggin pain i ever had in my life…….never again. i had to lay on my stomach…….i swear i bent the bed railings/supports underneath that bed!!!!
when i was dealing with my back issues back when, and prior to surgery i had one of those shots…..it was the worse friggin pain i ever had in my life…….never again. i had to lay on my stomach…….i swear i bent the bed railings/supports underneath that bed!!!!
Well, in the modern days they numb you up and you don’t feel a thing. Maybe next time bite down on a stick?
It was the modern days and they did numb me up. 
Sucks to get old Mike.Rub some dirt on it and switch to panfish.
ALWAYS GET A 2ND OPINION!
Remember 50% of all doctors graduated in the bottom half of their class. 
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