Who is ready for musky opener?

I still have some things to prep but I should be ready.
Is there anything new you picked up that you are excited to try?
I picked up some handmade crank baits that I can’t wait to try out.

Darn, my attachment didn’t work the first time.

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I am, still learning this game and haven’t had much luck over the one year that I’ve really started targeting them, but I did get a small muskie on opener while bass fishing and it got me excited for the muskie opener.

Rodwork wrote:

Is there anything new you picked up that you are excited to try?

A friend of mine sold off all of his musky gear. I bought 2 Lakewood boxes full of spinners, cranks, bulldogs and more, an 8’ rod and reel combo. Even though I got a great deal on it, based on what I have into that package I’m going to be forced to go.

Seriously looking forward to it though. It’s a very nice upgrade from the G Loomis / 6500C setup and smattering of tackle I had.

BoatsHateMe wrote:

A friend of mine sold off all of his musky gear. I bought 2 Lakewood boxes full of spinners, cranks, bulldogs and more, an 8’ rod and reel combo. Even though I got a great deal on it, based on what I have into that package I’m going to be forced to go.

Seriously looking forward to it though. It’s a very nice upgrade from the G Loomis / 6500C setup and smattering of tackle I had.

Yeah, its sad to think the money I have wrapped up in musky gear and I havent thrown a musky bait in probably 2 years. I had it all stolen probably 12 years ago and had everything inventoried, the cost was staggering. When I replaced stuff I only bought what actually worked. Even at that I have several thousand dollars in just tackle. Grr. Too many impulse buys.

Im super excited to fish this year. should be on minnetonka both june 1st and june 2nd if things go right! Cant wait to throw lures all day for maybe one fish to show up and hopefully bite….

This is essentially my first year musky fishing. I went twice last year using a buddy’s stuff. Didn’t even get a follow, but im hooked. At the expo I bought an Abu fatmax rod/reel from Reed’s booth and the guy helped me out with 3 bucktails.

I have a handful of old musky baits from years upon years ago when I worked at gander and thought I’d get into it, so I have a couple topwater baits, and a few cranks, a glider (or 2?). I’m just looking forward to getting out and using the stuff. If all I catch are bass and pike, I’ll still be happy. But I want that hog.

Questions for you guys:
How early do you go out? I’ve read a lot of it is moon related, but are you trying to be the first one out?
Is my best bet throwing deeper cranks off the weedy ledge, or just try to find males up on shallow flats in what weeds might be starting to grow?

If you see an old school camo colored duck boat out there with a doof in the front doing all the wrong things, point me in the right direction.

for those of you just getting into this: be prepared to fail, A LOT. You’ll have way more failures than successful outings. I went 16.5 years without catching one from 2000-2016. I thought about giving up many times too. I have found that hybrid/tiger muskellunge can be a little easier to catch than pure strains so you might want to chase those instead if you find yourself in a rut.

IMO you can’t 1/2 a$$ for Muskie. You are either in or you are out. If in be prepared to work long hours. I would suggest going to waters that are less pressured during off peak times. Hitting the north end sand on the weekend puts you in competition with lots of other guys. Maybe hit a river. Smaller lakes. Your factory’s like Leech, Mille Lacs, Vermilion, Independence and Tonka get crushed by guys.

Be prepared, Muskies like no other species require sharp hooks and perfectly operating gear. Line, leaders,nets, release tools all must be working and handy.

When you are hunting them and they rise up and give you that “what are you doing” look and slowly swim away you will be hooked.

Be safe and have fun.

This little guy came from pitching in the shallows the other day

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Gordio wrote:

Questions for you guys:
How early do you go out? I’ve read a lot of it is moon related, but are you trying to be the first one out?
Is my best bet throwing deeper cranks off the weedy ledge, or just try to find males up on shallow flats in what weeds might be starting to grow?

If you can fish during any major/minor you are very ahead of the curve. Being the first one out in my opinion doesn’t matter so much. The tough part is you will find fish and not find fish in deep and shallow and everywhere in between. I have always preferred fishing the shallow sides of structure. usually have my boat somewhere in the middle of the break and casting up. early season you can find fish very shallow. like less then 4 feet. Personally my favorite way to fish muskys is burning buck tails once the water temps are closer to low 70s. you cover a ton of water and can find good spots faster. My best days have come doing that even in pressured water. Welcome to the $20+ lure club

gim wrote:

for those of you just getting into this: be prepared to fail, A LOT. You’ll have way more failures than successful outings. I went 16.5 years without catching one

Luckily for me, I’m happy to catch any fish. Im sure it’ll be frustrating trying to catch muskies and only catching pike, or nothing at all that day, but I’m content just getting out of the house

Dutchboy wrote:

Maybe hit a river. Smaller lakes. Your factory’s like Leech, Mille Lacs, Vermilion, Independence and Tonka get crushed by guys.

My little boat I won’t bring out on those lakes, so for now I’m looking at the littler bodies of water. From what I can tell, they typically have higher populations, just smaller fish. I’m ok with that for now.

Course I’m probably just a fool that’ll be cursing those d@#* fish by this fall.

Thanks for any help though. And if you guys need a net guy, I’m usually available all day Friday-Sunday

It has been a long winter waiting. I hope to get some more time on the water then last year.

Youbetcha wrote:

Being the first one out in my opinion doesn’t matter so much.

It will be if you are going to be trying to get them on a lake with limited parking spots. I hate it when I show up to a lake and all the parking spots are full. I get why they don’t have many spots but is sucks waiting for an hour or more for someone to leave.

Thoughts on taking your dog with on the boat while musky fishing?

Gordio wrote:

Thoughts on taking your dog with on the boat while musky fishing?

Is your dog well behaved? I take my dog all the time. But she is a good girl and well behaved.

Good news for those with smaller boats. Tonka has placed no wake restrictions on the entire lake until water levels go down. I plan on taking my 16′ Lund out all day Saturday chasing muskie.

Gordio wrote:

Thoughts on taking your dog with on the boat while musky fishing?

One of my dogs is a Boston Terroir and my son and I would tie a ball to my musky rod and fight him. Now no matter what I have at the end of my fishing rod he thinks it is for him. So if he goes fishing with me he will jump out of the boat after my lure. He is just the right size for a musky snack. So if there are muskies in the lake he now stays home. As long as your dog is well behaved I don’t see a problem.

I was more concerned about treble hooks than my lab jumping in, was where my thought was about the dog.

That might be the only time I’ve ever thought that it might be ok for me to take my boat out on Tonka, but I have other plans.

^ I always have brought my dogs in the past musky fishing. (16’ boat) My golden retriever would be at my side while I would bring in the fish. Once she saw a 50” musky she went to the back corner and tried to hide from it. The call all depends on your dog. If she lessons when you tell her to back up and stays you should be fine.

I tell my german shepherd to go sit and she does. One time last year she got caught in my side wall rod holder and pulled the line and snapped my rod tip but never had a issue with hooks or anything.
I see the concern just have to try it out. Could be a great time and could also be annoying. Do you take your dog crappie or walleye fishing? I don’t see much of a difference if so

I remember back in 2014 when there was a wake ban on Tonka until the end of June. Boy, the recreational riff raff hated that.

Ditto on the sharp hooks, its a must, you might get a one or two hits all day be ready to react, I fished one heck of a lot on the high pressured lake here in Wis, in the 80s and 90s here in Wis, the night bite was usually better. Some say the full moon is good, I cant see it, my best nights were always the darkest nights. DK.

Good suggestion on the river. A buddy of mine fishes the St Croix a lot and he has had a few 8 fish days. He does 95% of his fishing on Wednesdays and Thursday. He says when you hear people singing “Row row row your boat it’s time stay go home.

WS

gim wrote:

for those of you just getting into this: be prepared to fail, A LOT. You’ll have way more failures than successful outings. I went 16.5 years without catching one from 2000-2016. I thought about giving up many times too. I have found that hybrid/tiger muskellunge can be a little easier to catch than pure strains so you might want to chase those instead if you find yourself in a rut.

You should probably take up golf…..

Or fish lakes with muskies in them lol

St croix is a terrible place to chase muskies. Especially Taylor’s falls.
DONT GO THERE

B-man wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>gimruis wrote:</div>
for those of you just getting into this: be prepared to fail, A LOT. You’ll have way more failures than successful outings. I went 16.5 years without catching one from 2000-2016. I thought about giving up many times too. I have found that hybrid/tiger muskellunge can be a little easier to catch than pure strains so you might want to chase those instead if you find yourself in a rut.

You should probably take up golf…..

Or fish lakes with muskies in them lol

Only a fool would try to catch a muskie in a lake they do not reside in. I am not a fool.

Lund4Life wrote:

Good news for those with smaller boats. Tonka has placed no wake restrictions on the entire lake until water levels go down. I plan on taking my 16′ Lund out all day Saturday chasing muskie.

I’m bringing my little 14 footer out Sunday. What’s a good access to use? Not very familiar with tonka and don’t want to spend all day putting accross the lake. Would be targeting pike and bass mostly. Thanks! (sorry for the thread derail)

tangler wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Lund4Life wrote:</div>
Good news for those with smaller boats. Tonka has placed no wake restrictions on the entire lake until water levels go down. I plan on taking my 16′ Lund out all day Saturday chasing muskie.

I’m bringing my little 14 footer out Sunday. What’s a good access to use? Not very familiar with tonka and don’t want to spend all day putting accross the lake. Would be targeting pike and <em class=”ido-tag-em”>bass mostly. Thanks! (sorry for the thread derail)

Maxwell and Gray’s Bay are two options. Both are free and have plentiful parking.

Thanks!