Independence Muskies

I headed out to Indy tonight for a couple hours of fishing. It was rather windy, but I needed a little practice with boat control anyway. I caught my first fish on a figure 8. It was only a 3lb pike, but pretty darn cool.

I moved to another area that was wind blown. I was casting a bucktail. I got lazy on my figure 8 and sure enough a beautiful fish comes up out of no where. She made a half hearted swipe at the bucktail, then flared. She did a nice little porpoise move as she said “good-bye sucker”. I got a real good look at her, I’m guessing she was in the low to mid 40’s, nice thick fish. It was enough to get the blood flowing. I tried everything I had in the box(which isn’t much) for the next 10 – 15 minutes. I left the spot, and returned later. She was no where to be seen. I can’t wait for the cooler weather!!!!!

The traffic was picking up pretty good and I decided I should get home and probably missed the “prime time” bite, but it was good to be on the water again.

OK, since I’m such a novice, I need some help. I did get a little lazy on my figure eight and in my mind it cost me a nice fish last night.

I brought her up with a bucktail. What lure would you have tied on as a follow up?? How long should I throw different stuff at her before leaving her? How long should I leave her alone??

Thanks!!

Since it was in the evening……..Try a noisy topwater. Something that makes alot of noise and goes nowhere fast. An example of this is a “creeper” or “locamotive”. Both of these lures wobble back and forth and make all kinds of racket, but you can’t move them fast…….So they more or less just sit there and make noise………The fish have a hard time resisting………….

Also, the next time…….Don’t beat the water to death. If you don’t get a response in 2 or 3 cast………..Leave and come back in 30 minutes………..This does 2 things…….It gives the fish time to forget about what happened and also, the fish didn’t bite, because it was either coming “down” from its feeding time, or it was “coming on” to its feeding time. Giving another 30 mintues may just be perfect to catch the fish in its rampage.

If I “raise” a fish on topwater, I go back with a jerk bait. If I raise a fish on a jerk bait, I throw a crank this time of the year. Simple cast and retrieve with the crank with a few twitches/pauses, here and there, but not a whole lot needed…………Sometimes a simple sweep/pause does the trick………..

Sucks I couldn’t make it last night dude………Next time for sure!!!!!!!

Thanks Gary!! I was cussing you for not coming last night. I was sure your knowledge would have helped greatly. Although as windy as it was, the boat control was tough and I’m glad I didn’t have to worry about somebody in the back.

Good work on raising the fish….getting lazy on the figure 8 is all part of the learning curve, so consider yourself a better musky angler for having done it and learn from it.

I would tend to agree with Gary regarding the throwback choices…other topwater to think about would be Topraiders and Pacemakers as their tail propper style generates a bunch of racket as well and can be worked slowly or quickly depending on how aggressive you thought the fish was. Another idea would be some form of glide bait like a Phantom, as it resembles natural baitfish, and again, it can be worked quickly or slowly depending on what the fish is telling you.

Ignore the PM I sent you, as I didn’t check here first to see if you had any luck. As far as this weekend goes, I’m thinking that Monday morning is looking like a better option for me. I’ll give you a call on Saturday to confirm plans.

I’m heading out there tomorrow morning….can you give me an idea as to how deep you were fishing when you moved that fish?

Eric

Hey, atleast you did better than my first 50 “figure 8s”……..

They consisted of “panic freezing”, “staring blankly, eye to eye at the fish, admiring size instead of responding”, explanatory words I cannot share here out of excitement, yelps, screeches, squels, and lastly thrashing the water in a form of a figure 8, that could be done completed in an ice cream bucket.

Probably my “best” figure 8 was on a ski in the mid-50 inch range on LOTW. Came in on my bucktail, saw it, stopped cranking, and stared……………..then I got the shakes……..Kinda similar to buck fever……..when the fish are big, you loose conscious thinking……..the brain kind of just shuts down……….

The key thing to remember is that you don’t have to go “fast” on figure 8s. Slow, inconsistent speeds seem to work the best. Otherwise, many times the fishing rod, or you bent over the side of the boat will scare them off. Most of my success has been actually running down the gunnels pulling the bait. The fish (IMO) seem to get more aggressive on the “bait” swimming around the boat, then they do tight figure 8s. I’ve had too many fish take strikes on my figure 8s and leave out of frustration. Not alot of fish are boated on figure 8s. Only a few people I know are actually good at it……….

How is that for good timing. I will be out chasing muskies too on Indy tomorrow and Sunday. I am staying at the campground and hope to get out and chase some muskies. Last time on Indy, boated a 37 and a 42. The 37 on a figure 8 on about the 6th cast that morning..and the 42 trolling(after getting tired of casting). Green/White Caravelle Fish and Ski…Give a waive.

fishandski….

Black/tan C-Liner…I’ll be out there early and most likely spending time on the shoreline near the landing.

Stop and say hello….would be happy to share info if we’re moving fish. Good luck…

Eric