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Post by ospreynn on Sept 13, 2010 18:48:31 GMT -4
I'm a bass guy, but this time I'll be going fishing for muskies. I have never fished for muskie/pike in my life, as we don't have muskies in New Mexico and pike are only present in the northern part of the state. There are two lakes in NM that had a goldfish problem so they were stocked with tiger musky. The one that I'll be fishing is very small, and besides muskie only rainbows are present. The lake is suppose to have a very high density of muskie, so I don't know if it is suppose to be good or bad news. All I know is that most people catch them with x-raps 10, and that you have to cast almost 1000 times before you catch one. The biggest fish are a little over 40" now. Also, no boats with motors (gas) are allowed.
Which lures should I be using. I'm planning in using some shallow magnums, x-rap jointed, super shad rap, x-rap walk and subwalk, glidin rap, twitchin rap and some big bluefox in-line spinnerbaits. What do you think of my selection. Can you catch them with plastics like bass, what about swimbaits.
Another question will be, should I use a wire (steel) leader?. What type of line should I use, 15 lb is enough?
As I mentioned before, I've never attempted before to fish for muskies, so any advise will be of great help. Thanks
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Post by muskiehunter on Sept 15, 2010 10:02:04 GMT -4
AHH MUSKIE'S  The lures you have picked will work great and you can catch them on plastics.The bigger the better. Also I would HIGHLY recommend a steel leader otherwise the phrase of the day will be Son of a B@$%#!!! They are notorious for cutting you off  Have fun and post pics of your catch |
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Post by cdj711 on Sept 15, 2010 11:38:38 GMT -4
hi.
i guess you will need/should use a SSR-14 GF.
good luck, wolfgang
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Post by muskiehunter on Sept 15, 2010 13:14:46 GMT -4
hi. i guess you will need/should use a SSR-14 GF. good luck, wolfgang Yes add that to your list.The SSR-14 GF has been one of my goto muskie/pike lures. Every time I throw that bait I get bit  |
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Post by ospreynn on Sept 15, 2010 21:40:20 GMT -4
Thanks for your advise, but what color is GF?. I don't see it listed in the rapala website. The only SSR14 that I have are bluegill and perch.
Does any of you use braid. I've never used braid before, but I was thinking in using it this time with a 40-50 lb mono leader. Will that be enough for muskies, or should I use steel. If so, how long should the leader be.
Also, if I stick to fluoro, what should I be using, 20lbs? Thanks
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Post by cdj711 on Sept 16, 2010 11:56:48 GMT -4
the GF should be in the color code section.
do we still have that somewhere ...?
if not, ask muskiehunter to send a pic.
he should have or take one with lots of musky teeth marks on the SSR14 GF. i think even to remember he posted it here already.
best, wolfgang
p.s.: as Steve already said, nothing other than steel wire leader for big pike or musky!
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Post by ospreynn on Sept 16, 2010 12:04:57 GMT -4
is it gold fish?? I got some steel wire leaders already, but I would rather not use them if I don't have to. The muskies there were stocked in 2003, the biggest should be 42-44 in and 20-24 lbs. That's why I wondered if 40-50 lbs mono will be enough. If not, I'll stick to steel. Do you guys use braid?
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Post by fishfingers007 on Sept 16, 2010 14:23:50 GMT -4
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Post by Tom on Sept 16, 2010 15:02:18 GMT -4
is it gold fish?? I got some steel wire leaders already, but I would rather not use them if I don't have to. The muskies there were stocked in 2003, the biggest should be 42-44 in and 20-24 lbs. That's why I wondered if 40-50 lbs mono will be enough. If not, I'll stick to steel. Do you guys use braid? Always put fish welfare first. I understand its different over there in the states, but here people go bananas if you don't use a trace for pike, and 1 guy even had a go at me for not using a landing mat, despite me chinning my fish and holding it off the ground for the entire unhooking process. Point is, a fish with a great big lure stuck in its mouth could very easily become a dead fish with a lure stuck in its mouth. Nobody wants that, and nobody wants to lose lures either  I use traces for all my lure fishing, and i honestly don't think you will catch less fish by using them, and you will certainly land more. Thick mono will of course work to a certain degree, but the only thing thats 100% toothproof is a wire trace, so thats what i would use if i were you. And i am writing all this from experience with pike, and a big musky will be able to bite through line even easier than the pike i fish for. |
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Post by ospreynn on Sept 20, 2010 17:36:35 GMT -4
Well, I went fishing over the weekend... but I didn't catch anything. We lost one on a long cast 12 (moss bunker) and one that followed the lure (fat money minnow). It is the first time in a very lont time that I end up catching nothing........ There was one guy there when we were leaving that was using a buzz bait (the real cheap ones, bass size) that caught one over 35". I had a couple of them with me, but I didn't use them, if I would know.... he was from Canada, so he had some experience fishing for muskies...
I'll have to give it a shot sometime this year.
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Post by pikehunter on Sept 25, 2010 13:51:10 GMT -4
i would use 50 pound fireline braid in black with a 50 pound fluroclear p line leader on a silver and blue super shad rap
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Post by casey10 on Mar 13, 2011 16:52:24 GMT -4
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Post by rocfish on Mar 13, 2011 17:42:44 GMT -4
Casey, is that a Maina Tackle "Ernie" in the middle row second from the bottom? Looks a lot like the "Ernie" in Perch pattern that I bought more than a few years ago after getting the opportunity to actually take a guided fishing day with the legendary Pete Maina up in Cable/Hayward Wisconsin. We didn't catch any Muskies that day, but plenty of big Pike made it to the boat. Ended up buying a Maina Tackle "Jake" as result of that day's fishing as well.  |
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Post by casey10 on Mar 13, 2011 20:29:52 GMT -4
Yes, its an Ernie. I also have 3 ten inch Jakes, one of which is out for custom painting. These are my small muskie baits for the colder water in the spring. Have high hopes for the GF and FT.
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Post by jmcfish10101973 on Mar 14, 2011 18:57:39 GMT -4
here is my list of what i think would work great also
1.hj-14
2.j-13
3.f-18
4.sp-12
5.ssr-14
6.f-mag 14
7.x-raps
8.sl-13
just my thinking on this
john.
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Post by nathanha on Mar 30, 2011 9:01:17 GMT -4
A mono leader is not going to cut it. You need to run a steel leader I would say 50+ lbs. Musky are like pike on steriods they have a lot of teeth. If you run into something 40 inches plus you will be glad you had the steel leader. This is just my opinion I have spent a fair amount of time Musky Fishing. I use a 80 to 100lb leader when throwing my bucktails ect. Overkill maybe but I have seen others lose fish because they get cut off. And it will kill the fish depending on how its hooked. Its a lose lose.
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Post by 90collector on Mar 30, 2011 10:07:16 GMT -4
I never run a leader for muskies anymore, I just use 80lb spiderwire stealth braid and a large swivel, and this has worked fine for me so far
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Post by casey10 on Mar 31, 2011 20:48:13 GMT -4
Most guys in our muskie chapter ,including myself ,use 80/100 lb flourocarbon leaders on power pro 65/80 lb braid.
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Post by orvist3er on Oct 18, 2011 16:37:38 GMT -4
Use a wire trace at least 18 inches long, sevenstrand 28lb wire is thinner than 8lb mono anyway.Braid should be at least 30lb test, otherwise 15lb to 18lb mono mainline should be more than man enough.Use the steel leader though, even 3lb Jack Pike will cut straight through mono or fluro
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