Muskie Trip Blues

[papajoe222]

I'm really bummed out about my trip to NW Wisconsin. I drove 960 mi. round trip to get skunked for the third time in three years  .  I even resorted to trolling because my shoulder couldn't take the strain after two days of chucking everything from bucktails to Depth Raiders.  The only musky I saw is the one that tore into a 12in. bass that was unfortunate enough to inhale a 1oz. spinnerbait. Stupid bass! That muskie was likely following my spinnerbait up from deep water when that bass hit it.  I'll say one thing for the bass up there, they are not spooked by big baits.  I ended up with nine bass on them.  I switched over to bass fishing for the second half of my last day.  I had a blast with fish in the 16in.-18in. range, but I didn't go up there for bass!  I'll be looking for a different lake even though my PB came from those waters six years ago.

Anyone know of a good muskie lake up north?

[Scott F]

This is why I don't fish for muskies. Wildcat lake near Boulder Junction is known for numbers of musky but not necessarily for big ones. I was up in Northern Wisconsin last fall with a friend who likes to musky fish. The first day, we fished Wildcat and we each got one small musky. The second day we switched up and went to another lake for bass. Using plastic worms and a bass sized spinner bait, on this "bass" lake, my friend got 3 muskies all over 40 inches. Stupid muskies.  

[Chance_Taker4]

12 hours ago, papajoe222 said:

I'm really bummed out about my trip to NW Wisconsin. I drove 960 mi. round trip to get skunked for the third time in three years  .  I even resorted to trolling because my shoulder couldn't take the strain after two days of chucking everything from bucktails to Depth Raiders.  The only musky I saw is the one that tore into a 12in. bass that was unfortunate enough to inhale a 1oz. spinnerbait. Stupid bass! That muskie was likely following my spinnerbait up from deep water when that bass hit it.  I'll say one thing for the bass up there, they are not spooked by big baits.  I ended up with nine bass on them.  I switched over to bass fishing for the second half of my last day.  I had a blast with fish in the 16in.-18in. range, but I didn't go up there for bass!  I'll be looking for a different lake even though my PB came from those waters six years ago.

Anyone know of a good muskie lake up north?

When I Musky fish I go to Lake St. Claire, Lake Erie even though the population is dwindling and Lake Superior.

[gim]

I'm sure your not the only one who is frustrated by muskie fishing.  I started fishing for them in 2000 and I caught 5 my first season and I literally have not caught another one since.  I'm on a 16 year drought!  Stopped keeping track at 300 hours in 2010.  I considered giving it up all together several years ago but then I started getting some follows and even hooked into a few tiger muskies that got off before I could land them, which kept me going.  Lately its been a struggle again.  Its tough fishing, physically and mentally.  I've gotten to the point where I'm just doing it out of repetition rather than expecting to catch anything.

[slonezp]

You'd be better off driving an hour north to the Fox Chain. 

[Bluebasser86]

I've been to Canada and Minnesota fishing for muskie, both time multiple day trips to not boat a single muskie. Nope, all 11 of the muskie I've caught in my life came from Missouri, including 9 of them on a 3 day trip to a lake in NE MO.

[Further North]

I can point you at some water, shoot me a PM...

 

...but one thing I can recommend is quit throwing all big stuff.  I catch a ton of pike every year, more than a few of which are in the 30" - 40" range.

 

I manage to pick up muskies while I'm doing that most of which are in the 30" - 45" range.  Not huge, where musky are concerned...but I feel like you've got to be able to get numbers before you can shoot for size.

 

I got back from a Canadian trip about a month back where we saw a lot of fish, and I caught seven...the most reliable lure for the trip, for both follows and caught fish?  #5 Mepps in red and white.  One got so beat up I had to re-tie the bucktail on it (we had fly tying gear with us). 

 

A few years back on a similar trip, I caught six, with fewer follows than this year, every fish was on a Strike King Smokin' Rooster or a 4 1/2" Doctor Spoon.  Biggest fish that trip was a 48", but I lost an absolute monster that ate the Smokin' Rooster...and bent the hook...

 

We had a slow-ish year last year, but the biggest fish in our boat was caught on a 1/2 oz. red spinner bait with silver blades and we had a ton of follows on 3 1/2" spoons.

 

If you only throw big lures you are only targeting big fish...there's nothing wrong with muskies in the 30" range...in fact...and this would get me thrown out of a lot of musky camps...I'd rather catch musky and pike in the 30" - 45" range.  They strike harder, they fight harder and they are a lot easier to CPR.

 

On every one of the trips above, someone in camp caught bigger fish...but I had a ton of fun anyway.

 

Learn where they hang out, what they eat, how to zero in on them, catch some smaller fish...and have fun.