Bass guys outfishing Musky guys for Musky

[Leatherneck]

I've heard and read that a lot of Bass guys hook into Muskies......obviously on what would be considered "downsized" Musky lures. Just curious what Bass lures, and the colors and sizes of these, would also be good for catching Muskies?

[Bluebasser86]

I've caught them on squarebills, buzzbaits, and spinnerbaits. Regular spinnerbaits seem to be really attractive to them.

[A-Jay]

I catch a few Musky each season.

Not out fishing anyone as these are all by catch deals.

I've caught them on baits of various sizes & colors including but perhaps not limited to:

Spinnerbaits, Swimbaits, Swimjigs, Crankbaits, Lippless Baits, Blade baits, Jigs,

and even Texas rigged plastics.

This one ate a jerkbait while fishing for brown bass ~

 

A-Jay

 

 

[Spankey]

I don’t really target fish Muskies. But on the river have caught them Smallie fishing. A thrill for sure but only fishing 6 and 8 lb. test makes it very interesting when you hook up one. 
 

Crankbaits, Jerkbaits, and larger Mepps in-line spinners have nailed them. Colors were random. 

[Black Hawk Basser]

I've gotten musky strikes on mostly spinnerbaits and topwaters like Whopper Ploppers.

[gim]

Part of the reason bass anglers sometimes catch more muskies than muskie anglers do is because they use smaller lures. Smaller lures target muskies of every size. Think of it like a Ned rig. They can catch big fish but the downsizing often attracts more and smaller fish. Muskie anglers generally use very large lures. You aren’t going to get a 30 inch muskie to take a magnum bull dawg but you might get one to take a bass sized spinner bait.

 

Another reason...at least here in MN is that muskie season is not open nearly as long as bass season. It opens almost a full month after bass season does and it closes 3 months earlier. The window of opportunity isn’t nearly as long. So you’re naturally gonna get some bass guys that accidentally “run into” one during what is actually a closed season for muskies.

 

I run into them on occasion using the lures already stated: spinnerbaits, crankbaits, topwater, jerk baits, chatterbaits. I haven’t caught one on a finesse plastic presentation but I’m sure that happens too.

[Vilas15]

1 hour ago, gimruis said:

You aren’t going to get a 30 inch muskie to take a magnum bull dawg

Sure you can. Just like the bass i catch on musky baits. There are no rules. Big fish eat small baits and small fish eat big baits. 

[WRB]

I read about musky fishing since a teenager in the 50's. Living in California a musky was this mystery fish so wary it took years to catch. The top predator fresh water game fish.

My travels around the country and world for that matter never allowed me the opportunity to fish for musky until I met my wife. 

My inlaws lived in Minnistoa and had a summer home on Lake of the Woods, Sabiscong bay. My life long dream of catching a musky was a reality. 

Lawrance Cottom was my inlaws neighbor and a musky guide it doesn't get any better. Lawrance taught me how to use Suicks, Teddy and Booby baits, musky Hawks etc.

Being bass angler isn't look at by Canadians as anything special as I was often reminded. Lawrance taught me about muskies, their habits, locations and preferred lures. I was hooked on musky fishing. Like bass fishing I got up at O'dark 30 and returned at dusk musky fishing. This behavior wasn't normal in Canada, you stopped fishing at noon for shore lunch and returned for cocktail at 5.

I found musky fishing similar to trophy bass fishing, put in the effort and you will catch them. Dedicated musky anglers like Lawrance are skilled trophy fish anglers and I can't say bass anglers are more skilled because they are not.

 

Tom

[Ogandrews]

I target Musky more than I do bass when the season is open. When the fish aren’t in the feeding mood I will use a lot of smaller “bass” style baits. My top baits for this would be a 5.8-6.8 keitech, jerkbaits like a husky jerk 14, bigger kvd, jointed floating rap, 3/4 oz lipless, whopper plopper 130, bigger walking baits, heavy wire swim jigs, and bass sized spinnerbaits. Musky mostly feed in windows, so when they want to feed they are going to eat whatever is in front of them. When they are less active a smaller bait can trigger them, but so can fishing ultra fast with a buck tail or really big plastic. If you are going to target musky, make sure you have quality leaders. For bass sized hard baits I will use 30lbs braided titanium, and for others I will use 80lbs floro. For real musky lures I use strictly 130lbs floro. If you are planning on targeting them, don’t do it without a set of compounding hook cutters, long nose pliers, a net big enough for a trophy musky to sit in and recover after the fight, and a good hook sharpener. Musky need a lot more recovery after a fight than a bass does, keep the time out of the water to a minimum and don’t let go of them until they are kicking off. I have 2 setups for downsized musky lures. One is a 7’1” MH mojo bass spinning rod with 20lbs braid for jerkbaits, and then a 8’ g loomis H swimbait rod with 80lbs braid and a tranx 300 for everything else.

 

if you really want to target musky, get a real musky setup. It is best for the fish to fight them on as heavy of gear as possible and keep the time you are fighting them to a minimum.

[gim]

8 hours ago, Ogandrews said:

When the fish aren’t in the feeding mood I will use a lot of smaller “bass” style baits. My top baits for this would be a 5.8-6.8 keitech, jerkbaits like a husky jerk 14, bigger kvd, jointed floating rap, 3/4 oz lipless, whopper plopper 130, bigger walking baits, heavy wire swim jigs, and bass sized spinnerbaits. Musky mostly feed in windows, so when they want to feed they are going to eat whatever is in front of them. When they are less active a smaller bait can trigger them, but so can fishing ultra fast with a buck tail or really big plastic.

This is what I was trying to get at in my previous post.  Thanks

11 hours ago, Vilas15 said:

Big fish eat small baits and small fish eat big baits. 

I don't disagree with that.  However, there are way more small fish of a species present than big ones so the chances are obviously reduced for whatever the target may be, including muskies.

 

Another item I would like to mention is tiger muskies.  Since they don't get nearly as big as a pure strain, you can actually target them with bass tackle.  Its essentially like catching bigger than average pike.  They are notorious for attacking small lures and targeting them with standard size muskie tackle is over kill.  I have caught 16 of them in the past 4 seasons and all of them have been on bass lures.

[YoTone]

Ive caught one on a popmax.

one of the wildest fights ive ever had.

had one hooked  earlier this year for a few seconds when one tackled my chatterbait.

[soflabasser]

18 hours ago, Vilas15 said:

 Just like the bass i catch on musky baits. There are no rules. Big fish eat small baits and small fish eat big baits. 

I agree. Muskies will hit bass lures just like bass will hit muskie lures. 

[Patrick Reif]

spinnerbait fish.

[Bankbeater]

I’ve caught muskie on spinnerbaits, crankbaits, plastic worms, and jigs, but I’ve had the best luck with lipless crankbaits. 

[redmeansdistortion]

I haven't hooked into many musky while bass fishing, but I used to catch tons of smallmouth trolling Lake St Clair for musky back 20 years ago.  You'd be surprised at the sizes of baits a smallmouth will hit.  Some days it seemed like that was all we caught.

[DitchPanda]

I've never caught a musky...but pike on the other hand I've had some of the action. Mainly on moving stuff...spinner bait and chatterbait in particular. Had one bite me off a few weeks back on a swim jig.

[WVU-SCPA]

Posted before, caught 2 40" fish a hour apart on Canada craw trd.  This year was the first spring I didn't catch a musky on bass gear but had plenty of follows.

[Ogandrews]

Here’s a 47” I caught this May while throwing a jerkbait for walleye. If you spend enough time with a bait in the water on a lake that has them your probably going to catch one, you just really up your odds by actually targeting them with the proper gear and techniques. It’s just like catching a bass while crappie fishing, if the fish is around and there’s an easy meal in front of it there’s a chance it’s gonna bite.

On the opposite end of the spectrum you would be amazed how often I catch bass on real musky lures. The 2 first largemouth over 5lbs I ever caught we’re both while musky fishing, one was on a 9” weighted suick jerkbait and the other was on a pounder bulldog which is about 20” long and like the name says weighs about a pound. That fish had the head and about half the bull dawg down it’s throat, definitely wanted to kill it.

[jimmyjoe]

54 minutes ago, Ogandrews said:

a 9” weighted suick jerkbait

 

   .... and 6, 7 or 8 inch Believers. Bass LOVE those things!      jj

[Elkins45]

The biggest fish I ever caught was a musky on a 1/4 ounce spinnerbait. I’ve also hooked them on squarebill crankbaits.

[DaubsNU1]

I've caught four Musky while bass fishing in Missouri.

 

Chrome/Blue rattle trap, chartreuse spinner bait, and even one on a jig-n-pig. All were in the 40" size range.

 

I'm just getting back in to fishing...and realized there is a lake stocked with Musky just 30 minutes from my house....guess where I'm fishing this weekend??

[soflabasser]

Countless muskie fishermen have had their ego bruised by knowing that land based bass fishermen catch muskies from land on bass lures. A muskie is not a mythical animal that only hits muskie lures, they will hit anything just like a bass will. It is not the ''fish of 10,000 cast'' some people make them out to be. They can be caught like any other fish if you are willing to learn about them and put the time on the water needed to catch them. 

[J Francho]

On 7/15/2020 at 8:53 AM, gimruis said:

Another item I would like to mention is tiger muskies.  Since they don't get nearly as big as a pure strain, you can actually target them with bass tackle.  Its essentially like catching bigger than average pike.  They are notorious for attacking small lures and targeting them with standard size muskie tackle is over kill.  I have caught 16 of them in the past 4 seasons and all of them have been on bass lures.

They don't reach the max size of pure musky, but they get to 3' pretty quick, quicker than pure musky.  They are a nuisance to me.  I have much more experience targeting northerns, and I use bass gear without issue.  Any MH to H gear works fine, and I've actually caught one of my top 5 largest on medium cranking gear.  

 

Here's a little axe handle tiger from Conesus.  Crappy weather seems to bring on the bite, if that's what you're looking for.

 

I much prefer hunting these guys almost right behind my house.

 

[gim]

1 hour ago, soflabasser said:

It is not the ''fish of 10,000 cast'' some people make them out to be. They can be caught like any other fish if you are willing to learn about them and put the time on the water needed to catch them. 

Its not the fish of 10,000 casts.  It actually takes a lot longer than that in most cases.  The first issue is that there isn't very many of them because they are an apex predator and they occupy a bigger carrying capacity than other fish.  Can they be patterned?  Of course they can.  If you figure that part out, you let me know.  Even the most savvy professional muskie angler has trouble patterning them regularly.  If you think they're so easy to catch, maybe you should consider the PMT and cash checks every weekend hauling them in?

[Randy Price]

I caught my largest musky back in 2017 bass fishing in the fall on Lake Namakagon in Cable, Wis. using a # 3 Mepp's bucktail with a silver spoon and black skirt.  If I had not hooked him just right he easily could have cut my 8 lb. Nanofil line.