Tiger Muskie advice

[BlakeMolone]

Just moved to Utah and it looks like a few lakes within a few hour drive from the city have some nice tiger musky, I plan on making atleast a few trips targeting them specifically this year. I’ve heard bigger bass lures are better than giant musky lures when it comes to tiger muskies? Can anyone recommend me some good baits and general advice? I have a bunch of pointer 100s I’m hoping those will be big enough to catch a tigers interest?

[FryDog62]

Be sure to reach out to Gimruis… ?

[gim]

1 hour ago, BlakeMolone said:

Can anyone recommend me some good baits and general advice?

I have caught 28 of them since 2017, including 7 last season.

 

This is what I can offer you. You don’t need to use standard muskie gear that you would use for pure strains. You can use beefed up bass gear, or northern pike gear. Tiger muskies are notorious for biting smaller lures. Lures that have some flash and vibrate are effective. Just make sure you are using some kind of leader to prevent bite offs.

 

My best success here in MN comes when the water temps are between 65-75 degrees, and on a cloudy or rainy day. Sunny days are usually a bust.

 

A 35+ inch fish is a really good one. 40+ is trophy caliber.

 

Make sure you have the appropriate gear to safely handle and release them. A muskie net, grippers, jaw spreader, etc.

[Dogface]

Big flashy in-line spinners with some bucktail. 

[Further North]

Great advice from @gimruis

I have caught more muskies and pike on three lures than any of the larger "musky" sized lures I have:

1. Strike King Smokin' Rooster, Texas Rigged over a wire leader, 1/4 oz. weight up front, 5/0 Gamakatsu EWG hook.  These are no longer made, but esox hate them with a passion.  I make my own...thrown on a medium action rod appropriate for the weight.
2. #5 Mepps.  Red and White, and Brown Trout have been my most productive.  I throw these on a rod I have specifically set up for #5 Mepps; very much not a "musky" rod.
3. Doctor Spoons, both the 1 1/8 oz. size, and the ones one size smaller.  Again, not thrown on a "musky rod".

...I don't encounter a lot of tigers, but I can't imagine those lures not working well for them.

This 43" ate a Smokin' Rooster last summer.

 

 

...I had another 43" a couple days before that, also on the Smokin' Rooster, no pictures, tough release so no time.

This 40", from 2021 also ate the Smokin' Rooster

 

[BlakeMolone]

Great info guys thank you!!! I will make sure to buy a jaw spreader and net within the next few weeks, definitely don’t want to hurt the things. I want to keep it really simple so I guess I start with a large in-line spinner, my bigger jerkbaits and maybe a big spoon? Is there one more must have bait I should get?

Also are you guys working baits fast/aggressively when targeting tigers? It seems like they would be more than willing to chase right?

[gim]

6 minutes ago, BlakeMolone said:

Also are you guys working baits fast/aggressively when targeting tigers? It seems like they would be more than willing to chase right?

I target them with a fairly aggressive approach. Either they bite or they don’t. There’s really no finessing them. There will often be a “bite window” when you can catch a fish or two in a short period of time, and then it’s nothing for hours. Local weather conditions are a trigger. When there is a change coming, get out there ahead of it.

 

I’ve never had much luck in colder water. Perhaps a less aggressive approach would work better, like a jerk bait or slash bait.

[Further North]

1 hour ago, gimruis said:

I’ve never had much luck in colder water. Perhaps a less aggressive approach would work better, like a jerk bait or slash bait.

Cold water, in the river over here, means low and slow.

Like painfully slow.

...I can't find a way to enjoy it...even though it's supposed to produce the best fish of the year.

[Dogface]

2 hours ago, BlakeMolone said:

I will make sure to buy a jaw spreader and net within the next few weeks, definitely don’t want to hurt the things. I want to keep it really simple so I guess I start with a large in-line spinner, my bigger jerkbaits and maybe a big spoon? Is there one more must have bait I should get?

Also are you guys working baits fast/aggressively when targeting tigers? It seems like they would be more than willing to chase right?

 

Also get yourself a cheap pair of longnose pliers, maybe 8 or 12 inches. I buy the cheap ones from Harbor Freight but keep them oiled. They rust easily. You don't want to get your fingers near those teeth especially when you are trying to remove a big treble. 

 

I use spoons mostly for pike but I have been attaching a big twister tail to the spoons. It makes for a bigger target and more action. The Johnson Silver Minnow is a favorite and there is only one hook to deal with. 

 

When I'm trolling I vary the speed. If I'm casting to an area I think holds a fish I'm usually retrieving fast enough to keep the lure out of the cover and that is usually not very fast. 

[Way north bass guy]

There’s a few lakes around me that have both pike and muskies, and just the right conditions to produce naturally occurring tigers ( no muskie stocking around here).

I’ve caught quite a few of them over the years, both targeting them as well as by catch while bass fishing. I’d say that the above posts are all good info for tigers. I’d say most of mine have also come on smaller lures than the traditional “big” muskie baits. Quite a few have been either on a smaller in-line spinner such as the #5 mepps, or a standard sized bass jerkbait. I’ve also caught quite a few on a double willow spinnerbait, same size I’d use for big small mouth. 

[MN Fisher]

1 hour ago, Dogface said:

Also get yourself a cheap pair of longnose pliers, maybe 8 or 12 inches.

For pike and other toothy critters I got a pair of dual pivot pliers...they're also great for gut-hooked fish.

[Dogface]

1 hour ago, MN Fisher said:

For pike and other toothy critters I got a pair of dual pivot pliers...they're also great for gut-hooked fish.

 

I like them. ?

[Further North]

3 hours ago, MN Fisher said:

For pike and other toothy critters I got a pair of dual pivot pliers...they're also great for gut-hooked fish.

Menards sells a pair similar to that, 15" long, for a very reasonable price.
I have one in each of my boats.

[throttleplate]

I caught mine fishing for smallmouth and walleye using 3/16 oz and 1/4 ballhead jigs tipped with plastic gulp shiner, and a  pink tube. Caught 2 others, 1 on a square bill crank pearch design and the last one on a lipless chrome rattletrap.

Caught 4 in the same place same day within 4 hours on the river. It was early sept, rainy, low dark clouds and 60 air temp, best fishing day ever.

 

Or you could snag one like my wife did.

[Dwight Hottle]

Not a tiger but it was caught on a LC pointer 100 series jerk bait with a single strand titanium leader at ice out.

 

 

[Susky River Rat]

There are tiger only lakes around me. I never fished them differently than I do pures. Pike regularly eat full size musky baits. Pures eat them too. I have never bought into the smaller is better with tigers.  Dawgs, Medusa’s, gliders are great. Double and single 8s in the spring time and 6” gliders are killer. Even in the colder months I may pause longer but, all my jerks/rips are still very fast and hard.

 

Get a good hook cutters to cut buried hooks in them to remove them faster. I use pretty much all the different leader types 130# fluorocarbon, 7 strand and solid wire depending on what on throwing. 8-14 inches is a good length. I just get stealth tackle ones.
 

Trolling I run 3.5-5.5mph depending on baits and time of year.  

[gim]

31 minutes ago, Darnold335 said:

Pike regularly eat full size musky baits. Pures eat them too. I have never bought into the smaller is better with tigers.

The issue with using standard size muskie gear in this particular case is that the OP doesn't have any.  He's not intending to target pure strains or Canadian-sized northern pike, so there's really no reason to go purchase a bunch of muskie stuff if the only lakes he is able or intending to fish have tigers.

 

If he already had standard muskie gear I would have said use some of that in my initial response too.

[Susky River Rat]

1 minute ago, gimruis said:

He's not intending to target pure strains or Canadian-sized northern pike,

I promise in tiger only lakes he will be running into 40” plus tigers often. I know I did here. So it is something worth considering for him if it’s something he wants to do.  They have 50” plus tigers out where he’s at from what I’m aware of. Utah is the monster tiger state. 

[gim]

1 hour ago, Darnold335 said:

I promise in tiger only lakes he will be running into 40” plus tigers often.

I've run into 3 of them in 6 years here in MN that size.  Out of 28 caught.  A 50 inch tiger muskie here would be almost unheard of and approaching state record status.  Certainly they can grow that big.  Where I fish them, they do not.  But 5 months of the year they are not really active or growing because the lakes are locked up in ice and snow.  Forage base also plays a role in how quickly and to what maximum size a predator can reach.

 

Something to keep in mind, just like when discussing bass fishing, is that most of us are in completely different portions of the country and one regional aspect or strategy may not be very relevant to another.  The OP is in Utah, I am in Minnesota, you are in Pennsylvania.  There's also been posts about Canadian northern pike and pure strain muskies, which are not very helpful IMO.

[Further North]

3 hours ago, Darnold335 said:

Pike regularly eat full size musky baits. Pures eat them too. I have never bought into the smaller is better with tigers.

I don't believe anyone has said "smaller is better", rather that smaller works just as well.

People like Bill Sherer and Ace Sommerfeld have been proving that for over 30 years.

There is a time and a place for the bigger stuff as well, but it's not a requirement, particularly at certain times of the year when the forage tends to be smaller.

One example would be skinny water rivers. 

 

2 hours ago, gimruis said:

The issue with using standard size muskie gear in this particular case is that the OP doesn't have any.  He's not intending to target pure strains or Canadian-sized northern pike, so there's really no reason to go purchase a bunch of muskie stuff if the only lakes he is able or intending to fish have tigers.

Exactly.  He can go buy an example or two of the recommended lures, see what happens, then go from there.  There's no reason to spend hundreds of dollars on gear just to catch some tigers.

 

54 minutes ago, gimruis said:

Something to keep in mind, just like when discussing bass fishing, is that most of us are in completely different portions of the country and one regional aspect or strategy may not be very relevant to another.  The OP is in Utah, I am in Minnesota, you are in Pennsylvania.  There's also been posts about Canadian northern pike and pure strain muskies, which are not very helpful IMO.

Anglers, like everyone else, like to project how they fish onto others in other areas, fishing in different ways.

...it's interesting that you feel there's a big contrast between tigers and Canadian northern pike and pure strain muskies.  I am interested in why.  I've caught few tigers, all naturals, but lots of the other two, and I've not seen any significant difference between them, other than muskies being less aggressive, on balance.

[Susky River Rat]

59 minutes ago, gimruis said:

I've run into 3 of them in 6 years here in MN that size.  Out of 28 caught.  A 50 inch tiger muskie here would be almost unheard of and approaching state record status.  Certainly they can grow that big.  Where I fish them, they do not.  But 5 months of the year they are not really active or growing because the lakes are locked up in ice and snow.  Forage base also plays a role in how quickly and to what maximum size a predator can reach.

 

Something to keep in mind, just like when discussing bass fishing, is that most of us are in completely different portions of the country and one regional aspect or strategy may not be very relevant to another.  The OP is in Utah, I am in Minnesota, you are in Pennsylvania.  There's also been posts about Canadian northern pike and pure strain muskies, which are not very helpful IMO.

I think one of the biggest differences is here and in Utah they are stocked as tigers and not naturally occurring tigers like where you are. Correct me if I am wrong on that. I do not think your state stocks tigers. 
 

18 minutes ago, Further North said:

I don't believe anyone has said "smaller is better", rather that smaller works just as well.

People like Bill Sherer and Ace Sommerfeld have been proving that for over 30 years.

There is a time and a place for the bigger stuff as well, but it's not a requirement, particularly at certain times of the year when the forage tends to be smaller.

One example would be skinny water rivers. 

 

Exactly.  He can go buy an example or two of the recommended lures, see what happens, then go from there.  There's no reason to spend hundreds of dollars on gear just to catch some tigers.

 

Anglers, like everyone else, like to project how they fish onto others in other areas, fishing in different ways.

...it's interesting that you feel there's a big contrast between tigers and Canadian northern pike and pure strain muskies.  I am interested in why.  I've caught few tigers, all naturals, but lots of the other two, and I've not seen any significant difference between them, other than muskies being less aggressive, on balance.

you mean 1000s of dollars lol. Seriously 

 

I do think as anglers we try to push this is right because we do this or that. I will also tell you musky in 3ft creeks loves dawgs and big gliders just like ones in deep lakes. 
 

I also think the misconception of musky want to eat your bait is wrong most the time. They will bite them out of aggression more so than feeding. Hence they they figure 8 when they could have smashed the lure the second they saw it. 

[gim]

16 minutes ago, Darnold335 said:

I think one of the biggest differences is here and in Utah they are stocked as tigers and not naturally occurring tigers like where you are. Correct me if I am wrong on that. I do not think your state stocks tigers. 

No, that's incorrect.  There are 13 lakes in the Twin Cities area that have them stocked.  They are generally smaller sized lakes.  I specifically target three of them within 30 minutes of my house.

 

The only naturally occurring one I have seen was out of Mille Lacs about 20 years ago that my Father caught.  Obviously its possible to catch one anywhere there is northern pike and pure strain muskies present together, as @Way north bass guy has indicated and proven.

[Further North]

13 minutes ago, Darnold335 said:

you mean 1000s of dollars lol. Seriously 

Eventually, yes...but even one quality "musky rod" with a good reel is going to be hundreds of dollars.

If the bug bites, we all wind up there (I have 30+ fly rods, the bulk of which are 8 wt. and up for "big game, and even more gear rods, two boats, thousands of lures and flies, equipment and material for making my own lures, baits and flies...) but the first thing is to figure out if this game is even our thing.

Some folks don't enjoy the grind.

 

18 minutes ago, Darnold335 said:

do think as anglers we try to push this is right because we do this or that. I will also tell you musky in 3ft creeks loves dawgs and big gliders just like ones in deep lakes.

Of course they do...sometimes.  Other times, a 5" Smokin' Rooster or #5 Mepps is they key.  We've all seen the eat where a fish has refused one size...than clobbered the other on the first presentation on the first cast.

I spent a week in Canada with a dedicated musky angler once, early June.  Muskies were not eating big lures, and he couldn't convince himself to downsize.  He went fishless, other than a couple medium sized pike, while I boated nine muskies for the week between 35 and 48" on nothing lager than the 1 1/8 Doctor Spoon.

[Susky River Rat]

7 minutes ago, gimruis said:

21 minutes ago, Darnold335 said:

 

No, that's incorrect.  There are 13 lakes in the Twin Cities area that have them stocked.  They are generally smaller sized lakes.  I specifically target three of them within 30 minutes of my house.

Gotcha,  I was under the assumption that your state did not stock them. I was not 100% sure though. That is why I assumed yours were natural tigers. PA used to stock tigers heavily everywhere. They have got away from that recently but, my side of the state gets the bulk of them.

7 minutes ago, Further North said:

Eventually, yes...but even one quality "musky rod" with a good reel is going to be hundreds of dollars

My musky set ups average $700  other then my trolling set ups those are like $300 

 

8 minutes ago, Further North said:

I spent a week in Canada with a dedicated musky angler once, early June.  Muskies were not eating big lures, and he couldn't convince himself to downsize

Musky guys do tend to be just as stubborn as the fish at times. 

[Dwight Hottle]

1 hour ago, gimruis said:

I've run into 3 of them in 6 years here in MN that size.  Out of 28 caught.  A 50 inch tiger muskie here would be almost unheard of and approaching state record status.  Certainly they can grow that big.  Where I fish them, they do not.  But 5 months of the year they are not really active or growing because the lakes are locked up in ice and snow.  Forage base also plays a role in how quickly and to what maximum size a predator can reach.

 

Something to keep in mind, just like when discussing bass fishing, is that most of us are in completely different portions of the country and one regional aspect or strategy may not be very relevant to another.  The OP is in Utah, I am in Minnesota, you are in Pennsylvania.  There's also been posts about Canadian northern pike and pure strain muskies, which are not very helpful IMO.

My reason for posting about northern pike was an example of a large pike eating a small bait which the OP said he already has & intends to use. I have never caught a tiger but have caught hundreds & hundreds of pike and  about 20 muskies with true trophies from each species. As you know tigers are nothing more than an offspring from a Muskie & pike. They share  both inherited traits. Tigers will hit large baits just like a musky or larger northern pike. But more tigers are caught on smaller baits & on conventional bass tackle because that is what most fisherman are using when they fish for walleye & bass. My take on tigers is that the greatest number caught are incidental catches rather than intended catches by people targeting them. And of those incidental catches most are caught on bass/walleye baits.