Bucktails – Bucktails are arguably the most popular bait used by musky anglers. Bucktails produce vibrations in the water that are easily felt by a musky’s lateral line. Bucktails can be retrieved at any speed, depending on the conditions. The most popular bucktails are double 9 blades and double 10 blades.
What is the best way to fish for muskie?
Anglers are successful with live bait as well, the most popular bait being large suckers. Musky anglers need to use a wire leader because of the sharp teeth on this fish. Bucktails and jerk baits are best when casting, and diving plugs are the most common lure for trolling.
Is it hard to catch a muskie?
These are both highly predatory fish, built for speed and strength. Because of this, they’re prized game fish throughout their range. Muskie are also famously hard to hook, hence the nickname “fish of a thousand casts.” They’re difficult to trick and impossible to predict.
What is the best time to fish for muskie?
Some of the highest catch rates for muskies are during the summer months when the water is warm and the fish are most active. Fall fishing can also be very productive at times, and many of the largest muskies are caught during the fall.
What is the best bait for muskie? – Related Questions
What color lures do muskie like?
The most popular choices were natural, stealthy colors that match the hatch of the muskies’ forage in most waters. Black, white (or silver), and gold are all colors of fish that are on the musky’s menu, including: suckers.
How deep should you fish for muskies?
Most muskies are caught less than 30 feet deep, often from 15 to 25 feet. Sometimes they’re much shallower. Most casters lure fish in from 5 to 15 feet deep while trollers usually catch them from 8 to 30.
What time of day are musky most active?
Muskie become more difficult to catch in the heat of summer and the cold of winter. Like many predatory fish, muskie are most active at dawn and dusk, and these times typically provide the most action, especially on warm, sunny days. Cool, overcast days are usually best for muskie fishing.
What water temps do muskies bite the most?
It generally starts when water temperatures cool to below 70 degrees, but really ramps up between 65 to about 58 degrees. After that, turnover is on the verge of happening and this particular bite is mostly over.
What temperature are musky most active?
They are most comfortable at water temperatures between 63 and 67 degrees. In that temperature range, and in even colder water, there’s enough oxygen in the water that a muskie can exert itself without lasting effects. Hansbarger said the situation changes dramatically at temperatures above 78 degrees.
Where is the best place to fish for musky?
The three best big-water producers of giant muskies are Green Bay, Lake St. Clair, and the Ottawa River/St. Lawrence River systems. Anglers have a legitimate shot at a 50- to 56-inch muskie nearly any day of the season there and it’s possible a record fish swims in at least two of these fisheries.
Do musky like shallow or deep water?
Many anglers have the mistaken idea that clear, lake trout and/or cisco/whitefish water muskies spend their time in the deep water hanging out and making shallow movements to feed. However, under most conditions and times of the year, it is closer to the exact opposite — they feed deep and move shallow to hang out.
Can you muskie fish from shore?
While you can use most baits from the shore or from a boat, some baits will serve you better for bank-busting muskies than others.
How old is a 50 inch muskie?
On average, musky are about 11 inches long after their first year of life, reach 34” in year 7, reach 40” in year 9, and reach 50 inches by age 17.
What eats a muskie?
Adult muskellunge are apex predators where they occur naturally. Only humans and (rarely) large birds of prey such as bald eagles pose a threat to an adult but juveniles are consumed by other muskies, northern pike, bass, trout, and occasionally birds of prey.
Why are muskie so rare?
First, muskie and tiger muskie are rare because they’re large apex predators so naturally fewer of them can occupy a body of water. Second, both fish are incredibly wary of bait, which means even if you manage to find one there’s a good chance they just won’t bite.
What is the largest muskie ever recorded?
For muskies, the world records for length and weight are held by two different fish. The maximum documented length is 72.04 inches (183 cm), and the heaviest documented weight is 70.10 pounds (31.8 kg), according to FishBase.
How old is a 50 pound muskie?
Using a formula based on length, the muskie could have been 14 to 20 years old, Younk said. Kiritschenko is like many muskie anglers in that he believes in releasing his catches so they can grow bigger, but his 50 pounder was hooked deep and couldn’t be revived. “It was belly up,” Kiritschenko said.
What lake has the most musky?
Leech lake
Leech has long been known as one of North America’s top musky fisheries and is still a top destination today. Coming in at over hundred thousand acres, its Minnesota’s third largest lake. Leech is a maze of weed beds, rocky points and sunken islands, all of which provide perfect habitat for big muskies.
What lake has the most muskie?
Lake of the Woods is also regarded by more than a few as the greatest all-around muskie fishery in the world, just in case you needed your appetite whetted any more keenly.
What is a muskies favorite food?
Given the opportunity to choose, Muskies prefer soft rayed, high protein based fish such as Suckers, Tullibee, Ciscoes, Bullheads, Carp, and minnows. In fact, the food sources Muskies prefer most are usually fish species that most people would desire to not have in their lake.