As I was considering my options for hitting the water this weekend, I had my eyes set on a small 22 acre lake not far from my house. The Minnesota DNR web site showed a 36″ Northern in it from their survey a few years ago. It shouldn’t be too hard to find her when the lake’s deepest point is 9 feet, right? We’ll see.
I was also going to ping Mark to see if he was going to take his boat out this weekend. I’ve been itching to hone my lindy rigging skills at the lake we hit a few times last year.
But then, as I was perusing my Google reader list, Travis from Minnesota Bound reminded me that tomorrow is Minnesota Muskie Opener. Now I have a quandry. I haven’t fished local lakes for muskie much. If Mark goes out to our usual lake, I might have to throw a few bucktails out just to see what happens. If he’s not available, I may just take a few bucktails to a couple of other local lakes to see what I can stir up from shore.
I always have a tough time targeting muskies. Given that they are the “fish of 1000 casts,” I typically yield to going after easier prey (relatively speaking). I would have an especially hard time if my boat mate was catching fish while my arm is getting sore throwing a 6 oz lure over and over again with no action. But I guess that’s the time to yield.
That’s why I like fishing at my dad’s cabin. A muskie will usually hit lures I’m throwing for bass (last weekend was a case in point). The largest muskie I’ve pulled out of there, though, is 29″. That’s akin to a 12″ bass. It’s ok, but not what you really want. I may land a bigger girl if I targeted them, but then it’s back to my desire to catch something rather than wait for the big payoff.
I admire you true muskie hunters who have the patience to cast and cast and cast. I’m just not cut out for it.
I’ve only spent one day targeting only muskies. It’s a grueling game. But the payoff was 44 inches long and even though I was only the net man for the beast, it was easily the most exciting 10 minutes of all my time fishing. Without that fish, I wouldn’t understand musky hunters but now I understand.
Clif, that’s the extent of my experience as well. My payoff was the muskie in my Hall of Fame. Fortunately, I wasn’t just the net man. Part of the problem is that Minnesota only allows one line per angler in the water. At least when I fish in Wisconsin, I could have two lines, each targeting a different species.
The Honest Truth is muskies have almost no appeal to me. I don’t like the thought of using that heavy big boy tackle. Bass medium to medium-heavy bass gear is the size tackle I prefer to use above all else.
Also I am not geared to waiting for the payoff of one big fish versus getting the payoff of more frequent action from a more manageable size fish.
I know exactly what you mean, BP. Which is why I have such a hard time. I always need the action, but there’s nothing like catching a fish 2/3 your size. I think I need to fish Wisconsin more. More muskies and more lines in the water.
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