James RickardMusky--A fish that can bite YOU!
November 9th 2008 03:52
When is the last time you caught something this big?
Life has had me in a bind lately and I'll admit, I haven't gotten to fish nearly as much as I would like!
The last time I got to wet a line, they guy beside of me said, to no one in particular, "Still a little warm for muskies to be running."
The musky, or muskellunge as it's properly called, closely resembles the northern pike or American pickerel. Its shape is typical of ambush predators with an elongated body and flat head.
Muskies are one of the biggest fish you can catch without going to the ocean and can attain lengths of 2–5 ft (60–150 cm) and weights of over 65 lb or roughly 30 k. They are usually a light silver, brown or green with dark vertical stripes which can break up into spots. On the other hand, markings may be absent all together which can make rapid identification harder. What you DON'T want to do is confuse the musky with the northern pike which has a dark body with light markings--just the opposite of the musky! A sure way to tell which is which is by counting the sensory pores on the underside of the mandible. Muskies have seven or more per side while pike never have more than six. On top of this, unlike pike, muskies have no scales on the lower half of a bony flap that protects the gills.
So much for today's ichthyology lesson. I'd rather catch a fish than learn about it!
When it comes to muskies, it really helps to have the right equipment. Maybe you can catch a musky on a spinning reel and light line, but by the time you land the fish it'll be so exhausted when you let it go that you'll probably be wasting your time--that is, providing you land it! Your best bet is to go with some heavy tackle and sturdy line. This isn't a bad time to be using some braid like we were talking about last week.
A half decent baitcasting reel is in order. I like to use an old Penn No. 9 I picked up a few years ago at the shore. It's seen it's better days but, I'm beginning to think these things hold together like a tank!
Medium-heavy or heavy rods are definitely in order. Rods 7 feet or longer are best if you can get away with it. You may want to think about a surf rod if you want to kill two birds with one stone. A lot of surf rods have spinning reels but they are usually heavy enough to stand the stress of big fish.
Don't forget to take tackle into consideration. You'll have to move up in line, also. It's not uncommon to use 50 lb. test line but musky anglers often have been known to use 80 lb. line! After that, you'd better look at your swivels and spring rings.
When it comes to bait, it helps to remember that a musky will eat just about anything that will fit into its mouth! Naturally, this includes other fish but also rats, snakes, or even small ducks and birds.
Where artificial lures are concerned, forget about what you usually use for bass or perch and think BIG! Exact size will depend on the prey but consider something 8" long a minimum! Lures around a foot long will usually suffice although some anglers have used something twice that large. Bucktail spinners, (the spinners with colored fibers or hair around the hooks), large regular spinners, topwaters, and large, artificial fish usually work well. You may accidentally get a musky on your usual tackle but, musky lures will usually have larger hooks. Consider something 3/0 or larger. Like most fish, you can usually get by with smaller offerings in the spring than you can in the fall.
Be warned, you're not going to catch a musky with every cast but the fight these monsters provide make up for the down time!
Until next time--watch yourself and watch your line!
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Your comment reminded me of something. Unless you're doing the deep sea thing, fishing is like board games--a great equalizer of men and women!