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Musky help please


DNorton

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Alright so now that I’ve got my trout / salmon fix for awhile I’m hoping to fish the Niagara river for the elusive musky. Never landed one, lost a few bank side / canoe side up north but have never had the chance to land one. Anyone target these regularly and willing to lend some info ? Just colours / lures that have worked in the past? That and what type of musky rod / reel should I be looking into. We do an annual trip to the French river to chase pike and musky and it’s my first year with my boat so I want to go gear heavy this year which means I need some new rods / reels / lures. I plan on stopping in at Pete’s and asking but figured I’d ask here anyways. If you don’t want to post publicly that’s cool shoot me a message if you don’t mind. Not looking for spots, more or less rod / reel info and what lures have worked around here to get me off on the right foot. 

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13 hours ago, DNorton said:

Hope that works because I’m not catching any bass either hahah 

 

All my muskie have been accidental and nice surprises. Otherwise if you want to target them specifically, I'd suggest invest money in a guide who specializes in it. Upper Niagara River most likely.

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2 hours ago, мормышка said:

 

All my muskie have been accidental and nice surprises. Otherwise if you want to target them specifically, I'd suggest invest money in a guide who specializes in it. Upper Niagara River most likely.

Yea I’ve been fishing the upper pretty heavily lately. I’m thinking maybe I’m not throwing the right presentations or something ? But also would love to upgrade to some musky specific gear but not sure what. 

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That I can't help with. I guess like with any fish, different gear for different situations/presentations. Troller? Caster? Jigger? If you fish Upper Niagara regularly, you should be able to get one accidently. Maybe just used your beefiest bass/pike bait caster combo?

 

My fish have come on typical bass spinnerbaits while fishing bass and pike. #5 #6 inline bucktail spinners should do good too (bigger profile). 

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I was fishing next to a guy earlier this year who was jigging for walleye in the upper right at Nichols marina. He caught a really nice musky just using a small jig head with a paddle tail bouncing it off the bottom . 

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4 hours ago, smerchly said:

You might want to check out the most popular nets for musky . Maybe a cradle net would work better for you , and it wouldn't be hard to make one . 

Cheers and good luck !

Most guys revive musky for a bit before releasing them so a cradle is a good idea

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I have been fishing this area and all over the north country for over 50 years. I have never targeted musky but I also, in all that time, have never caught one by accident either. I have had bass and walleye stolen from my stringer many times by what I assumed were muskies.

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If you are going to start to target Musky on a regular basis you're going to need some heavy duty tackle and all the proper release tools and a proper net. Go your local tackle shop and start looking for a musky rod or 2 something  7'6" or longer extra heavy action pair that with a proper heavy reel.  Diawa Shimano and Quantum all make a good musky reel.  Spool up with  80-100 lb power pro or whatever braided superline you prefer and use a 100lb fluorocarbon leader. Also DO NOT use a cradle use a Beckman or Frabil musky net. A net is the best option for landing a musky it's a  lot easier to scoop up an active musky into a net. Using a cradle you basically have to completely exhaust the  musky in order to line them up to land them. A musky is a very very fragile fish and if played to long on the wrong tackle and not properly handled they will die after release.  If you ever see a  musky with a reddish coloured  fins that musky is stressed out.  The fins go red because of the build up of lactic acid. As for the proper release tools you're going to need some long handled needle nose pliers a jaw spreader and a pair of bolt cutters (knipex) are the best. It's a lot easier on the fish to cut any troublesome hooks rather than struggling to pull one out. Also buy some proper sized replacement hooks. Whenever you hook a musky you want that fish in the net as fast as possible DO NOT overplay a musky. As for pictures one hand slid carefully into the gill plate and the other hand  supporting the full weight of the fish held horizontally DON'T hold vertically. Have your cameraman  ready to shoot plan out your pictures before you lift your  musky up. If done properly there should be lots of water drops still falling off your fish's  tail and fins. Please take extra care when releasing your fish you may have to hold on to your fish for 5 or more minutes sometimes to ensure a proper release.  A fish tailing glove will help with your grip on their tails. Also after the release watch the water around the area to make sure that your fish doesn't become a  floater. Enjoy the fun and often frustrating world of musky fishing.  

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Never fished for muskie, but have caught 3 over the years while fishing other species.

Personal best was a 54” while fishing for walleye with 8 Lb. line in Georgian Bay outside of Penetang harbour back in 2008.   Was amazed I was able to get it to the boat on that light a line.  Never even had a camera with us, so only memories.

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36 minutes ago, glowbug said:

If you are going to start to target Musky on a regular basis you're going to need some heavy duty tackle and all the proper release tools and a proper net.

Can my idea of using a cradle to boat a musky ., maybe they are used for gentle releases only ? I've seen videos on that . You seem to be well versed about musky fishing ....I am a rookie , never targeted them , just an incidental catch when pike fishing etc. Thanks for all that good info.

 

22 hours ago, verado said:

I have been fishing this area and all over the north country for over 50 years. I have never targeted musky but I also, in all that time, have never caught one by accident either. I have had bass and walleye stolen from my stringer many times by what I assumed were muskies.

That could have been an encounter with a big old snapper verado . I had a snapper attack at the French River when I left a stringer of crappies and perch at the dock. Some fish only had the head remaining . I cleaned up the rest and left a few heads on the chain stringer & set it back in...caught the BIG snapper by slowly pulling it up and it refused to let go ,  then released it in a small shallow weedy lake . 

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6 hours ago, genec said:

Never fished for muskie, but have caught 3 over the years while fishing other species.

Personal best was a 54” while fishing for walleye with 8 Lb. line in Georgian Bay outside of Penetang harbour back in 2008.   Was amazed I was able to get it to the boat on that light a line.  Never even had a camera with us, so only memories.


thanks for the response! Been researching quite a bit myself and have some of the gear, others will be bought fairly soon. Appreciate the help! 

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