Stepping up on my soapbox for a second

[camillj]

Yep .. I left the pike alone this weekend so the bass could guard their nests .. and bagged a tasty little three piund laker for my troubles

 

Just off my dock there's about a 5lber ...he scoots whenever I go down to the water .. so I've been avoiding that ... hopefully in a week or two it'll be safe to go down again ... the perch and sunfish dart in as SOON as they are off their nest ... not devastating but if it happens alot the results will definitely have an impact... so its not just about targeting the fish .. its about disturbing them ...

 

(BTW my biggest musky 44" was caught flipping - for musky - right under a guys dock who told me he'd been there 30 years and never caught a musky ....next day there musta been ten cottagers in a row all casting off their docks ... so I moved out to deeper water and landed another 40+ just to prove it wasnt luck ...heh

 

And YES I always do the figure 8 for pike and for musky .. and I use pretty much the same baits ... only chasing the big girls .. no snot rockets here

[Dontcryformejanhrdina]

I've tried jigging for walleye this year in deeper water, only got bass/perch. Tried casting diving baits for walleye in deeper water, only got bass. Went to shallower weeds and caught 6 pike on jerkbaits but also got bass (even a rock bass), didn't seem to matter where I went or what I used, there was the odd bass. Hard to fish exclusively for 1 species in these shallow lakes and rivers, different species all occupy much of the same water where I fish.

I've used small musky baits for pike fishing once before (all of my biggest pike have come on musky baits) as a way to avoid the bass, caught an OOS musky instead. So I switched to using husky jerks the next time out, ending up catching 3 pike, another OOS musky and even more OOS bass. Not to mention I've had bass hit 9" musky lures, seems like you're damned if you do and damned if you don't. The only time I DON'T catch the odd bass when they're not in season is when I'm fishing for lakers. If I'm catching walleye or pike, you can be damn certain there's bass there too. Am I supposed to avoid fishing pike/walleye because I can't stop the insanely aggressive bass from hitting too? I don't even target bass anymore, once June comes around I'm usually musky fishing so it's not like I love catching them and can't help myself. It's actually frustrating getting a hit and finding out it's just a bass. I wish I could hammer 1 species while avoiding all others, but I've never been able to figure that out. At the same time though, I'm not pitching docks either lol.

By the way, I figure 8 for pike too. My biggest pike came on a figure 8 and I've caught more pike boatside than musky.

[mike rousseau]

I think we all know when we are in the right or wrong....

 

If you take a look at what your doing and truly feel its ok I'd say your good... Those who do wrong usually know it...

[Old Ironmaker]

I just returned from an upstate NY lake. Met the boys from across a few states. Prime target? Spawning Largemouth. It's legal, it's all mind set. I don't know how long it has been legal in NY state but can tell you sight fishing for spawn beds isn't easy, and that lake which is only about 400 acres is heavy with bass. I don't know how I feel about it. I cross the border and an hour latter if I climb down to my beach, pinch down a Barb and toss a topwater I'm now a criminal. I've been looking to hook a Gar for years, can't this year, the gar are spawning 2 feet from the bass beds. When they are done they will be too close to the beds as I know I will hook an OOS smallie.

 

I have been watching Smallmouth spawn here from the deck for 18 years, the guarding males are more concerned about other males taking their beds than other species eating coffee grind size fry.

[BillM]

Catching OOS fish happens, I wouldn't lose much sleep over it.. I've got some OOS bass this year as well fishing for crappies, what can ya do? Unhook the stupid things and get them back in the water as soon as possible. That's about it.

[outllaw]

get a pair of dark sunglasses. you will see less.

here on st clair guys walleye fish everywhere 4-9ft for post spawn walleyes . they catch tons of basss/muskies/sturgeons. they just unhook and let em go. proving a persons targetting a specie is super hard to prove... as posted above its when guys get weirded out then fish bass on beds in an open area but whine when guys accicedentily catch bass . new york state and michigan have early season catch release.. the issue will never change. mnr/dnr cannot patrol everywhere.

[ch312]

When the wife and I were out on the weekend we saw a boat casting for pike I would say but one guy was using bigger baits and doing a figure 8 after each cast the wife was pissed off big time. It bugged me but what can you do as they were in a area full of pike of they down sized and were not doing the figure 8 it would not look so bad.

 

 

i'm not a musky fisherman and i've caught many pike beside the boat while doing figure 8's and do it every time when pike are following to the boat. saying that anyone who does figure 8's (especially when you know the area is full of pike) is automatically targeting musky is as silly as saying anyone who owns a gun is going to kill someone believe it or not, but many people could care less what assuming spectators think they're doing.

 

also, it's quite silly to suggest people targeting pike should downsize lures and avoid figure 8's because some musky fisherman might assume they're targeting OOS musky. on many of my pike outings i'm throwing 10-12" baits to convince even the small pike to bite.

[Lunker777]

People catch bass while fishing for Perch, Pike, Crappie, and Walleye this time of the year.

 

In order to satisfy all of your wants and needs..... they would need to close all fishing in order to keep bass from being caught.

 

I used to be all hardcore about not catching/fishing for bass OOS..... I still don't TARGET bass OOS.... but I have a tough time drinking the kool-aid when the imaginary line dividing lake St.Clair dictates weather its OK or not OK to fish for large/small mouth. I caught a 10" smallie on monday while pulling harness for walleye.... should I have left at that point ? Fishing 10-12 ft of water... I surely wasn't trying to catch smallies.

 

A buddy caught almost 400 small mouth while jigging for walleye on the Detroit river this year, in ONE WEEK mind you. What was he suppose to do ? pack up and go home after the first bass was caught ? Move to a different spot on the river ? Well news flash..... THEY ARE EVERYWHERE !!!!!!!

 

As it was already said here..... if you came home from a day of fishing and this is the taste left in your mouth..... you missed the point of the day.

[captpierre]

Anybody catch a walleye on a spinnerbait? Anything else but walleye here.

[mike rousseau]

Anybody catch a walleye on a spinnerbait? .

Yup... Several...

[Sinker]

I've caught lots of walleye on spinnerbaits. Musky sized spinnerbaits mind you, but still, they will hit them for sure.

 

S.

[Handlebarz]

 

i'm not a musky fisherman and i've caught many pike beside the boat while doing figure 8's and do it every time when pike are following to the boat. saying that anyone who does figure 8's (especially when you know the area is full of pike) is automatically targeting musky is as silly as saying anyone who owns a gun is going to kill someone believe it or not, but many people could care less what assuming spectators think they're doing.

 

also, it's quite silly to suggest people targeting pike should downsize lures and avoid figure 8's because some musky fisherman might assume they're targeting OOS musky. on many of my pike outings i'm throwing 10-12" baits to convince even the small pike to bite.

This reply reminded me why I stay out of these threads

[lew]

I've caught lots of walleye on spinnerbaits. Musky sized spinnerbaits mind you, but still, they will hit them for sure.

 

S.

 

Pickerel are just like bass or pike or musky or any other darned fish in that they'll hit just about anything that swims past their face. They don't care if it's a worm, a spinnerbait or even a big ole wooden jerkbait.

 

[outllaw]

darn lew thats dinner lol.

[SirCranksalot]

This reply reminded me why I stay out of these threads

Yup!!!

[adolson]

Anybody catch a walleye on a spinnerbait? Anything else but walleye here.

 

 

I did last year. Totally unexpected - was hoping for a monster pike or big bass, but instead I got a nice lunch.

[Rizzo]

I've actually caught more pike on figure 8's than muskies! I've even had pike wait for me at the side of the boat while I put the lure back in the water and start it moving again...dang silly pike. Long story short...I figure 8 both species (as apparently some other guys here do...and here I thought I was the only one!)

[danc]

Heck. I figure 8 for Brook Trout. What else are you gonna do when a nice fish follows your offering to the boat and hasn't comitted yet?

[John Bacon]

Anybody catch a walleye on a spinnerbait? Anything else but walleye here.

 

Yes, I have. I have targeted walleye by slow trolling a small white spinner bait with worm with some success.

[mercman]

I caught a Musky on a Walleye harness and worm last friday, does that count !!!!

Anybody catch a walleye on a spinnerbait? Anything else but walleye here.

[Lunker777]

over the last few years I have had two or three surprise walleye catches on spinnerbaits. I was targeting bass (in season) in about 3-4 ft of water and landed a nice 25" eye. Thought it was a pike and was pleasantly surprised.

[outllaw]

we were testing proto types. 12 inch musky baits. dumb 11lb walleyes eat them also. ya just never know... caught 15lb catfish on musky lures,chinook salmon also...

maybe st clairs just to good to us.

[John Bacon]

we were testing proto types. 12 inch musky baits. dumb 11lb walleyes eat them also. ya just never know... caught 15lb catfish on musky lures,chinook salmon also...

maybe st clairs just to good to us.

 

You are right, you never know... I caught a bull head on a jitter bug once.

 

I don't think that there are any lures that would only catch one species of fish. If one species will bite it, so will others. If a lure is more appropriate for a specific species it is probably because it is good at getting into the species habitat. I.e. surface lure for large mouth bass because they often feed at the surface; spinner baits are good at getting weeds and other structure so they are good for fish that live in those habitats.

Edited May 25, 2013 by JohnBacon

[BillM]

I've caught more walleyes this year while fishing for crappie then I ever have before. Not complaining however, lol.

[Sinker]

I've caught eyes on all sorts of odd stuff.

 

Lots on spinnerbaits, caught a few on topwaters ( zara spook, and skitter pop), huge musky jerkbaits, musky bucktail spinners, big musky bucktail jigs, and right down to 1" tubes for crappies. At this time of year, eyes are very aggressive. If you put it in their face, they will take a poke at anything!

 

S.