misfish Posted January 22, 2015 Report Posted January 22, 2015 Im not much of a reader or muskie hard core fisher,but while I was siting at the doc,s this morning,I grabbed the Out Door Canada mag off the rack and flipped through it. There was a section about top water musky fishing. As I was reading it and got deeper into it,I felt like grabbing a rod and giving this a try right there and now. It was a good read I have to admit. If you havent read it,(ya ya ya muskie guys, Im sure you have),but here it is. http://www.outdoorcanada.ca/The_fine_art_of_surfacing_Topwater_muskie_tips Any of you muskie guys have something to add to this?
lew Posted January 22, 2015 Report Posted January 22, 2015 (edited) Any of you muskie guys have something to add to this? My daughter and I were out musky fishing one evening and I was giving her a few pointers on top water fishing. She was casting a Topraider which is her favorite bait and I was twitching a Doc. I explained to her that a musky will often come up under a bait and just knock it out of the way, but just keep on cranking as she'll often come back and hit it again. Few minutes later we both cast at the same time and as we were cranking our baits in a musky blew up on mine but missed the hooks. I said to her, "there, that's exactly what I was talkin about" The musky then turned and hit Sheri's bait, she set the hook perfectly and led the fish into the net. She looked at me and said..."so what's so tough about that ??" darned kids !! Edited January 22, 2015 by lew
misfish Posted January 22, 2015 Author Report Posted January 22, 2015 Great story Lew. Like it was said,at times, it,s not much different then bass fishing. You know,(that fish thats reserved to be fished off the back of your boat). When they are active,they will smash anything, but when they are just stuck in a stuper,you just need to let it sit,twitch sit and twitch, Make them say, WHAT THE HELL,I,ll bite. What I really found interesting was the retrieve method. Dont swing/swim the bait so wide. Im sure the larger musky baits will glide wider distances then say a 4"-5" bass top water lure,but little twitches will produce more. I know when I use top water baits for bass,I will walk them in for like 8-10 ft, stop. Wait then proceed.
misfish Posted January 22, 2015 Author Report Posted January 22, 2015 There is one thing I could and cant get over, and thats why paint top water lures? They are attacking something thats moving on the surface. They have no idea what it is IMO.
manitoubass2 Posted January 22, 2015 Report Posted January 22, 2015 (edited) There is one thing I could and cant get over, and thats why paint top water lures? They are attacking something thats moving on the surface. They have no idea what it is IMO.In my experience(bass) color is indeed important but only so much at certain depths. They seems to crush anything very shallow, or deep. In 6-12fow(roughly) color patterns imerge. The way you musky anglers talk id expect them to smash a piece of driftwood from 40fow ??? (not directed at you brian) Edited January 22, 2015 by manitoubass2
SuperDave Posted January 23, 2015 Report Posted January 23, 2015 This is right up my alley. I love fishing topwater for muskie. Everything these guys said is bang on. My experience has been identical to theirs. They didn't talk about water temps though. Maybe because they don't matter.
misfish Posted January 23, 2015 Author Report Posted January 23, 2015 This is right up my alley. I love fishing topwater for muskie. Everything these guys said is bang on. My experience has been identical to theirs. They didn't talk about water temps though. Maybe because they don't matter. Like I said ,Im not a big muskie guy,but I think I would sooner do the 10,000 casts, top water. Seems like there is more to watch then waiting for that strike from a spinner bait. There,s more concentration involved IMO If Im wrong,there was no offence here to the muskie guys, Ok, I,ll be watching the classifieds closer for muskie gear now. Better look for kevlar wraps for the toon. LOL
Fisherpete Posted January 23, 2015 Report Posted January 23, 2015 Catching a muskie on a topwater is probably the only way I have NOT caught one... That article had a few really good tips that I will be trying next season.
Dave Bailey Posted January 23, 2015 Report Posted January 23, 2015 (edited) Some of you may have heard this story already, but it's pertinent to the subject. Back in about '96 I took my four year-old daughter Meagan out for some fishing. Found a nice looking spot for bass: a quiet bit of flat water full of weeds, not long before sunset. I put a Jitterbug on, threw it out, gave it a a short burble back, and let it stop. I was just about to hand it to Meagan when WHAM!, and the fight was on. If I had given her the rod she would have been waterskiing for the next half hour. Muskie, 42.5 inches, 21.25 lbs. I love topwater, but never expected that. Edited January 23, 2015 by Dave Bailey
lew Posted January 23, 2015 Report Posted January 23, 2015 Catching a muskie on a topwater is probably the only way I have NOT caught one... Wait till you hook a biggun on a top water in total darkness late at night Pete when you can't see your hand in front of your face. That REALLY get's the old heart pounding LOL
Handlebarz Posted January 23, 2015 Report Posted January 23, 2015 I love top water musky fishing but the last two seasons I have only had a couple fish go after any top water bait. Here is a video from this past season
misfish Posted January 23, 2015 Author Report Posted January 23, 2015 YUPPPPPPPPPPPPPP ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Nice Mike.
Raf Posted January 23, 2015 Report Posted January 23, 2015 Not read the article before but it pretty much matches my experience with top waters lures. peak time for me has been aug-to-mid-sept i gave up on wtd lures a long time ago for anything but showing me fish. if nothing else's working and i haven't moved a fish, i'll put one on as a search bait knowing full well the odds of hooking one are slim but at least i will get her address -- one thing a wtd topwater is great at is showing you fish. i can come back to that spot and fish it with another lure and catch that fish -- this strategy has worked more than once. 'wait for the weight' before setting the hook. it's easy to yank the lure away from the fish when all hell breaks loose on the surface.
Lape0019 Posted January 23, 2015 Report Posted January 23, 2015 I actually have experienced this^^^^ I don't fish for Muskie and used a WTD for bass quite a bit last year. I had 3 Musky blow up on a Pencil 110 but not of them hooked up. That lure was used each trip and landed me quite a few bass but for some reason, I could hook a Musky with it if my life depended on it.
Gregoire Posted January 23, 2015 Report Posted January 23, 2015 Pretty good article. I think the feedback you are getting in this thread is better. Totally agree with the walk the dog baits being good for locating fish, bad for hooking them. A trick with the WTD baits is to get on the trolling motor if they are not committing, you'd be shocked at how far they'd follow. It's kinda awesome, but not likely that they will commit. I also like using really buoyant jointed minnow baits as topwater baits with a slow retrieve. They are also good for the dead stick.
Weeds Posted January 23, 2015 Report Posted January 23, 2015 I've had 2 musky strike Senkos while bass fishing during very fast retrieves after giving up on the initial cast. Pretty incredible when you consider how little contact a Senko makes with the water as it skips its way back across the surface to you. Neither time were they striking in the vicinity of the original cast either, I caught one, a little guy, and missed the other, naturally the bigger of the two. Ain't that always the way? Bubblegum pink Senkos in both cases.
AKRISONER Posted January 23, 2015 Report Posted January 23, 2015 Not surprising, Im personally not a musky guy (wish i was) experiences are the same with big pike. I love throwing Walk the Dog lures, i still personally believe they entice more fish to show than any other lure out there. Ya misses suck, but i cant help the fact that every time i go out and throw a walk the dog im seeing something happening. As some mentioned, these lures make the fish show face, if they miss either you or your buddy is tossing something else for them to eat. It gets them in the mood per say
lew Posted January 23, 2015 Report Posted January 23, 2015 (edited) For you boys who are giving up fishing top water baits because your thinking they don't produce, your missing the opportunity to get some very nice fish. Not much different from not doing a figure 8 after EVERY cast. Edited January 23, 2015 by lew
BillM Posted January 23, 2015 Report Posted January 23, 2015 (edited) Catching a muskie on a topwater is probably the only way I have NOT caught one... That article had a few really good tips that I will be trying next season. Topwater muskie is the only way I HAVE caught one, lol!!! Completely by fluke though! (Was fishing for bass) I'm going to have to coax Lew out during the summer for a day and see if he can put me on muskie #2 Edited January 24, 2015 by BillM
manitoubass2 Posted January 23, 2015 Report Posted January 23, 2015 (edited) I fish toowaters for bass and pike all the time. Its very fun! Weird that you experienced musky guys say muskies often miss the lures??? Pike go nutso if they miss it they often hit it two or three times, so hookups happen almost everytime. Even if they miss cast back out and theyll hit it again lol I guess pike are just smaller musky with the brain of a bass? Edited January 23, 2015 by manitoubass2
JoshS Posted January 23, 2015 Report Posted January 23, 2015 I've never had one eat a walk the dog lure. Just follows and have had a few blow ups completely miss. Smaller fish though. It's still fun and addictive. My friend loves his topraider at night. The knees get real shaky when you hear that blow up out there in the dark and you wait for another one. One of my most memorable 2014 fish came off my friends top raider blow up that missed two attempts at night. I went back at the fish slow rolling a plastic bait and it ate it. On a calm night when all you can hear is the topraider and crickets, the blow ups are incredibly loud, nothing like it.
Fisherpete Posted January 24, 2015 Report Posted January 24, 2015 The do seem to like pink senkos... I was fishing Scugog with Roaring Dan Seavey and flipping docks for bass... As I lifted the senko out of the water to make another flip a musky comes flying out of the water trying to eat it mid air... Actually heard his jaws snapping open and closed! Threw a spinnerbait back as a follow up bait and caught the fish two (42").
Gregoire Posted January 24, 2015 Report Posted January 24, 2015 The do seem to like pink senkos... I was fishing Scugog with Roaring Dan Seavey and flipping docks for bass... As I lifted the senko out of the water to make another flip a musky comes flying out of the water trying to eat it mid air... Actually heard his jaws snapping open and closed! Threw a spinnerbait back as a follow up bait and caught the fish two (42"). When I heard pink semko that fish was exactly what popped into my mind as well.
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