Musky fishing alone ?

[captpierre]

Thought I’d write a fishing post. I don’t usually target Muskies alone. I’ve caught some big fish and it’s a 2 man job to do a good job landing and releasing. But yesterday I was bored and I gave it a go. A brisk south west wind blew. Started casting while drifting with the drift dock. As is my habit I cast till I’m tired then troll a while. I prefer the feel of a strike casting than  one trolling. 1 minute into the troll a good fish hit. The classic head shake confirmed a fish. She was heavy. I love the feel of a heavy fish. Muskie or salmon. Now came the anxiety of the landing. She came in nicely. Thick string fish. How to do this the best way? To minimize the stress to the fish and avoid getting hurt myself. I had my big Muskie net but I could see she had my Stalker’s big front treble hook deeply hooked into the front of the upper and lower jaw. Two other treble hooks outside the mouth. These, I know, like to get tangled in the net. I decide to land her by hand.  Then a quick measure cans pic.  Everything went well until she thrashed with my hand in her gill plate. One hook stuck in my jeans mid thigh,  but fortunately  not in my leg. Out come the bolt cutters to take care of that.  Then the other hooks in her yap. No problem.  Then back in the water to revive.  I was glad to see she swam off strongly.   That was an adrenaline rush and a close call.  Should have had a bud on board.  Probably should invest in a large basket net to do the unhooking in the water.  Was a treat but could have ended badly.  

 

 

[lew]

1 hour ago, captpierre said:

  Probably should invest in a large basket net to do the unhooking in the water. 

Big square bottom net is invaluable when landing big toothy critters, and sometimes it's better to leave her in the net and work from the outside while cutting those hooks.  You can use your long nosed pliers to grip the hooks while you cut them and hopefully keep your hands while she thrashes....and she will. LOL

Looks like a nice fish there and congrats.

[LostAnotherOne]

Nice fish. I usually fish for muskies alone and the key is to have a good big net and all the tools on standby.  I set the tripod while she's in the net and only have her out for probably 10 or so seconds.

 

 

[captpierre]

4 hours ago, lew said:

Big square bottom net is invaluable when landing big toothy critters, and sometimes it's better to leave her in the net and work from the outside while cutting those hooks.  You can use your long nosed pliers to grip the hooks while you cut them and hopefully keep your hands while she thrashes....and she will. LOL

Looks like a nice fish there and congrats.

Thanks Lew. Which net is best?  I have a tall deep V Lund so the  net needs to be deep so that when I rest the handle on the gunnels the fish stays in the water. 

[lew]

27 minutes ago, captpierre said:

Thanks Lew. Which net is best?  I have a tall deep V Lund so the  net needs to be deep so that when I rest the handle on the gunnels the fish stays in the water. 

I actually used a hybrid net as I always found the Frabil handle and hoop to be stronger than Beckman but much preferred the large square bag that Beckman had. I kept the Frabil hardware and purchased a Beckman bag and it fit perfectly and I then had the best of both worlds and the square bottom bag made it MUCH easier to lift the fish out.

It's all a personal choice though but that's just what I found worked best for me but any of the larger musky nets should reach the water OK.

Edited September 28, 2019 by lew

[captpierre]

2 hours ago, lew said:

I actually used a hybrid net as I always found the Frabil handle and hoop to be stronger than Beckman but much preferred the large square bag that Beckman had. I kept the Frabil hardware and purchased a Beckman bag and it fit perfectly and I then had the best of both worlds and the square bottom bag made it MUCH easier to lift the fish out.

It's all a personal choice though but that's just what I found worked best for me but any of the larger musky nets should reach the water OK.

Thanks Lew. I’ll snoop around this winter at the shows. Maybe ask the Musky Canada guys and keep an eye on Kijiji 

[muskybw]

wow, nice fish ! sometimes they try even harder when they're in the boat, crap HAPPENS, ouch ? usually when you're alone !

[AKRISONER]

Years ago out with fisher pete I was a musky noob so he did the handling. I hooked a Giant right in the throat she inhaled a twin 10

his process was put her in the big net and immediately get a pair of jaw spreaders in her yap. Then dunk her back in the water supporting her to keep her upright. He then got a grip on her gill plate and had a pair of lindy cutproof gloves on his working hand. 

Gill plate grab lift her head, snip one treble at a time with the bolt cutters and dunk her underwater after each cut. The process took probably close to 10 minutes of surgery, picking her up and cutting each treble one by one while giving her a minute to breath between each cut. He then took pliers and pulled out the bits her could and then performed standard revival. After about 10 minutes of that she was finally back strong enough to swim off hard. she thrashed a few times during that period but pete didn’t let her go, he made sure she was still upright and breathing. Outside of the net, no stress just pure recovery. Incredibly she came right back to life. 

 

That kinda set the standard for me on how they are to be handled. Pete’s a real pro 

[Sinker]

When I troll big cranks like that I just cut hooks and replace them....no matter how deep or not the hooks are.  First thing I do is cut the hook off the lure, then get it out of the way, then work on removing them from the fish. They are dangerous, and  can do a lot of damage, so I don't like even running them a lot. I also set one of my rod holders before I start,  to hold my net for me once I've got a fish in the bag.  My net fits perfectly in a salty rod holder. That helps a lot. Have all your tools ready and easy to get to before you even put a line in the water. 

S. 

Edited September 30, 2019 by Sinker

[Old Ironmaker]

I've only caught 3 in my entire life. Only targeted them one on the West Arm of Nippising and got 2 that day. The question I have is do they stress greater than any other large fish i.e. Northern's, Salmon or 30 plus inch Walleye? Whether or not they hold elite status over any other freshwater fish is a discussion for another day. 

[captpierre]

On 9/28/2019 at 5:28 PM, lew said:

 

Edited October 3, 2019 by captpierre

[captpierre]

3 minutes ago, Old Ironmaker said:

I've only caught 3 in my entire life. Only targeted them one on the West Arm of Nippising and got 2 that day. The question I have is do they stress greater than any other large fish i.e. Northern's, Salmon or 30 plus inch Walleye? Whether or not they hold elite status over any other freshwater fish is a discussion for another day. 

Don’t know if they stress more. If you catch them on heavy tackle and get them back in quickly, that is best.  Water temps are a factor as well. Some purists don’t target them in warmer water due to higher mortality rates compared to cooler water.  I had two large fish wash up dead at my dock mid summer. Likely not handled well and died subsequently. 

[Moosebunk]

Two recent videos fishing muskie. One when things went smoothly, one when things turned my poor daughter green. lol. Careful out there alone, had another close call last Sunday too, near buried a hook into my thumb with a muskie attached. The second fish of the day (the one in the video), all those hooks were cut to make quick and safe work.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIOXFT4m8u4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83K8DeW4iHA

[lew]

Great video on the hook removal Drew and one of the main reasons good hook cutters are an essential part of of any tackle kit. Nice too that you were able to freeze your own finger although everyone doesn't have that equipment LOL

I was lucky and after about 45 years of musky fishing I never got hung up on a large treble but did  get cut by large teeth a couple times including once for 8 stitches.

[Moosebunk]

On 10/5/2019 at 3:08 AM, lew said:

Great video on the hook removal Drew and one of the main reasons good hook cutters are an essential part of of any tackle kit. Nice too that you were able to freeze your own finger although everyone doesn't have that equipment LOL

I was lucky and after about 45 years of musky fishing I never got hung up on a large treble but did  get cut by large teeth a couple times including once for 8 stitches.

You were lucky Lew. And hear I thought I was doing well never hooking myself in like 20 years, and only ever sinking a couple trebles into the wife's scalp. Yikes!

The freezing has served me we well with other's mishaps. 

[lew]

12 minutes ago, Moosebunk said:

You were lucky Lew.

Not entirely Drew, I did bury a small treble from a pickerel lure in my finger one time. Try as a might I couldn't get the darned thing out so I drove into town to a small emergency walk-in clinic. The Doc came in and said "Oh, that doesn't look bad and you won't need freezing, I'll just yank it out"

I told him when a hook is bury in HIS hand he can yank it out without freezing but when it's in MY finger he'll freeze it and remove it GENTLY hahaha