Headed to Pineview tomorrow with the wife for our anniversary, hoping to get her a Muskie. I've set expectations so she knows we may not catch anything (fish of 10,000 casts), but catching one would be a lifetime highlight.
Any advice on where to fish and what to use? We'll be on float tubes. Any feedback is very much appreciated!
[signature]
I just got back from a week of muskie fishing in Wisconsin and never caught a legal fish (I caught two small muskies and missed another couple). I mention that only to emphasize that it definitely can go either way, as you observe.
I did hook a decent (mid 30s) muskie at pineview earlier this year. My sense was that there were quite a few small muskies (20 inch range) in shallow, but you have move out deeper to encounter the larger ones. I would try a combination of mid size (6-8 inch) soft plastics, bucktails, and topwater. If you can see fish surfacing, that can be good. I would also look at moonrise and moonset as well as sunrise and sunset. I feel like more than for most any other species of fish, muskies might only be active for a few minutes of the day. You want to be on the water when the fish are on. I would fish off main lake points and then fan cast in open bays in the evening or morning. It's tough in a float tube because muskie fishing is a lot about covering water. I would watch where people are fishing and try to be at the most likely looking spots at the best times. The thing that really can get muskies going is an oncoming storm--although be sure to be safe because it takes a long time to get out of the water in a float tube.
I would also start deep and work in to shoreline structure. Your comparative advantage in the float tube is that you can do detail work on the spots within the spots. I once caught a muskie by fishing the back side of a prominent downed tree on a
dle between a point and sunken island. Everybody fished the side of the tree fishing the lake, but no one took time to go around to the other side, since it involved positioning your boat uncomfortably right up against the shore.
Final note: watch for ticks. If you are up in the brush there are some around there, and we do get a few cases of lyme in Utah.
[signature]
I am not sure I would want to get tangled up with a 40+ Tiger in a tube. I caught a 36" pike out of a tube in Colorado years ago and it towed me around for a long time. I would not have landed it without help from a guy with a big net on a near by boat.
As for catching them, remember that they are ambush sight feeders. As 6x alluded to, cover, structure, etc.
Quick check out the Dahlberg Whopper Plopper for top water, the Dahlberg Mr. Wiggley for a multipurpose soft plastic, and the Dahlberg Wide Glide. I don't think you can get them before tomorrow, but it will give you something to think about. Unless I was going to fish deeper, one of these three would be what I would fish with all day long. If going deep, a double Cowgirl would be my go to. Last resort would be a large minnow body hard bait.
PS, I would also take aspirin a half hour before fishing and have some for when I get off the water. Your arm might be very sore. LOL
Not sure I would want my feet dangling in the water with those toothy critters!
[signature]