My First Tiger Muskies!!!

[BigCountryUT]

Ok so it has long been a goal of mine to catch a tiger musky but have been unsuccessful on my previous attempts. That all changed last thursday. I decided to try newton with my dad and we started trolling J13 rapalas in perch pattern. About 30 minutes in I picked up my first tiger at 30 inches. We didn't catch anymore that day but my little brother and his friend wanted to get into the action so we went back on Saturday.

We got on the water about 6 am and trolled all the way down the lake with no luck but at other end I noticed small fish everywhere on the finder and decided to take a few cast into the school to see if any tigers were lurking and on the first cast I hooked into a 33 incher (I was still using the J13 Perch). About an hour later my brother's friend, Matt hooked his first Tiger, a 34 incher that fought him really well and came all the way out of the water a couple of times (he was using a X-rap in perch). We trolled around for a few more hours and just when my brother thought he would be the only one to get skunked he hooked his first tiger, a 31 incher (he was also using the X rap). We were all s and decided to head home.

So at this point I think I'm addicted and yesterday I decided to try my luck at Pineview. About 5 minutes into trolling I hooked an enourmous underwater bush that claimed my $11 x rap lure [mad]. I put on a Super Shadrap 14 in perch and about 5 minutes later I hooked a 34 incher so that took the sting off losing my new lure. Started tolling again and it didn't take long before I found another underwater forest. This time I hooked into it with my Super Shadrap and a J13 on my second pole and both ended up breaking off! So I was pretty much out of musky lures so I decided to call it a day. So between the lost lures and $10 to launch the boat it cost about $40 to catch that Pineview musky but it was worth it.

All of the fish we caught seemed very strong and healthy and all had plenty of energy when they were released. I don't have pictures of the fish my brother and his friend caught but I will post them when he emails them to me but here are all the fish I caught.
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[grzbear10]

Very nice fish, Thanks for sharing.
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[monstermasher]

you might want to be careful sticking your fingers in the muskies gills. For one thing it injures the fish, and also you will get your fingers sliced. Nice fish though congrats[angelic]
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[Bountyhunter]

Nice fish, thanks for sharing
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[gstott]

That's what I was just thinking.
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[hollynkait]

Its funny because alot of pictures i see of people holding them, or pike, they hold them like that and it kind of looks like a puppet lol sorry, had to share that [:p]
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[Jacksonman]

Nice catch. You are officially addicted but that is OK.

And as others have said, never hold a larger musky (26"+) vertically as that can put very weird and unnatural pressure on them and watch their gills. With the recent popularity in musky fishing we all need to protect this resource.
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[RyanCreek]

I caught my fist musky last year. I've never had so much fun fishing, and so many hours of mind numbing casting. Not easy fish to catch but so worth the trouble. Welcome to the club. I am deliberating about going to Pineview again today.
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[FishWisconsin]

I have made a small "lure retrevial system" for lures that get snagged.

Any system that sinks and can catch the snagged hooks should work, this is what I made:

I have some 100 lbs kite string and have taken 2 coat hangers and wove them together into a loose ball figure. I secured a weight inside the coat hangers. I have attached a swivel to the kite string above the weighted coat hangers. Tied hangers to kite string.

When I get a snag, I move directly over the snag with the boat. Attach the swivel to the snagged line, and then let the coat hanger system sink down my line to the snag.

The coat hangers will come in contact with the lure, and the hooks will be caught in the coat hangers. Once the hooks are caught, I pull the coat hanger system back up the line. If the lure is there, great, if not, drop and repeat until lure is at the boat. Sometimes it takes a minute, I worked on one for 10 minutes in the wind with no anchor, but got the lure back.

I can get about 95% of my lures back, though I may need to change a treble hook occasionally.

This system has saved me couple hundred dollars.
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[3CarFan]

Seems to me that there was a great post last year on proper Musky handling techniques, but I can't seem to locate it.

Since the tiger popularity is increasing lately, it might be a good time for a repost if anyone has it
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[monstermasher]

I bought a snag removal system from cabelas for $10 I have only had it 1 week now, and I have saved about 5 crankbaits. I wish I would have purchased one years ago. I would have a few extra thousand dollars to spend!!!! They do suck to use in the wind, I here ya there.[]
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[BigCountryUT]

Thanks for the information on snag removal I will have to try to make one as well. I would be nice to not lose so many expensive lures.
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[bassfinder]

Awesome fish, thanks for the report!
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