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Launched my Hobie Pro Angler at Pineview this morning and had three very odd things happen.
First, I was trolling a crankbait on the north side of Cemetery Point when I got a heavy strike. After taking line and giving me a strong fight, I was astounded to see my lure in the water - but no fish attached. Yet something kept fighting and pulling drag. I finally got the lure out of the water to see it was tangled in a fist-sized ball of mono - with a line going to the still-invisible fish.
With the lure at the rod tip, I tried to hand-line the fish in. That's when things parted. Twenty more feet of mono and there was a rusted - and broken - hook. Never saw whatever the fish was, but I'm glad I rid it of that hook and trailing mass of line.
Oddity #2: A few minutes later, I'm troling the same Bomber crawdad crankbait and got another heavy strike. "Gotta be a monster bass," I thought to myself. Nope. Ten-pounder carp. Hooked in the mouth, not foul-hooked at all. On a crankbait!
Oddity #3: Same place, and the waves from motorboats are calm for a bit. I look up to see what looks like a world record muskrat swimming along. Head looks funny. Then it turns and swims right by me. It's a 40" tiger muskie, cruising along with its head out of the water, mouth open and eating bugs off the surface. Eating bugs? Yup.
Okay, three things I have never seen or done in 60+ years of being a fisherman, and all in a few hours. Who made this Weird Wednesday, huh?
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The swimming behavior you describe is a known tiger musky phenomenon. Sometimes they call it "porpoising". Pure muskies do it too. Weird for sure. Here are some videos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TO7u77qio0I
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGQCF7TBiKI
Across the country, people have seem them swimming like alligators with their heads out of the water. I think it was only coincidence that there were bugs on the water when it was doing so. I have seen them at Pineview doing the same thing for no apparent reason, and approached them to within feet of my raft. It is bizarre behavior and to my knowledge nobody knows for sure, but here are possible explanations...
Quote:Musky - Odd Behavior
Question
Why do musky sometimes swim slowly with their head out of the water? I have seen this twice in the last 2 years.
Answer
We receive more descriptions of unusual behavior associated with muskellunge than most other fish. For most of us trying to catch a trophy muskellunge, the "odd" behavior is swimming toward a lure and turning away just as one's heart begins pounding in anticipation of an attack. From time to time, we do hear from anglers who have witnessed similar "head above water" actions like you describe.
There are a couple of theories about this action, including:
Since muskellunge attack prey from the side and then swallow them head-first, the musky might bet taking one last gulp associated with consumption of a large meal.
Musky like to be well acquainted with their surroundings and are surfacing to get a "better look around."
Muskellunge have also been seem "basking" and occasionally "porpoising" with their backs out of the water. This is suspected to be associated with getting to warmer surface water, perhaps to increase metabolism and aid digestion of a large meal (reptiles seek warmth for similar reasons).
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Sounds like you had and interesting day for sure.. Ive seen TM swim like that before. I imagine they hunt for birds too. Anything that moves is on there menu. Im sorry I didn't make it up there today let me know when your going again.
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Carp will hit a trolled lure
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[#502800]While I was fishing for crappie, I had one swim up to my boat and just look at me for awhile ...... Eventually, he turned and went the other direction ........ Needless to say, all the crappie left town.[/#502800]
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I have seen Northern Pike do that at Yuba Res.. No bugs tho.
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Since I didn't get to do a stomach survey (!) I only presumed the TM was eating bugs. He sure seemed to be, as he certainly was swimming along with his mouth open at the surface and there were insects on the water. The dink smallmouths were crushing bugs, too.
Thanks for the piscilesson, guys. I bow to your knowledge.
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I just bought a Hobie Pro Angler today! Since there are no Hobie dealers in Utah I purchased it in California and am having family bring it out, but it won't be for a little while. How do you like yours?
I already have a kayak I use for fishing but the Pro Angler is the top of the line and I can't wait to take it out.
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I was out in my float tube at Newton a few Octobers ago and had multiple musky circling my tube like sharks. A couple of other times that day, I would look behind me and see one just hovering there, staring at me. It was rather disconcerting. They're very curious creatures and definitely aren't spooky like other fish.
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The PA is THE quintessential fishing kayak. It now comes in 12' and 14' versions - and the MSRP as of Sept 1 will be $2949. They are selling as fast as they can churn them out, too.
It is extremely stable, effortless to pedal, has unbelievable storage, is dead silent on the water, and doesn't need to be registered. It comes with a waterproof rear storage bin, a mid-deck bin with Plano tackle boxes included, and a huge removable 11-gallon front storage bin. My version holds six rods in horizontal slots plus two vertically (12' ones hold four plus two).
Down sides? A few. It is quite heavy (150 pounds loaded, 100 empty) so car-topping it can be an effort unless you use roof rollers. It is also a genuine booger to pull up a boat loading ramp. I had to stop and rest three times yesterday getting it up that 200' west ramp at Pineview. You also NEED a ramp or a really hard and smooth beach to launch it. It does come with a drop-in set of wheels, fortunately.
See for yourself here http://www.hobiecat.com/
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Thanks RockyRaab.
I agree that Hobie has no problem selling the PA or any of their other mirage drive yaks. Lots of people seem to have the sticker shock when they see the 3k. But for me, a hands free kayak, plus I don't have to worry about the maintanence of a boat/motor, is ideal.
I got the 14' and with all of the storage you mention, it is more like a boat for one than a yak. I like that you can easily stand up and fish from the PA, one of the main reasons I got it after the hands free part.
Rocky, hopefully you will post some pictures of you fishing from it at some point.
I just added a picture of mine.
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Very nice. Remember, don't store it on the wheels or you'll eventually warp the hull. Lots of tips, mods and more at the Hobie talk forum. I learned a lot there.
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That is definitely more like a boat than it is a kayak.[  ] Amazing that one can store 6 rods. Having a MirageDrive would definitely make fishing more enjoyable.
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What I like is the absolutely effortless troll at "walleye speed." Loafing along with a bottom bouncer or diving crankbait is killer when there's no motor noise - not even the hum of an electric.
I forgot to mention one small downside: there's no reverse on a Mirage Drive. To back up, you have to use the paddle.
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Every time when I am at Newton, I see at least one tiger muskie swimming like that. It is cool. I always get as close as I can to them to see how big they are.
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RockyRaab,
So I found a very interesting discussion on this topic on a musky fishing forum. As you mentioned in another post, some have thought that it might be due to a need to take in increased oxygen at the surface when the water is warm and dissolved oxygen is low. This is called air-surface respiration, or ASR for short.
The following quote comes from a fish biologist...
"ASR has been documented for many species, its extent of use correlating directly with the severity of aquatic hypoxia. Morphological specializations for ASR include a terminal mouth, a flat rostrum or dorsal body surface, and the capacity to increase buoyancy (either using the gas bladder or air gulping) to optimize mouth position."
Now, consider a few points of anatomy/physiology in TM's, Muskies, and Pike. They fit all those things that the biologist says makes them candidates for ASR. They have 1) a terminal mouth (mouth opening at the very end of the head), 2) a flat rostrum (flat nose-very alligator like), 3) the capacity to increase buoyancy to optimize mouth position. This is due to a duct that connects their swim bladder to their gut (physotomous).
So I think that this is a good theory. It makes sense to me because it seems to happen most during the hotter months. Also, when the tigers are doing this they don't seem to care at all about chasing a lure. Many people (me included) have cast lures at these fish and it's like they are oblivious. It could be that their blood oxygen is low and that they are just trying to breathe better.
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Thanks for the authoritative reply. I'd never seen that behavior before, but now I'll be able to quote an expert theory if I see it again.
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