Hooking Muskies

[nck6511]

The thing that made the biggest difference for me was switching from a 7 foot rod to a 9 foot rod.
You get a much better hook set(more leverage) and it is way easier to keep pressure on the fish during the fight, meaning you won't get slack. Getting slack in the line makes it easier for the fish to shake the bait loose.
Also....keep the line tight, but don't over do it, you do not want the fish's head out of the water, this also makes it easier for the fish to shake the bait loose.


Another advantage to a longer rod is it makes figure 8's effortless!

[ToddM]

I will offer a diferring opinion here as i really pay attention to why I lose a fish. For one, I like sharp light wire hooks. They penetrate much easier than do the thick ones.

Some baits hook up better than others. Erratic baits hook up with less percentage but you may get more strikes. I am not a fan of 8" or bigger baits with 2 hooks. Give me 3 hooks, less open surface area on the bait means a greater chance of a hookup IMHO.

Fighting the fish. I freespool. I do not put alot of pressure on the fish. They want to headshake or make a run(they are always short runs) I let them with thumb tension. When they stop, you can coax them back pretty quick. The rod goes to the water too so they do not jump. Jumping and headshaking against a drag has caused me to loose a fish in the past. You never know just how well a fish is hooked and I have landed some very lightly hooked fish by doing this. Actually, I have landed fish that never had a barb in them just kept tension and not let them get slack on a headshake.

[Cold Front]

Robert,
Number one I don't think anybody realizes just how hard these guys that fish every day hit these fish until you see a clear demonstration. I've related this story befor but it fits to repeat it here. I once watched Ty kill about a two pound bass on the hookset, when that fish hit, Ty set the hook and and cut the gill plate completely in half. That fish never twitched, It was stone dead on impact. I have a lot more luck hooking up on strikes I don't see than on strikes I do see, I get so busy watching for her to hit and then am so amazed when she does I fail to pound the hooks home. The strikes I don't see I simply react and fish on. Number two is a big one for guys like me. If you really wanna catch a fish you gotta pay attention. I don't get out as often as I'd like and I often am watching an eagle or loons diving when the muskie decides to strike, the delayed reaction is very seldom a good practise if you actually want to get a photo op with a muskie. I missed the biggest bass of my life when I was about sixteen. I was casting a shoreline when an older gentleman rowed in with a very nice looking lass in shorts and a bikini top. When they got close to me the young lady stood up in the front of the boat and began to fish for panfish with a flyrod. I continued to cast but I can tell you that a buxom blonde in a bikini top wielding a flyrod is a distraction!! The end of this story is predictable, we got to a section of the shoreline where there is a retaining wall, I was casting my Bill Plummer's Superfrog up onto the top of the wall and pulling it so it would drop into the water right next to the wall and watching a beautiful flycasting exhibition. Frog hits the water, huge explosion, ...I wonder what her name is..., HEY! WHAT?! CRAP! ... Dangit! that was a big fish! I often think about missing that fish, I never met the girl and I don't have any pictures of that fish because I wasn't paying attention. I still have trouble paying attention all day and have missed several fish because of it. There are other factors, sharp hooks, low stretch line, not giving a hooked fish any slack ( a lot of guys are fishing with their drag too tight and too stiff of a rod), but I believe a thunderous and immediate hookset are the real keys to boating fish.

[Ty Sennett]

That was a great story Coldfront. "I never got her name".........priceless!

I think everyone has summed it up on sticking fish. I think Snizz said it best about controlling the fish when you do get it on. A lot of people want to soft play a fish. That doesn't work on the Chip. I think because they eat so many bullhead, they are good at shaking the bait. The fish on the Chip, or Wisconsin in general, do not suck down a bait like they do in Minnesota either. Most of the fish in Minnesota take the bait so deep that you have to cut hooks on most fish. That means when you get a fish to hit in Wisconsin you need to hit them fast and keep pressure on them the whole fight.

Keep your drag tight but not tight enough to where a fish can't pull line out. My brother Tom lost a fish that I would guess in the mid fifty inch range because he locks his drag down so tight that when the fish ran it broke his line.

Overall, I guess set really hard and fight the fish so that you counteract every move it makes and you should be ok. Sounds easy huh.................?