Tonka Muskies

[HUSKIN FORA MUSK]

R. Dawg,

What'd you get your first muskie on?

F. Hawker,

If you want we can hookup after work and suck down some cold ones @ G. City before the B-Day. Tell me what you think.

All else,

Pretty slow last night as Tonka Boy said. Only 2 follows after dark on topwater.

HUSKIN FORA MUSK

[CALVINIST]

I fished muskies on Maxwell on Wednesday evening for about 45 minutes, that's how long it took before I broke my leader on a cast...good thing I had on a giant Jackpot...it went sailing for sure, but I just scooped it up out of the water. Next, I tried for walleyes on a fishy looking break. I was using a lindy rig and leech. I had a few panfish-like pecks, then I got a good bite, set the hook...BIG fish on. It felt like a walleye, but I'll never know for sure because after fighting her for about 20-30 seconds, my line broke by the hook . Needless to say. I didn't sleep well that night.

------------------
<><<><
Calvinist
><>><>

[This message has been edited by CALVINIST (edited 08-27-2004).]

[Tonka Boy]

Tough night Cal. I haven't been out in a couple of days. I'm getting the itch bad!!!

[CALVINIST]

Me and Cupper are going out early saturday morning out of Wayzata trying to bag his first. Anybody else gonna try Tonka this weekend?

Tonka Boy, I know how you feel .

Hey Cupper, If you want to get out REALLY early and try for some eyes, (like on the water by 4am) let me know. That is what I plan to do anyway, try a couple walleye spots before fishing for muskies.

------------------
<><<><
Calvinist
><>><>

[This message has been edited by CALVINIST (edited 08-27-2004).]

[This message has been edited by CALVINIST (edited 08-27-2004).]

[This message has been edited by CALVINIST (edited 08-27-2004).]

[jigeye]

Heading out on the west end tomorrow morning still trying for my first ski of the year.

[T-Rex]

Will be out Sunday afternoon. I will probably hit the west side. Will be in an Alumacraft Tournamanet Pro with a large marine radio antenna. See ya on the water.

[CALVINIST]

I have heard it said before that muskies are not normal fish; I didn't know what people were saying until this morning. Cupper and I were fishing in Wayzata bay, throwing bucktails. Cup got a nice one to follow his to the boat...he did what I have failed to practice in tha past, he stuck his rod in the water and figure eight'ed. Well this muskie, probably low 40's, chased that bucktail for about 8-10 figure eights, just like a dog chasing it's tail, right in front of our eyes...we were both . The fish seemed to have no fear of the boat, and was rather oblivious to us, she chased that figure eight for probably 20-30 seconds, then she split. I never really understood the principle behind the figure eight, until now! We never did catch that fish, but she followed two more times to the boat. It was quite a thrill for Cupper, who never really saw a muskie before. He is closer than ever to catching his first. And me? Man, I am sold on figure eighting. BTW, that is the third follow by a nice fish in Wayzata bay in a week, all on big bucktails. Has anyone else had these kinds of prolonged follows on figure-eights?

------------------
<><<><
Calvinist
><>><>

[CALVINIST]

Another day...

Despite heavy fog, and a dead starter battery, I boated a 42" ski this morning . Got her trolling a bucktail 20 feet behind the boat over milfoil. And unlike my first two ski's that came in like dead wood, this one fought! It took about 5 minutes to get her in. And this time, I didn't have a problem getting her in the boat either; I just tired her out, then grabbed her by the tail with one hand while supporting the belly/head with the other and brought her in. One observation about the three fish I have caught so far; I haven't had to unhook any of them, because once I get 'em in the boat they either unhook themselves or spit the lure out. She returned to Tonka tired but o.k.

------------------
<><<><
Calvinist
><>><>

[cupper]

Great work Calvanist!!!! Was it the same one we saw yesterday?

[CALVINIST]

No, I caught this one where the two kinds of weeds were , in about 8 feet of water. I worked that area good where we had yesterday's follow-upsbefore going in, but no action. You should try trolling bucktails behind the boat 3.5 to 4.5 mph across the milfoil, you cover alot of ground that way. Next weekend I'm going up to rabbit lake; maybe we can get out again after I get back and give her another go.

------------------
<><<><
Calvinist
><>><>

[jigeye]

My buddy caught a 40", a pike and had two follows. We stayed on the west end all morning. Couldn't get anything to follow topwater just spinnerbaits burned over the weeds.

[HUSKIN FORA MUSK]

Went out early Saturday with Rodgepodge. Had a hit on a topraider at 5:00 am, and only another follow on a bucktail at about 8:00 am. Rodgepodge froze on his first ever muskie follow and failed to figure eight his bucktail, and the fish took off. Figure eighting is key as evident by Cavanist's recent post. Fishawker, do you want to hit Tonka this week sometime?

HUSKIN FORA MUSK

[markkstanley]

Better get that home equity loan first!! Musky anything isn't cheap. For fishing Tonka get a couple of bucktails - brown with gold blades right Tonka Boy!. Then your basic black bucktail. A couple of surface lures - Giant Jackpot and a Top Raider fit the bill. Couple of crankbaits - I like Believers and Jakes. Finally a jerkbait or two - Suicks, Reef Hawgs. For reels you'll need a baitcaster that holds lots of line. Abu Garcia 6300 series are my favorites. Then a 7ft rod medium heavy or heavy with a fast tip. Best idea is go to Thorne Bros. give them your budget and let them set you up. It isn't hard to blow through $500 if you don't watch it. With lures running $10 to $15 a pop and the conviction there must be some magic lure we don't own yet we musky guys tend invest a little too much in our tackle boxes.

[Tonka Boy]

Nice catch Calvinist! Good to hear things are still going good for you.

Mark-
Any luck as of late? I'll be keeping busy this week, but we should try to hook up an evening next week. Shoot me an e-mail of you're up for it.

[iFishMN.YT]

ELW - im not muskie pro or anything, but I would definately not use mono line for ski fishing, they a ferocious at times and you will lose some if you dont have some super-line on. I use fireline all the time for pike and ski's nowadays and never have a problem with line breaking. Ive lost too many monsters due to mono line during my childhood that I dont dare put it in the water unless im fishing for panfish or bass. As for rod and real, just dont use anything light, like stated above, medium or heavy action and use a decent size real that will hold enough line, AND make sure the drags works good! Now go catch em'

------------------
"Better get the net!"
-Fishin Chad

[Guest]

Will a gander mountain rod work ok? I am going to get three lures, what should I get? And which line should I buy, i've been reading a lot on this site about different types of line. Thanks for all your help.

[CALVINIST]

I have a Gander Mountain rod; it works pretty good, but just keep in mind, you get what you pay for. I will probably upgrade next year to a St. Croix. Line I would suggest Power-Pro or Spiderwire Stealth in 80lb test. Three lures? That depends on which lake you intend to fish most frequently, but if you plan to fish Tonka, I would plan on a big double bucktail in black or brown with copper colored spinners, a topwater lure like Giant Jackpot or Top Raider or Top Walker, Then a crankbait like a Shallow Raider or Jake, or jerkbait like a Suick. A Believer would be a great lure for you, because it is so versitile...you can crank it, jerk and twitch it, troll it, or use it as a topwater lure. Color choices...you can't go wrong with black. Also perch or sucker on clear lakes like Tonka. Orange is supposed to be good on Tonka too. Also, this time of year on into late October, upsize your presentation...use bigger lures, like 8" to 10" at least. I'm no expert, but this should help you out.

------------------
<><<><
Calvinist
><>><>

[This message has been edited by CALVINIST (edited 08-31-2004).]

[Guest]

I am new to muskie fishing and would love to get into the sport. I am a traditional walleye fisherman, but recently got hooked on muskies on vermillion this year. I have caught 3 on tonka, all around 40 inches fishing for bass and northern. What type of rod, reel, line, and lures do i need to start fishing?

[muskieboy46]

Was out on tonka this morning. 5th cast i lost my brand new lure i had gotten at thorne brothers yesterday. My friend did catch his first muskie, a 46 incher on a little bass spinnerbait while i got nada on bucktails. LUCK plays a bigger role than skill. Still was fun.

[Big G]

ELW;

I'll get ya started!!!

Go buy 2 rods.
1: At Walmart, get a Tony Rizzo, 6'10" rod. ($50) This is your jerk rod (top water and jerk baits
2: Go to Gandermountain and get a 7'6" IM6 rod. ($60) This is your bucktail and crank rod.
(both of these rods are musky rods)
3) Pick up 2 ABU Garcia 6500 C3 reels. Spool them both with 80lb Western Tuf-Line. Make sure you use MONO backing........About 100 yards of 12lb will work just fine. Get 2 spools of teh Tuf-line in 150 yards. This will spool up your 2 reels about right.
4) Get a LONG needle nose pliers, jaw spreader, bolt cutters, and large pliers. Tie a rope unto the jaw spreader, because if you loose grip of the fish, you will kill it, because it will swim away with your jaw spreader. The bolt cutters are for cutting hooks........Yep, you will be cutting hooks........
5) Get a "Big Kahuna" Beckman musky net

Now for the good stuff.......Listen up!!!
6) Get 5 bucktails: White, brown, black, firetiger, yellow
7) Get 5 topwaters: (firetiger jackpot, black/yellow jackpot, crappie viper, black/red topraider, orange topwater bucktail)
8) Get 5 jerk baits: Black/red reefhawg, walleye suick, firetiger suick, sucker burt, black bobbie bait.
9) Get 5 cranks: 6" firetiger jake, 8" orange tiger jake, walleye depthraider, 8" 9 dollar bass beleiver, 8" perch Beleiver.

10: Go purchase top quality leaders, replacement treble hooks, and split rings, plus a split ring pliers.

That's it!!!!!!!!

You can get all of this stuff at Gander or Walmart........Buy your leaders at Gander........Thorne Bros are awesome, but somewhat crazy with all the goofy stuff there........But they have the correct, solid leaders.

You will use 7 strand for your bucktails and cranks. Use solid wire for your topwater and jerks. You want the solid wire leader to be the same length as the lure you throw for correct action.........

------------------
Let em go, so they can grow!

[CanoeCruiser]

I'm NOT trying to start a war, let me say that right off the bat.
I've caught a few muskies, and yes they were mostly by mistake while fishing for pike or bass, so I'm not completely ignorant of their fighting abilities. I've also lost a lot more than I've caught (and even recovered some of the plugs later, floating around sans hooks!).
Isn't 80 lb test superline just a wee bit unsporting? I'm not talking gut hooking them with a big sucker and losing them- I'm speaking of hooking a nice fish on a plug, and losing them due to ineptitude.
Given that a plug is going to rust out of the fish in a few days, isn't it fair to give the 'ski a chance to break off/throw the hook?
I've always thought so, but if someone can tell me that I'm wrong and that the "victorious" fish is going to DIE instead of shedding my plug I might consider going to a relatively unbreakable superline.
Again, I don't want to start a war, I'm just looking for viewpoints from folks more knowledgeable than myself.

[muskieboy46]

I like the superline for a couple reasons. 1)i can feel my lures action better and know if its running right.
2)my line doesnt break (as much) so im less likely to lose a big fish.
3) i think its easier to cast.

I agree with you that using 80 pound stuff is a little over board and i wouldnt enjoy it as much if i used that and forced the fish in. I reccomend 50 pound but thats just me and my 2 cents.

[CanoeCruiser]

Thanks Muskieboy- that's the type of answer I was looking for!

[fish specialist]

Was out on Tonka tonight, the boat traffic was unbelievable, but I did get one follow and one bass. Nothing great, but not bad considering all the boat wakes rockin' me back and forth.

[Big G]

The reason for 80lb superline is primarily due to the line thickness. Because of the rod "weight" and the lure weight, you need a line of that thickness to keep things in balance.

In the fall, I do alot of trolling with mono on deep plugs. I use mono to keep the line freezing down to a minimum.....I use 25lb mono..............

However, along with these fish, you don't want them swimming around with a lure in their mouth......especially @ $25 a lure!!!!

Yes, you can land big fish on light gear (I have a 29lb pike caught and boated on 6lb lindy rig), but these fish are very fragile. There is no need to threaten to kill them with the improper gear.

That is why I said you need a bolt cutter. I cut almost all of my hooks, to prevent damage to the fish and to make CPR much faster. These fish die very easy, so why kill them for your pleasure..........These fish are very slow to reproduce. The only other fish I will cut hooks are on gut hooked fish...........

[markkstanley]

FYI musky hooks do not rust out in a few days. Check the latest edition of ESOX angler for proof of that. A well hooked musky might be able to throw the lure but if it doesn't it will die before the hooks rust out. Not worth the risk to me so I use the the heavy stuff. Plus at $10 to $15 bucks I hate to lose lures. Another consideration is summer temps are really tough on hooked muskies so the faster you get them in and released the better. I don't just horse them in but an overlong battle in 80 or even high 70 degree water can kill the musky. Last thought is I haven't benn able to tell the difference between 50lb and 80lb superline in fighting a musky so why not just use the heavy stuff.

[Trailblazin]

There are many reasons most muskie folks use 80lb or heavier. We fish in weeds, milfoil, rocks - the lesser diameter lines will fray quicker. We do not want to lose $15 plus lures as well - The knots are much moresecure with 80lb. I threw with 50lb Power Pro and lost some lures due to backlashes.

The most important reason to me though is keeping the fishing healthy with proper release, etc..You can horse the fish in instead of letting it fight and fight and fight, etc...The more the fish fights, especially in warm weather, the chances of survival are not good after a release. We need to preserve our fishery!

The rule of thumb for muskie fishing is to use 80lb for lures up to 1 1/2-2oz...Anything heavier, use 100lb.

[minnesota_muskyfisherman]

Who even started this topic wow. I use 100 spiderwire because it does not break on a potential state record musky. And my lure is safe from line break,well not snap breaking but you get the point. been fishing long time and have seen the change in the world of muskys. god i wist 15 years they had this line because i would still have all my rare bagly bang 0 B colors.

[muskieboy46]

I went from spring until now with 50 pound and it only frayed yesterday. I Agree that there probly isnt much difference between the 50 and the 80 so i dont think it matters that much. The guy at gander mountain told me to use a thiner line in 65 pound then the 50 pound power pro i was gonna get but i dont know and i dont really care cause my 50 pound worked and i didnt lose any fish.

If u guys use 80 and force a fish to the boat wheres the fun in that? Half the fun in fishing is letting them fight a little(not a lot).
just my opinion

Maybe this should be posted in the muskie forum and this topic should get back to tonka...

[minnesota_muskyfisherman]

AMEN TO THAT. i like a fight and i like to keep my lures. if i lose one then owell go buy a new one. besides a 50 lbs fish is not not gonna be horsed in at all that fish will fight and that is where the big line is good.

P.S power pro is a better line it does not fray. i fish 4 time aweek for skies and my fire line looks like &%@#.