My favorite time of year for my favorite fish.

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jayder85
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My favorite time of year for my favorite fish.

Post by jayder85 »

I finally was able to pull away from work to fish for about the only thing I ever fish for nowadays. Musky! Growing up near the "Musky Capital of the South", Cave Run Lake, I have chased these toothy critters for a long time. Well I finally got a chance to go after them yesterday and landed the first one of 2012. It was a nice fat little 32 incher (which is 4 inches shorter than a legal to keep fish, however I only practice catch and release). They call them the fish of 10,000 casts for a reason, and this is the first caught by me since last October. We moved several more with no other hookups and many of my other friends were out on the lake and boated fish. I never post in this section but just thought that I would throw this in. With the way they were moving yesterday, as Spring progresses things will just get better!

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VICtort
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Re: My favorite time of year for my favorite fish.

Post by VICtort »

Congratulations on catching this legendary fish. As a west coast angler, I have been hearing about muskies and pike too, all my life. Catch some more, and tell us how in general you go about it, i.e. live bait, or big creek chub plugs, spinners, etc.?

Muskellunge are on my bucket list...
tight lines, Vic
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cachoron
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Re: My favorite time of year for my favorite fish.

Post by cachoron »

VICtort wrote:Congratulations on catching this legendary fish. As a west coast angler, I have been hearing about muskies and pike too, all my life. Catch some more, and tell us how in general you go about it, i.e. live bait, or big creek chub plugs, spinners, etc.?

Muskellunge are on my bucket list...
tight lines, Vic
Vic, you forgot THE FLY
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jayder85
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Re: My favorite time of year for my favorite fish.

Post by jayder85 »

VICtort wrote:Congratulations on catching this legendary fish. As a west coast angler, I have been hearing about muskies and pike too, all my life. Catch some more, and tell us how in general you go about it, i.e. live bait, or big creek chub plugs, spinners, etc.?

Muskellunge are on my bucket list...
tight lines, Vic
VIC, I have been fishing for Muskies for years. They truly are the fish of 10,000 casts. Just raising one (seeing one follow your bait in, it may not even bite) makes for a successful day, even for professional guides out there.

Baits depend on the time of the year, with fish moving shallow in the spring you want to use small shallow running Rattletraps and jerk baits that you can fish in 2 to 3 feet of water.. In the fall they move shallow again but they bite on huge baits (Bulldawgs, Double Cowgirl Spinners, etc.) because they are eating all they can to fatten up for winter. The middle of winter is when you use live Creek Chubs and Suckers and you fish them deep in river channels where Muskies stay when it is cold.

Here is a short video from one of the guides where I fish and you can see how we catch fish on the "figure 8".


Cachoron, I fly fish often for trout but haven't had the chance to chase a Musky with a fly.
VICtort
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Re: My favorite time of year for my favorite fish.

Post by VICtort »

I will keep that figure 8 in mind...I have had a lot of fish followers over the years, I usually speed up the lure (since the fish is apparently suspicious or it would have already taken it...) and often this turns a follower into a biter. Slowing it down rarely works, although I see guys do that frequently...to their regret. Whether or not the figure 8 will work on non-muskie/pike will be fun to see. Thanks for posting this, it is always fun to see "what quickens your pulse" in other parts of this fair country.

Cachoran, a fish on a fly is a wonderful thing, but it may make for a very long day, muskies are tough to get on even the best lures/baits, I don't know if I would be savvy enough to get them on a fly. Maybe that would work, when a muskie follows a lure you could present a fly (similar to they way guys do bait and switch bill fish...)?

tight lines, Vic
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muskiemagnet
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Re: My favorite time of year for my favorite fish.

Post by muskiemagnet »

just waiting for the opener up here in wisconsin. i read that a few 55's were pulled out of the fox river/green bay this past fall. recently, i've put down the rod to focus on herps, but i'll eventually get the bug again.

what's the biggest to come out of cave run(i'm assuming it is the state record)? do you know what strain the lake is stocked with?

-ben
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cachoron
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Re: My favorite time of year for my favorite fish.

Post by cachoron »

VICtort wrote:Cachoran, a fish on a fly is a wonderful thing, but it may make for a very long day, muskies are tough to get on even the best lures/baits, I don't know if I would be savvy enough to get them on a fly. Maybe that would work, when a muskie follows a lure you could present a fly (similar to they way guys do bait and switch bill fish...)?

tight lines, Vic
Victor, a trueheart flyfisher will cast all day even if he will not catch or see a fish after his fly :thumb: Then next day, your back will kill you but, it is just great :D
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jayder85
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Re: My favorite time of year for my favorite fish.

Post by jayder85 »

muskiemagnet wrote:just waiting for the opener up here in wisconsin. i read that a few 55's were pulled out of the fox river/green bay this past fall. recently, i've put down the rod to focus on herps, but i'll eventually get the bug again.

what's the biggest to come out of cave run(i'm assuming it is the state record)? do you know what strain the lake is stocked with?

-ben
We dont have an "opener" in KY. Most of us fish all fall, winter, and spring and then slack off in the Summer. The water temps get so high here that fish caught and released in the summer have high mortality rates due to warm water temps and lower oxygenated water. We dont want to harm these fish!
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muskiemagnet
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Re: My favorite time of year for my favorite fish.

Post by muskiemagnet »

jayder85 wrote:
muskiemagnet wrote:just waiting for the opener up here in wisconsin. i read that a few 55's were pulled out of the fox river/green bay this past fall. recently, i've put down the rod to focus on herps, but i'll eventually get the bug again.

what's the biggest to come out of cave run(i'm assuming it is the state record)? do you know what strain the lake is stocked with?

-ben
We dont have an "opener" in KY. Most of us fish all fall, winter, and spring and then slack off in the Summer. The water temps get so high here that fish caught and released in the summer have high mortality rates due to warm water temps and lower oxygenated water. We dont want to harm these fish!

yea, i agree, warm water can put added stress on them. good idea to back off in the summer.

i'm assuming that cave run has a pretty good population if you can keep two. i also like the 37 minimum.

do many down by you keep them? i've heard they taste decent. that's not a small fish either. that's good grub if you gotta feed some younguns.

in my thread, you mentioned pictures of tigers repeatedly caught. i've seen this, too. not personally. i've never caught a tiger. we don't have too many good tiger waters here. i raised a fish from shore one day, and got it the next day in the boat. same big scar at the base of the tail. nothing unusual about that though. many people pre-fish tournaments with out hooks just so the can locate a big fish.

you never answered my question though. what's the state record? did it come out of cave run? also, what's the average size fish? do you know where the brood stock came from? minnesota? wisconsin? great lakes? i'm curious on the later because so many places are importing and stocking them now.

-ben
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jayder85
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Re: My favorite time of year for my favorite fish.

Post by jayder85 »

muskiemagnet wrote:
jayder85 wrote:
muskiemagnet wrote:just waiting for the opener up here in wisconsin. i read that a few 55's were pulled out of the fox river/green bay this past fall. recently, i've put down the rod to focus on herps, but i'll eventually get the bug again.

what's the biggest to come out of cave run(i'm assuming it is the state record)? do you know what strain the lake is stocked with?

-ben
We dont have an "opener" in KY. Most of us fish all fall, winter, and spring and then slack off in the Summer. The water temps get so high here that fish caught and released in the summer have high mortality rates due to warm water temps and lower oxygenated water. We dont want to harm these fish!

yea, i agree, warm water can put added stress on them. good idea to back off in the summer.

i'm assuming that cave run has a pretty good population if you can keep two. i also like the 37 minimum.

do many down by you keep them? i've heard they taste decent. that's not a small fish either. that's good grub if you gotta feed some younguns.

in my thread, you mentioned pictures of tigers repeatedly caught. i've seen this, too. not personally. i've never caught a tiger. we don't have too many good tiger waters here. i raised a fish from shore one day, and got it the next day in the boat. same big scar at the base of the tail. nothing unusual about that though. many people pre-fish tournaments with out hooks just so the can locate a big fish.

you never answered my question though. what's the state record? did it come out of cave run? also, what's the average size fish? do you know where the brood stock came from? minnesota? wisconsin? great lakes? i'm curious on the later because so many places are importing and stocking them now.

-ben
Some people keep them here. I have kept and eaten a couple that didnt make it (hook in gills, etc.). A lot of the local old men keep them. I have no problem with those that do, that is what creel limits are for, I just choose not to myself.

The state record was a 47 pound fish. I cant remember the length right off hand. It did come out of Cave Run about 2 years ago. A 16 year old girl caught it while fishing with her dad (who is also a musky guide). The average fish at Cave Run is 38 to 42 inches. At least that has been my experiences. Cave Run Lake was made by damming up the Licking River. There are native musky in that River below the dam. Their stock is collected every year from the river below the lake. The origional stock was a mixture of native fish and northern fish.
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