Northwest Fishing Reports

Hi. I am completely new to musky fishing. In fact, I just recently found out there were even musky in washington. They are bigger than any other fish I have ever seen, so I assume the strategy used to catch them is completely different then any other fish. So, I would like to know what tackle to use, such as kind of rod, reel, and kind of line. Also would like to know what kind of bait or lures to use. What kind of fishing strategy do you use? Bottom still fishing, top still fishing, casting (sight fishing), trolling? I think it would be insane to reel in one of those giant fish. The first lake I am probably going to go to is Lake Tapps. I know there are only like 3 lakes in washington that have tiger musky, so what are the best parts of Lake Tapps to catch musky. What is the depth of water musky like? What kind of underwater features do they like? If they hang out near the shoreline, what kind of shoreline features do they like? As I said, I am a complete newbie. Could you guys please help me out?

personfly18 wrote:Hi. I am completely new to musky fishing. In fact, I just recently found out there were even musky in washington. They are bigger than any other fish I have ever seen, so I assume the strategy used to catch them is completely different then any other fish. So, I would like to know what tackle to use, such as kind of rod, reel, and kind of line. Also would like to know what kind of bait or lures to use. What kind of fishing strategy do you use? Bottom still fishing, top still fishing, casting (sight fishing), trolling? I think it would be insane to reel in one of those giant fish. The first lake I am probably going to go to is Lake Tapps. I know there are only like 3 lakes in washington that have tiger musky, so what are the best parts of Lake Tapps to catch musky. What is the depth of water musky like? What kind of underwater features do they like? If they hang out near the shoreline, what kind of shoreline features do they like? As I said, I am a complete newbie. Could you guys please help me out?

personfly18 welcome to the insanity as some people say. Tiger are like any other predatory ambush fish. They generally lie and wait for there prey to come buy before they accelerate to 35+mph and slam. Yet sometimes they will follow and you will have to finesse them into biting a bait which doesn't work all the time. They tend to like the water temps around 60's to 70's. Anything much below or above that they tend to become sluggish. When above 70ish they will seek deeper cooler water so deep weed edges or deep timber would be a great place. When the temperature is below 60ish they tend to be a little shallower sometimes right up against the shoreline basking in the sun. Although in the winter months they head out to the deeper drop offs. But for the most part when water temp is ideal, they will hang around structure. Some a little shallower some a little deeper, but definitely structure. Weed beds, docks, logs, underwater stumps, rock beds, big rocks anything that they can ambush. We tend to use heavier line starting with 20# test and above depending on who you as and some use 80#. You will also need a leader (steal or flourocarbon) to prevent bite offs from their sharp teeth. As far as baits go, a bucktail is very easy and simple to use lure that seems to out produce all other baits in terms of # of fish caught. A mepps musky killer is 1 of many types of spinners to use. You can also use various jerkbaits and glidebaits will work as well. Rod and reel, well anything that can handle the line and lure you will be using not to mention the incredible impact shock you will feel once the tiger hits you lure. I am telling you it is nothing like you ever felt before when a tiger slams you lure. Instant adrenaline rush. Anyway the majority of the muskie anglers use bait casters but some use spincasters it is just a matter of finding the right size that fits your tackle. This just the plain jane crash course is Muskie fishing. In fact Chapter 57 of Muskies Inc will be holding a members meeting/picnic on July 18 and you are more than welcome to come and check it out. There will be no pressure to join, just a bunch of good folks enjoying the outdoors, fishing, and each others company and everybody there will be more than willing to share their techniques and strategies. To find out more about tiger muskies you can go to our website at http://www.nwtigermuskies.com. If you have any more questions you can email any one of the board members (they are always willing to help out especially a new fellow muskie angler although the Vice President isn't exactly the most computer savvy so it may take a while for him to respond) or just post it here on washingtonlakes.

Welcome to the craziness!!

Lucius

Nicely done, Lucius!

... and Don!

I had forgotten that Fish Story on that link; amazing!:colors:

50,000 anglers fish Wisconsin's Chippewa Flowage every year, and 3,000 muskies get caught per season, which is about 1/16th of a fish per angler per year. It took me only a couple hours to catch my first Chippewa Flowage muskie! And boy, I'm not gonna let anyone forget it!!! But that's nothing. Back in 2005, at the beginning of his tiger muskie fishing career, Mike Nielsen caught a fish within 2 hours on the first day, and hooked two state-record-class fish over 30 lbs. (one lost, one landed) in his first 3 days of muskie fishing. And, since then, has caught as many 28 lb.-plus tiger muskies than everyone else in the state put together. Two of Mike's 28-pounders were first-cast fish. I've never seen anyone with such unerring "fish sense." He just knows, or feels, where they are. He can literally smell the fish if they're nearby. He goes straight to them. I've never seen anything like it. Of course, Mike wasn't a novice angler when he started fishing for tigers; he brought many, many years of salmon experience to the game.