Lamoka Musky??

[Guppy35]

My brother and i got out on Lamoka a few days ago and although we were fishing for bass, we had a few nice sized musky follow our lures right up to the boat. First one scared me half to death because i wasn't expecting a fish that big to be following my rapala Anyways it got us really excited about a second trip there, this time targeting musky. The problem is neither of us have ever fished for musky before. Any tips on how to catch musky would be greatly appreciated!!!

Thanks

[NitroMusky]

congrats! you're half way there already...just finding them is a trick unto itself. Next thing to do is wait until June 20th- opening day How big were the fish you saw? sounds like pretty good ones, but then again almost anything would seem big when you're expecting a bass

Now, keep in mind that you've asked the age old question which many people spend their whole life trying to figure out, and the more one learns about muskie the more one realizes that there is no 'right' way.

that said, here are a couple tips for that particlar situation: when you see a follow (heres where it gets tricky), rather than crap yourself you need to A) speed up the retrieve- like a normal baitfish would when being persued, muskies dont have brakes either, they'll often keep going right on past. B) when the lure gets boatside move your rod tip toward the water and in a natural motion (with a foot of line out), plunge your rod tip a foot or two below the water and with the lure making a sweeping turn to the side, start doing figure 8s with the bait. muskie often cant resist an easy meal 'trapped against the boat'. I've heard of muskies that will sit there for 20 '8's' before biting, so be patient. also, just keep throwing different types of lures and colors once you locate one. as I said, muskies don't read their own rulebook.

next time you're out, up the size of your baits...muskies may be curious at times, but they do seem to care about the 'return on investment' meaning they would rather eat fewer large prey rather than a lot of small ones. curiousity got them to follow but a 'worthy meal' is more likely to get a strike. Rollie and Helen's Muskie Shop is the best place online to see what they look like and see if anything that you have in the box could be considered muskie sized. the largest sized husky jerks or jointed could get you by in a pinch.

you probably want at least 1 muskie sized inline spinner, a jerkbait and deep diver, if the bug hasn't hit you to buy all the gear you can get your hands on...muskie is quite an addition

[Missdemeanor]

Well said nitro...Actually that is a perfect post. If you do happen to land one of these fish, be careful with them. Muskies are very susceptible to stress. All the muskies I have caught, I leave them in the net overboard, remove the hook, or use wire cutter to cut the hooks if they are deep. I then hold the fish up for a quick picture. I hold the fish by the tail in the water till she kicks free. A little anal about killing those fish because they are so rare....Good luck and make sure you post up a pic if you get one....

[Guppy35]

Nitro, the 3 musky we had come right up to the boat were probably between 36''-40'' which i know isn't huge for a musky but it sure got me excited, i've never caught one before.

[fishman31]

May not be huge but any musky is a good musky to me. I have been waiting for years to catch another and next time I hope to land it.

GOOD LUCK