musky help

[mike14837]

i would like to try and catch some musky on waneta and was wondering how to go about it, as in what types of lures work and when trolling what speeds work, do you use downrigger and what depth should i look for. any info would be great thanks

[zach]

sounds like they have been all over, all places in the lake- all depths- all speeds - differant lures. not trying to give u a hard time but from the people i have talked w/ it seems to be case right now. seems like the smaller lures are still getting hit. there are fish there, you just have to put some time in. from what i see the people there mostly troll, but there are other that cast the weeds. one thing i would recommend is heavy line, not only for the fish but also for those expensive lures. you may here about some people speed trolling 5-6mph- remember that only certain lures can do that and when you get ripped you need that heavier line and the drag set correct (strong enough to get the hooks through bone but still give some). good luck- and release them. its a small lake that gets pressure- so if you get lucky enough to bang one please consider letting 'er go.

p.s. floating weeds are your worst enemy trolling.

[georged]

We visited Waneta as Muskie rookies this year. We got 2 bites the first time trolling flatlines and landed a 30" fish. We trolled around 3MPH but some go faster 4-5 mph. One bit on an older rapala deep diving 3.5" crankbait and the other on a rapala super shad rap. Most of the fish we saw were deep so we brought the downriggers next time we also casted the shallower waters and got skunked. Next time out we landed a 32" fish 17' down in 29FOW. Tried trolling 2 more times and got skunked, but casted for a nice 18" smallmouth on a top water plug. Most of the fish we see on the fish finder are deeper but my friend who lives there catches them trolling flat lines regularly. Good Luck,

Georged

[NitroMusky]

you generally won't 'see' them on the finder in shallower water (or ones up high over deeper water) as they will move to the side as the boat goes by. that said, the surface temp went way up (about 10 degrees to 82) while we were there friday and with the continued high day and night temps this week the fish should be deeper over the coming weeks so I would skip the casting and go right to trolling the deeper water - like 20+...not that my numbers there this year are anything to brag about but...hope it helps...and make sure to try not to play out the fish-right in the net and quick pic (if you must) and be sure to revive the fish as those high temps will do a number on muskies. good luck!

[ Post made via Mobile Device ]

[solgrande]

i`ll have to go with nitro on this one.I would start shallower though,say 15`(early in am)with something like a shad rap in perch(can be bought locally @walmart/dicks or gander(5").If you can drop your rods in the water `cause of floating weeds.I`d try 1 back 30' and one back50 '(however i generally run 25-30'back with @least 1 rod depending on the lure!)as time goes by move out(28'neast side) set lines farther back say 75&90-100'.I have luck running 3-4.5mph(gps speed).If your marking fish cover that area and switchup if no takes(run shorter/longer/slower/fast-mix it up)and move on.figure 8 with your boat.Watchout turning with different line lengths out,it can create a mess!!Good med equip minimun and run a leader.Lastly....please practice catch&release(take a quick photo).It`s a fragile fishery,make sure the fish is able to swim away on its own b4 leaving area(sometimes it can take several minutes of assistance to achieve this).Good luck

Bob

[mike14837]

Thank alot guys for all the info and i definetly will practice catch and release i have 2 girls 11 and 7 that i have already preached the benefits of catch and release too. thanks again

[solgrande]

Awesome!!! anything else just ask,be glad to help.I want to get my niece out there...she`s 5 and said she wants to go catch a biggun.I was thinking age 6 or 7,we`ll see.May be kinda hard keeping her amused for a troll but that would be great to hookup.

Bob

[mike14837]

it is hard keepin them amused, my oldest will go out a couple of times and thats about it, now my youngest you can't go with out her, i bought her a little pink shakespear pole a year ago and she loves it, she'll spend hours throwing lures out and reeling them back in.

[zach]

that's what its all about! i can't wait. just make sure that hers is the only pink rod in the boat.

[mike14837]

LOL