# CC 6/20 Finally a musky



## Troy Dave (Jan 26, 2007)

After 4 years, success at last. Took a sick day. Started at the north end this morning and worked our way up to where the creek splits. First time we had tried up there in three years. Water temp was 67 and pretty dirty but flowing nice. We loaded back up and went down to the furnas ramp. Water temp there was 10 degrees warmer and a lot cleaner. Fished around the island and up the cove to the west of the ramp. I had been throwing a large bass spinner bait most of the day since it seems like the bass guys are always catching musky. My buddy had tried top water, shallow cranks and some jerk baits. All for naught. By then it was about 2pm and we almost quit, but decided to try one more cove for another hour. He put on a deeper running crank and I put on and Vibrations eco tail to vertical jig. Low and behold in the last half hour I had one slam my bait and he had one follow his bait in and hit on second half of the figure eight. One fish was 26" and the other was 27". Hope we don't have to wait 4 more years for our next fish.


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## undertaker (Jan 20, 2013)

Congrats on your fish,


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## Lazy 8 (May 21, 2010)

The Muskie God's were smiling on you!?


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## A-5 (Apr 9, 2017)

Congratulations


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## Legend killer (Apr 20, 2011)

So 77 degree water. Were you guys throwing bass gear and playing out the fish? Those dinks are the future of a fishery.


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## chris1162 (Mar 12, 2008)

Legend killer said:


> So 77 degree water. Were you guys throwing bass gear and playing out the fish? Those dinks are the future of a fishery.


You come and cry on every musky thread?


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## MuskyFan (Sep 21, 2016)

Legend killer said:


> So 77 degree water. Were you guys throwing bass gear and playing out the fish? Those dinks are the future of a fishery.


What's wrong with 77 deg temps? I'll be fishing for them when it's a lot warmer than that.


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## RickH (Jul 30, 2011)

Targeting bass and got 2 muskies today both 35 + inches and 10 pounds each. Had another strike and get off about the same size. Great fight but I'd rather not catch them to be honest. Catch and release just knowing they seem to be a fragile fish we always pretty much fight them to wear them down a little and try not to remove them from the water to unhook and release them in most cases tricky but seems to work. Though todays catch we wanted to weigh and measure them.


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## BaddFish (Jun 20, 2009)

Higher Water Temps (78+) = High Mortality rate for Muskie because of the low oxygen content in water, their system basically can go into cardiac arrest especially when combined with longer fights. There are others that have more accurate,technical reasons, not telling you not to fish just making you aware... best thing to do in warmer temps is to get the fish in quick and keep it in the net/water while taking hook out. Tight Lines.


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## Legend killer (Apr 20, 2011)

MuskyFan said:


> What's wrong with 77 deg temps? I'll be fishing for them when it's a lot warmer than that.


I guess you didn't read the part about playing the fish out on bass gear....


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## MuskyFan (Sep 21, 2016)

They didn't say they were using "bass gear", just bass lures. More people are catching them on smaller lures than the big stuff. I always have a couple lighter rods rigged with lighter lures for that reason.


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## RickH (Jul 30, 2011)




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## Troy Dave (Jan 26, 2007)

Legend killer said:


> So 77 degree water. Were you guys throwing bass gear and playing out the fish? Those dinks are the future of a fishery.


I said I was throwing a bass bait, not bass gear. And if you read the post, the two we caught were on musky baits.


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## Legend killer (Apr 20, 2011)

Troy Dave said:


> I said I was throwing a bass bait, not bass gear. And if you read the post, the two we caught were on musky baits.


I'm sorry. What gear were you using?


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## crittergitter (Jun 9, 2005)

Don't pay much attention to LK. His people skills are about the same as trying to hug a porcupine.


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## TopRaider15 (Mar 10, 2015)

Here's what I think, if anyone cares. LK is being a bit abrasive, isn't right isn't wrong. I typically dont target musky on a particular body of water once the water gets to 81, this is mainly due to the work of projectnoblebeast.blogspot.com or google it. Also why I seek out rivers in the summer, less drastic temp swings and running water keeps it cool. Also less dependent on fronts, because summer weather patterns can be pretty flat. Havent been out as much as I'd like this year on the rivers/creeks but also have stayed away from local res either due to algae bloom or warm water.

Either way no matter what time of year or body of water I try to keep the fight short, dont want to lose tension on the monster and like to get the little guys in and out. Stocking Musky is our future in OH, I advocate stocking waters that lead to their native watershed (OH river and Great Lakes) because the survival rate would be much higher after angler contact. We have a long way to go in terms of keeping our waterways (reservoirs and rivers) clean, but the moderate temperature and somewhat limited access to our rivers is a win-win for the musky, and programs that stock the native watershed. 

End of the day, we all love the fish, try to be stewards of the land and have different views; but can all agree that increased stocking efforts, awareness and spawning habitat preservation/watershed restoration will go a long way.

Thanks and long live the ski'


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## cincinnati (May 24, 2004)

Holy cr*p! They lowered the safe water temperature again? What happened to 80 degrees? Think I'll just leave my boat in Wisconsin....


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## Troy Dave (Jan 26, 2007)

Took another sick day yesterday. Caught a 2 footer, a 31", lost what looked to be close to 36", had another small one follow and my buddy had a small one smack his bucktail. Not sure why after 4 years of no fish we are getting all this action, but it is nice.


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## MuskyFan (Sep 21, 2016)

No doubt, Troy. We've been blanked from Oct till now. The fish are on fire. Lost 3 yesterday. The first was a brute that ran me into the outboard when I reached for the net (fishing by myself). The next one got to the boat but pulled off (poor hookset). The third hit at the boat on about 3' of line, went straight to the bottom and popped off. All in about 3 hours.

Nothing was moving until a big storm rolled over. The they were porpoising before they turned on.


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