# Night Muskie Question



## triton175 (Feb 21, 2006)

I am going to try night fishing for muskie and would like advice on how to do it. What is best, casting or trolling, cranks or bucktails, near shore or deeper water? I've had the most luck during the day trolling bucktails near shore but I don't know if this holds true at night. It seems to me that I should use a lure that makes lots of noise as the fish will have a hard time seeing it at night. Thanks for any help.
Brian


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## Weatherby (May 27, 2005)

Nighttime muskie. I have one thing to say. TOPWATER.


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## FutureClassicChamp (Jan 16, 2006)

yes...topwaters! and spinnerbaits with big colorado blades. this may sound odd to you, but throw nothing but black.


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## Weatherby (May 27, 2005)

Yes its true and hard to believe but black is one of the best colors for night fishing.


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## River Dweller20 (May 24, 2005)

Well, using black for night fishing makes sense. When it's dark out, their prey is going to look dark themselves. Some bright, glow in the dark type lure probably wouldn't look too natural. Isn't it the same principal for muddy/stained water, dark water dark bait?


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## FutureClassicChamp (Jan 16, 2006)

its because of the silhouquette it casts against the night sky.


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## DanAdelman (Sep 19, 2005)

i have never targeted muskies but i was thinking about using a giant jitterbug...I already bought it and it has a black top yellow bottom will that work for night fishing...


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## davycrockett (Apr 9, 2005)

Dan, I own two musky 'bugs and have rarely thrown them. Not saying they wouldn't work , I just think they are built too light to hold muskie consistently. I wondered before about adding stronger hardware and bigger hooks. I don't know if it would kill the action though


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## Blue Pike (Apr 24, 2004)

Dan --- The Jitter Bug should work just fine. 

The colour black will give the lure a more visible profile. Makes it a little easer for the fish to see/hit.
With all of the sound and upset water that a Jitter Bug makes, a fish will find your lure.

I use a lot of Zara Spooks fishing for LM Bass at night. If I happen not to have a black one I'll use a black Magic Marker and make one black.

I too am a new Musky fisherman, never targeted them before this year.
Fished ClearFork a few weeks ago, had a Musky about 36" follow a Super Toprader. 
Don't know if this is a good lure or not, but it makes a lot of noise and is black. Thinking it would work well at night. ----- time will tell

Good Luck


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## Weatherby (May 27, 2005)

I agree the jitterbug is probably not the best choice for muskie. It may hold a small muskie but if one of the big girls gets ahold of it bye bye.

The super topraider is one of the best topwater baits made.


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## fffffish (Apr 6, 2004)

I have caught several muskie on the big jitter bugs at West Branch the biggest has only been a 38. I have not had any trouble with the hardware coming loose but if you are worried about it remove everything fill the holes with a good epoxy and screw everything back in before the epoxy sets up. Doing that seals the wood and keeps water from soaking in around the screws it also makes the wood stronger you should not have any problems after that. Just remember once a wooden lure gets water logged it will start to dry rot and get soft around the screws and then they will pull out.


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## Whaler (Nov 16, 2004)

A fellow Muskie fisherman that I once knew fished with his wife at night at West Branch. They got tired of putting up with the ski boats and jet skis. They did pretty good trolling . He passed away and that ended that !


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## DanAdelman (Sep 19, 2005)

i truely appreciate the advice from everyone i would hate to lose a big fish due to equipment failure....It is nice when other are helpfull...


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