# The Big Musky Buzz



## jshbuckeye (Feb 27, 2005)

I am fairly new to the sport of Musky Hunting and this site for that matter. So someone correct me if im wrong but it seems like the Musky is becoming a very targetted fish as of recent. I read a thread where people were ripped up one side and down another for keeping nice fish...(is it possible)sarcasm. I read lots of info on how where what when, lots of good information on how to try to get them to the boat. Not very often do you see something showing the handleing techniques, releaseing techniques, and or why its not such a good idea to fish for them when the water temps hit upper 70s and into the 80s and if you do why you should make sure your equipment is meant to handle them as quickly and efficiently as possible. I have some books on this but I would be forever and a day getting it all typed and posted on here. If there is a link to a site maybe someone could post it and it could be made to stick to this site. One final question if saugeye are stocked for fisherman to catch and eat and then restocked to do it all over again year after year at what size does someone say ok this Musky is going on the wall they are also a stocked fish they do not reproduce so no matter the size it is not a breeder. I personally would do a replica. Good luck to all you Musky addicts
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Fix ps3


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## Weatherby (May 27, 2005)

Almost all muskie anglers hold 50" as a standard for having a replica made. There are a few places that even have a size limit of 54".

Handling muskies is easy if you have the proper equipment and are careful so there is no injury to the fish or yourself.

Once the fish is in the net, leave it there. All the work can be done in the net (once again if you have the proper equipment) such as removing the lure, or cutting the hooks if necessary. Once the hooks are out and the lure is safely out of the way, make sure you have the next set of tools ready (measuring tools if taking measurements) (camera if taking a pic) measurements can be done with the fish still in the net. If the camera is ready assuming more than 1 person is in the boat it is time to carefully lift the fish out of the net making sure you support the full weight of the fish. Click, click and back in the water. Your all done. Make sure the fish is active and release.


When a muskie is caught it puts ALOT of stress on the fish which is why we try to make the fight, stay in the net, and picture time as short as possible. When the water temps creep into the 80's it puts extra stress on the fish because they can't "catch their breath" because of the lack of oxygen in the warmer water causing a higher mortality rate.

Comparing saugeye to muskie is like comparing apples to oranges. A saugeye can reach "eating" size in 2 years or less. It might take a muskie 10 years or more to reach trophy size.


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## leckig (May 11, 2005)

thats great that musky people treat their game with such a respect! poor saugeyes, they dont have many friends


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## jshbuckeye (Feb 27, 2005)

sounds reasonable i had my mark at 48 for an ohio musky another 2 inches will be impressive though 
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Yamaha Vino 125


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## FutureClassicChamp (Jan 16, 2006)

great post weatherby. its very important to protect these great fish and make sure they are returned to the water safely. i believe i heard from bob mehsikomer that on average, from birth, itll take a ski around 15-18 years to reach the 50" mark. 

and to answer your question buckeye....it probably wasnt sarcasm. people take catch and release of these fish very seriously, especially in the main musky states (wi & mn) and canada. i guess you can put me into that group too. ive been known to go off on people for keeping fish LOL. but it is their right.


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## crittergitter (Jun 9, 2005)

I am all for not keeping muskis unless it's a trophy, but I have sometimes wondered if there is a law of diminishing returns to consider. For example, if you catch a 55" muskie in nearly any lake, what are the odds someone could get it to chomp again in the future? What are the odds it won't just die of old age in a couple months? What about a 56" muskie or a 57" muskie or a 60" muskie? When do you draw the line and say, that one aint gonna get any bigger and it aint gonna live much longer either? A guy could catch the world record muskie and be condemned for keeping it. That guy won't likely ever be me, but if I were so blessed then I would be sure to explain how one of the hooks cut open his gills and he was bleeding all over so I "had" to keep it! Now, don't get me wrong it does really irk me when people keep sub 40" fish, but anything over that doesn't bother me.

CG


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## lazy (Apr 10, 2004)

The difference between having a replica made or killing and mounting a fish is that the mounted fish will never provide anyone with the thrill of catching it again. The options look pretty simple to me.

Dallas


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## jshbuckeye (Feb 27, 2005)

FutureClassicChampion the (is it possible) was the sarcasm or I may of misunderstood your post concerning mine. Eather way I take catch and release seriously also.Lets get to a fun topic and that is how many are new to the sport of Musky hunting i broached the subject but guess i didnt ask it as a question. So who is new to it within 2 yrs like me and what was it that peeked your interest?
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Digital Vaporizer


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## jshbuckeye (Feb 27, 2005)

Buddy of mine invited me one day to go to Salt Fork he said i got the first rip I new what he meant by rip when i herd the reel go off it was a rush and a half but that was only half of it when He swam off that was a charge and i new i wanted more. Its better then flopping the nuts in a texas hold em game and sucking 2 other players along with ya.His wife apologized to mine for what he had done to me that day and i gave him a hand shake and a thanks we going agin next week
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THE CIGAR BOSS


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## awfootball (Aug 10, 2005)

i am pretty new to muskie fishing but i am all for not keeping any fish unless its gonna go for a record and i plan on doing this the rest of my life i throw everything i catch back for somone else to have the thrill of catching


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## big_b16 (Oct 17, 2004)

To add to Weatherby's post, when the fish is in the net waiting for a camera or something try and keep it right side up. Not sure where I got that tidbit but the last one I had started rolling and I put it back up, released about 15 seconds later and after only a couple chugs of the tail she splashed me to say thanks.
To the original (second) question...I started fishing muskies again the year before last. I had when I was a kid but started working away from muskie country and never had a chance to fish much. Now that I'm here, I was re-acquainted with the old slimer.


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## crawdiddy (Apr 10, 2006)

I rescued a muskie last year down below the alum dam. It was a rainy april friday evening and no one but me was there. THe water was maybe 3" or so over the walkway. A musky maybe 32" was on the land side of the walkway in the rocks upside down. Not enough room to swim around. I grabbed it and moved it over to the other side of the walkway held it upright and facing upstream to get some water flowing in it and after about 10 seconds it bolted. I think it would have died otherwise as it was getting dark. So yeah right side up = good. I'm guessing it got flushed through the outlet and was stunned and maybe banged up.


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## esoxhunter (Apr 7, 2004)

I wanted to address the original question on this thread. Musky fishing does seem to be gaining in popularity the last couple years. I would have to guess that a lot of fisherman are just like me and got tired of catching 15" fish. 
I wanted to catch the king of fresh water (sorry flathead guys) and I did. Now its all I do. Life is too short to fish for bass


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## Tusc.RiverRafter05 (Mar 22, 2005)

"Life is too short to fish for bass." haha I like that

Now that we seem to be on a thread about reviving muskie, here is a trick I learned from some guys out at Leesville. If you have released a muskie and you see that he goes belly up only a few minutes later, many people assume that the fish is basically dead from too much stress. But usually the muskie has too much air in its air bladder, and it needs help getting back down to where it wants to be. To get the excess air out, I usually start pushing at the fish's belly and push my fingers up until I reach it's throat. I keep "massaging" the muskie like that for a while until I either see an air bubble pop out of its mouth, or the fish is lively enough to swim into deeper water.

Maybe everyone already knew that trick, but to anyone who didn't, now maybe you are more likely to release that muskie alive. I remember trolling around Leesville last summer and seeing 10 or 11 dead muskie floating at the surface in one weekend. It was pretty disgusting.


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## jshbuckeye (Feb 27, 2005)

Excelent never heard of that i also heard if you catch the fish in 30 to 40 feet of water even though it was suspended at 17 to 22 foot this time of year it helps if you take it to like 11 to 15 ft of water to release it keeps it from diving to fast. Also Muskie Inc. is all about catch and release.
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PORNO


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## crawdiddy (Apr 10, 2006)

if I was dedicated I'd be leaving right now for alum. Actually I'd be there right now fishing


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## jshbuckeye (Feb 27, 2005)

well ceawdiddy i left at 4:30 fished till 11 didnt touch a fish heard of a guy that did really well though ill be out again this week now its personal
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FFM PORN


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## crawdiddy (Apr 10, 2006)

let me know if you want a partner in crime-pm me. I'll be there at 4:30 am sharp! I can fish any time.


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