# Muskie Help



## MuskieWolverine (May 16, 2012)

I just spent the last week in Minnesota, fishing Cass Lake. Came back, and wow has the water heated up!

Picked up a few 30 inch muskies at Salt Fork tonight, but it took awhile.

This will be my first full summer of muskie fishing so I have two questions:

1. As the water heats up, where should I be looking for fish? What depth should I keep my lures? (trolling tuff shad and little ernie's)

2. Should I spend time casting? Or just troll?

3. If I troll spinners or bucks, how do you keep them down to depth?

Thanks!


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## Ol'Bassman (Sep 9, 2008)

Okay I'll take a shot at this one!

1) When the water temps hits 80 degrees, stop fishing for muskies because the stress will kill them. I'm not going to boar you with the science but warm water does not hold as much oxygen as cold water and muskies need higher oxygen levels than water over 80 degrees can hold. After putting up a big fight, they will suffocate in warm water 80 degrees and above. 

Learn how to catch and release the fish so that its stress time is minimized as much as possible. Be prepared to net, unhook the bait (longnosed pliers, jaw spreaders, protective glove, bolt cutters, etc. are tools you should have handy), put out the bump board and set up your camera before you put a bait in the water.

2) Depends on the lake and the conditions but I like do a combination of both casting and trolling. I also troll from casting place to casting place. 

3) Buy 4 oz trolling sinks and put them ahead of a 30" to 4' 130 lb florocarbon leader. Trolling speeds vary but most trollers troll between 3 and 5.5 mph.


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## Legend killer (Apr 20, 2011)

Do not do it.


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## Burks (Jun 22, 2011)

Ol'Bassman said:


> Okay I'll take a shot at this one!
> 
> 1) When the water temps hits 80 degrees, stop fishing for muskies because the stress will kill them. I'm not going to boar you with the science but warm water does not hold as much oxygen as cold water and muskies need higher oxygen levels than water over 80 degrees can hold. After putting up a big fight, they will suffocate in warm water 80 degrees and above.
> 
> ...


Bingo. The biggest key to muskie fishing, IMO, is being well prepared on what to do AFTER you hook the fish. No use in fishing when you are killing each muskie you catch due to improper handling, unhooking, release, etc.


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