Landing The Musky

By: Chris Erwin


I have been thinking about writing this article for a while. They are more than one point of view on this subject. I am going to give you mine. You may express your views on the message board if you would like to share your own experience in this area.

To try to make a little better sense of this subject I will try to break it down so it's a little easier to understand for the anglers that are trying to learn this fish.

In most but not all cases the act of catching a fish has a few facts that need to be visited to understand what is going on as far as the fish is concerned..

When you hook a fish usually what happens is the fish gets excited and starts to struggle.. As he does he starts to deplete the oxygen in his system.. In the excited state he looses his ability to remove oxygen from the water.. So as he tires.. He is also starting to suffocate.. In most fish this quickly renders them powerless as you bring them to the boat.. Of course, the bigger the fish the longer this process may take.
Ok.. Let's look at the muskie for a minute.. You can try to play this fish as you do any other.. If you do.. You need heavy line 40 to 80 lbs test or higher.. You need to use a back up line and large spools not to mention heavy leaders.. Because, you are in a battle with a fish that can break almost any fishing line. You're trying to muscle down a fish as you would a crappie. I can tell you that most guides do use this method and they have good reason.. You crawl in his boat.. It's his job to help you get a muskie to the boat.. He knows if he can get a fish to strike your line, you will have a better chance of landing it if you are packing a lot of muscle not knowing your skill level, it's his best bet to get his job done..

The draw back of this method is fish pulling out.. and fish just not hitting your lure. Instead they just may be trailing and not striking.. This happens in clear water a lot. Another thing that happens when you throw the really heavy stuff is you limit yourself to mostly very large lures.. Try to throw a 3/8 oz bait on 80 lb line.. I know some of you are saying well.. Why.. would I be throwing a 3/8 oz lure.. OK.. I am going to tell you.

They are two periods in the course of the year when I have found that smaller lures Catch more musky that larger baits.. One is a little before the bass spawn.. This is the time when you hear a lot of people saying they have been catching musky on baits like a Rattle Trap. The other time when smaller baits seem to catch fish is just when the musky return to the shallows after the summer hot water starts to cool.. At these two times of the year.. "True Bloods" will stay with their big plugs and heavy lines but I can tell you that down sizing and using lighter lines will produce more strikes during this period. So the question of how do you land a big fish on lighter tackle.. Say.. 20 lb or even 17 in some cases becomes something that I feel is worth knowing.

Before I go any father here, I need to say something.. I am not telling you to sell your heavy gear… If your ok with what you're using that's fine.. The material we are going to cover works fine with heavy tackle.. I'm not knocking anyone that uses the methods I have described here.. I'm just telling you.. You do have some choices And they can be very effective.. If you have followed my fishing reports this summer you know that I made about 15 trips to Cave Run, you also know that about half of the trips were when the water was over 78 degrees (when musky are in deep water) I caught and released 7 keepers, the largest being 41"and I lost 3 fish at the boat. Two of them were from my resistance to use leaders and they simply bit the line into with no pressure on them. One fish pulled out.. I never had one fish break the line when I had pressure on him.. I have caught a lot of fish in the 45" class and 2 over 50 in my life time all on 20 lb line.. I'm telling you this to let you know that you can be very effective using med heavy gear if you use some of the tips that I'm going to tell you.

Earlier we talked about what a fish does when he's hooked.. Now I would like to tell you a little about what happens to us when we hook a fish.. During the time when I was guiding I had more fun watching guys hook their first musky than I did hooking them myself. I have had guys shake like a snake bitten chicken.. I even had one guy have a low blood sugar reaction from all the adrenalin.. turning pale and getting so weak he had to sit down.. LOL.. The point is, Just like hunters suffering from buck fever fishermen do get excited and when they do, the natural reaction is to put a lot of pressure on the fish.. I have seen guys bend the reel handle from wrenching so hard.. Most guys get over this reaction after loosing a few fish..

If you want to improve you chances of landing this fish here are a few more tips that can keep that fish on the line..

When a musky takes the lure, set the hook hard, but then back off.. bow to the fish and stop reeling.. Keep your rod tip up .. Now just hold on keep your drag soft enough so that the fish can take line as he surges.. You can even hit the trolling To move you in the direction of the fish.. Once you back off the pressure you will notice that the fish will also calm down.. This is the big difference between a musky and most other fish. When you stop fighting him, he will calm down and just start swimming. Keeping a tight line, this is when you can start leading him..

In studies of musky behavior they noticed that when a musky took a fish that was too large to ingest in one gulp.. A musky would swim around with the pray sticking out of their mouth till they could manage to sallow the prey.. many anglers have reported that a musky was just holding on to a spinnerbait or some other plug only to open their mouth and watch it fall out when they got close to the boat..

My point is unless you put a lot of pressure on this fish you can swim him back to the boat.. This does two things, one you're not suffocating him so you are reducing the stress, giving him a better chance to be released unharmed. Secondly you get control of the situation and can keep him moving in the direction that is the most open.

When you swim him to the boat and you are lucky enough to have a net man.. They are a few little things that will help your success.. One.. don't let your net man put the net in the water until just before you have him in position.. You need to swim him up to the top of the water and down towards your net man.. Your net man needs to dip the fish "head first" in one movement.. Then you need to help by holding you rod up and supporting the rim of the net as he swings it in the boat.. This fish is going to be green.. not wore out and half suffocated so it's important to get him out of the net quickly.. This is why I use a Boga grip.. Little warning here.. You can land a small musky or a bass with a Boga grip type of tool.. but if you try to land a large musky with this tool your going to get a surprise. He will twist it out of your hand.. break it or worse.. This is a lifting device not a landing tool.. It's a great tool for holding the fish for a few pictures and releasing the fish while keeping your fingers out of his mouth & gills.

If you are alone you can still use the "swim in method" you just need to have your net where you can handle it.. If you use a slide out handle have it ready. When the fish is in the net lay your rod down and use two hands to lift the fish in.. do the move as quick and smooth as possible.. A green musky in a net, still in the water, can be a disaster..

Ok there you have it.. The swim in method.. You don't have to use it but I can tell you it will get more fish to the boat. Most of the musky I release fire out of my hands and need very little pumping to recover. I do try to have the bottom of my boat clean and clear of boxes and tackle so if the fish goes into a fit he doesn't hurt himself or me..

This method takes a calm head, you must stay in control, but I promise you if you stop fighting him, he will stop fighting you, and then you can start the swim in.. It's no less exciting but in my opinion it will add some new tricks to your game.

Good fishing
Chris Erwin
KentuckyAngling