by dahlberg » Sat Mar 05, 2011 7:19 am
Hi Roma
It's hard for me to determine what to tell you since I can't observe you in action.
I suspect it's not as much a how you are working a structure as it is how you are working your lures or perhaps the structure you are choosing to fish.
First define the structure. Where does it begin, and where does it end. Second where is the best cover on the structure.
Third, there are few if any fixed rules, the fish are where they are, not where you wish them to be.
The key is having an efficient and non-superstitious approach, plus keeping careful mental track of what's going on around you.
Develop, and rely on your instincts. I have been catching muskies since I was 9 years old. I caught a dozen that year. In the early seventies while working 72 hours per week and only fishing on weekends I averaged 1.75 legal fish per day.
My best day ever was 18 legals. Why am I telling you that? Because even with 50+ years and thousands of fish under my belt I cannot think of one absolute guideline when it comes to muskies, other than the fish are where the fish are where the fish are where the fish are...
They are always in the very good place to find dinner, and often it's more effective to visually find the buffet before you start winging lures. On some bodies of water you might find muskies sunning on top of a rock pile or on sand in the middle of July. In other places they might be tucked in tight under a bed of weeds.
As an angler the challenge and fun is developing your mechanical, strategic and tactical skills in such a way you can fish with confidence anywhere you go.
In most bodies of water, the prime lies hold the most and biggest fish. BUt, just because they see a lure does not mean they are going to bite it, especially in hard fished water.
As a guide I learned early on that you have to check everything and became pretty good at instinctively knowing where
they "had to be". Over the years it's become very clear to me that if you can toss them something they've not seen and make it react as though it is afraid of being eaten it is likely to get eaten. I've also learned that if rigged properly and presented in the right way that regardless of time of year there is simply no substitute for good live bait. About 10-12 years back, beginning the week after opener and ending sometime in October I experimented with live bait and saltwater rigging methods.
I fished a total of 13 times, many of them half days, and boated 48 muskies, a half dozen of which were over 50" and none were under 40" and all out of water that's heavily fished.
Learning to catch muskies or any other species consistently is not like learning a song off a piece of sheet music. It's more like jamming to a chord progression being played by the Orchestra of Nature! You gotta listen closely, know your chops and get in the groove!
Cast farther, reel faster, and get up earlier!
best
L
Larry Dahlberg
The Hunt For Big Fish