Fall Tips – Muskies are Too Expensive – Big Fall 'skies
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Planer "Bobbers"
Have you ever tried using a planer board as a "bobber"??
Musky guide Steve Jonesi (one of our Insider PRO instructors) the Back Lash podcast this week, and the topic came up.
He talked about how using planer boards for suckers was an interesting tidbit he picked up from fishing with Steve "Herbie" Herbeck on Eagle Lake:
"The one thing this year – I'm going to let the cat out of the bag – was planer boards. Herbie uses a planer board on the off-side of the boat. We were fishing from 16-22 feet, zig-zagging, working the contour. Having that sucker on a planer board off the side was crucial. We caught 3 or 4 fish doing that.
"Depending on the spot, we had 20-25 feet of line out. You have a 1/2oz weight out in front of the sucker, not on the front of the rig. So he's almost free-swimming back there, 5-7 feet off the bottom."
Herbie has been known to utilize some really impressive, stealth rigs for suckers this time of year. I can only imagine how much of a hoot it was hanging out in the boat with both those guys.
Looks like Eagle Lake treated their crew well!
Suckering with boards isn't a new concept, btw.
Heck, there's an OutdoorFIRST forum post about it from back in 2004.
And James Lindner & Jeremy Smith did a show utilizing this strategy:
Just something to play around with next time you're soakin' a sucker this fall.
Muskies aren't for the Thin of Wallet
Have you ever noticed that musky fishing is REALLY expensive?? 😅😅
That's why this replica posted by Daniel Fetchak is so perfect:
Look closely.... 💵 💵 💵
But seriously, think about it.
LURES
If you're a walleye angler, you can pick up a 4 pack of jigs for $5-10 bucks. Bass folks are spending $5-6 bucks on a jig. Six bucks on a pack of plastics.
Musky lures run anywhere from $20 at the LOW end, all the way up to $300+.
TRAVEL
The average musky angler travels a LOT more than most folks.
Fisheries departments and groups are generally pretty good about getting muskies stocked all over the Midwest. But still, many musky obsessed guys & gals don't have easy access to good musky fishing close to their homes.
Whether it's out of necessity or just for the fun of it, musky anglers spend a lot of time on the road and a lot of money on gas!
WEAR & TEAR
We're also WAY harder on our gear. Not gonna lie!
Raise your hand if you've ever had a broken trolling motor. 🙋♂️
Raise your hand if you actually have an EXTRA trolling motor in the back of your truck just in case! 🙋♂️
Stuff can break any month of the year, but super cold, late fall conditions always seem to wreak havoc at the most inopportune times! 🤮 And most folks you find on the lakes this time of year are chasing 'skies!
TOOLS, ETC.
Most bass/walleye anglers have a pair of scissors for cutting line and a pliers for unhooking fish. That's it!
We have hook picks, compound bolt cutters, jaw-spreaders, multiple different pliers, hook files, handling gloves, scissors, split ring pliers, etc. And of course we need a big giant expensive net!
CONSERVATION
We mentioned musky stocking earlier.... There's no doubt that pound-for-pound no group gives back to the fishery more than musky anglers. Truth is, it's a necessity if we want to continue having access to viable musky fisheries.
All these expenses $$ add up!
And we didn't even talk about the price of sucker minnows 😆
Musky GIFin'
Here's a few musky-themed GIFs we dug up that we think you're gonna dig:
First, we have this clip from @fishyaker featuring a musky tailin' a swimbait and taking a little nip. Really clear water, too, which makes this video cool.
Some days, catching a musky seems nearly impossible....
Other days, stuff like THIS happens:
Nice stroke of luck for Fish & Chirps! 😅
We can only imagine how folks who've tried and tried, but never caught a musky feel watching that clip.... #ouch
Okay, lets wrap up this section with one more action GIF!
This fly-muncher from Bobby Kish wouldn't go down without a fight:
Gotta love that ear-to-ear grin – that's what makes musky fishing so great!
This Week's Mashup:
Mashup time!
#1 – If you're a musky angler, you didn't see anything on Halloween that was nearly as scary as this sight #YouHateToSeeIt
Like MN Outdoor Adventures said: "You don't catch them all...."
#2 – Our buddies at Ezoko have a good stock of Supernaturals in stock right now, might be worth a peek!
Pictured below are a few examples of what you could grab now, from left to right: 8Five, Headlock, Liplock (yes, they have two of them in stock 👀), and Jointed Mattlock. And there's a lot more than that, click here to see what they have on the website.
#3 – THIS is what you love to see after a successful capture:
Big congrats to Brandon Johnson on bagging his first-ever musky, and sending her back to the resource. 💪
#4 – Not musky related, but the big news in the fishing world this week is Bassmaster erasing entry fees in the Elite Series.
From their website:
"Removing (the $45,000 entry fee) will purify the competitive landscape of the Elites and inspire all talented anglers, not just those with a bankroll, to fish on bass fishing’s biggest stage"
Safe to say, we'll never see anything like that in the musky fishing world 😅
QUICK HITTERS:
– Baitcaster reel maintenance tips (video) w/ Jeremy Smith
– Fall musky fishing (video) w/ Todays Angler
– Turnover musky tips (video) w/ Ben Stone
– How to attach a quick-strike rig to a sucker (video) w/ Steve Heiting
– How to run & tune a dive-and-rise bait (video) w/ Smiths Fishing
– Musky fishing after dark (video) w/ Angling Anarchy
THIS WEEK'S MONSTER MUSKIES:
What a great memory for Jordan Comstock and his pops. A flat calm day on the water, and a 52.75-incher in the boat!
45 inches of jungle 'skie! Not bad for @justinkuenzli's first-ever tiger 🐅
Props to Shawn McLaughlin for landing this impressive nighttime fall musky casting solo from shore!
Huge congrats to Jeff Basso on boating this 51 inch Georgian Bay bruiser fishin' with Reel Nauti Angling:
Wanna be featured in Musky Insider? Send in your recent trophy musky photos by replying to this email. You might just see your pic in next week's newsletter. 🤙
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