Figure 8 Insights – Extra Aggressive Musky GIF – Prof Went Musky Fishing
Be the FIRST to see Musky Insider every week by signing up for the email version of this newsletter. It's 100% free and we will never sell your email address! Click here to sign up and never miss another issue.
Video of the Year???
Purely from an entertainment standpoint, this is one of the better musky videos we've seen in a while:
Super hilarious, and bonus points if you're a fan of PROF and his music.
We love seeing people excited about catching their first muskies and Prof was at a John Gillespie level of excitement with some slightly different catch phrases, ie. “JAAAAA Ruuuule!!” and “Darryl Strawberry!!”
There were plenty of good one-liners, but one of our favorites was from PROF's buddy Albert asking, "Should I swirl, too?" when PROF was working a 'skie at the side of the boat. 😂
The intensity was high and there were some very “creative” figure-8s going on with some extra spiced-up muskies. Props to Joe Cooper on coaching and guiding these guys to multiple skies. 💪
Speaking of exciting boatside action....
EXTRA Souped-Up 'skie
Muskies are usually quite difficult to catch.
But every once in a while, you run into one that INSISTS on taking a tour of the inside of your net – like this extra-hungry 'skie from Seth DeVos:
It's not too often you get that many chances at a 50-inch 'skie!
Crazy footage and congrats to Seth on eventually getting her in the net.
As you just witnessed, sometimes muskies can be very aggressive and they're going to eat no matter what technique you choose in the figure 8.
If you musky fish long enough, you're eventually going to catch one at the side of the boat, regardless of how good your technique is.
And for most folks, whichever technique they utilized – good or bad – when they caught their first musky is the way they figure 8 for the rest of their life. 😬
"It worked, so it can't be wrong, right??"
Once they catch a handful more, they become experts and start writing articles, shooting videos, and telling other people how to do it, not realizing they make a ton of mistakes themselves. 😂 Truth be told, they are only catching the muskies that are aggressive enough to eat their subpar figure-8s.
Sorry, I'll get off my soapbox now! 😂 Let's dig into some boatside tips that will help you put a few more muskies in the bag....
"The Hang"
Is "hanging it" on the turns costing you fish?
Maybe.
It's one of the Golden Rules of figure 8-ing, that isn't truly a "rule" if you actually understand when/why you should do it.
MN musky guide Josh Borovsky started an interesting dialogue on social media this week discussing the topic:
Also gotta give props to Taylor Hamel (pictured above) on becoming the poster child for our Figure-8 Wizardry virtual course.
His boatside catch-rate has gone WAY up since taking the course, and he's been sending us tons of photos, including this 51.5 incher that came on the 8:
But let's get back to "the hang" – here's Josh's take:
"In my opinion, I see way too much emphasis being put on hanging your lure in the turns. I see many-a-fish not get caught in my boat every year because people are hanging it way too often and/or on every turn. The emphasis should be put on what happens before you hang it.
"For me, hanging it in the turn isn’t something I do to 'trigger' fish. It’s what I do when I know I have them where I want them, and it’s more of a posturing up to set the hook (sometimes that’s on the first turn, and sometimes it’s much later in the game)."
Fellow figure-8 aficionado Brad Nelson also chimed in on the discussion:
"It's all about 'reading the fish' and what cues they give you on the things you do that either get them going, or turn them off. Our recent LOTW trip, the fish did not want a slow hang, they wanted it fast with a long straight away.
"Sometimes you can go too fast and sometimes you can go too slow, it all comes back to reading each individual fish and how they respond to the things we do with the bait."
Here’s a pic of a 53.5 incher Brad recently popped in the 8:
S'more thoughts from Josh:
"If you figure-8 the same way every time, it’s costing you a lot of fish. And sometimes there can be weird idiosyncrasies on different bodies of water or during certain times of year.
"But if you are less experienced and want a simplified version: If the musky likes what you are doing, give it more! If it doesn’t, adapt and overcome."
Something to think about before your next boatside encounter!
Btw, if you're looking to up your figure-8 game, our online class is loaded with helpful info/frameworks for catching more 'skies at the side of the boat.
We break down many figure-8 scenarios, including how to work different baits in different situations. Deep vs. shallow water and daytime vs. night are a few factors worth considering.
This Week's Mashup:
Mashup time!
#1 – Really cool split-level shot from Sam Scott, plus this little nugget:
"Fun fact about this fish, I had actually caught her 3 years prior and implanted a PIT tag in her. During that time she traveled 40 miles down the river and grew 5 inches!"
#2 – Anyone else see the northern lights this past weekend?? It's somewhat rare to see them in our neck of the woods, but our friends at Agency Bay Lodge snapped some A+ pics while the light-show was in a town:
#3 – Musky Innovations released some fresh "sticks", their new Pro Elite Series Telescoping Bull Dawg Rods. The rods have strong, lightweight blanks that come in 8’6” to 9' 6" lengths with powers ranging from Heavy all the way up to XXXH.
Plus it comes with the Outdoor Grips Revolution Reel Seat that allows you to use interchangeable handles or a seat cap. You can click here for s'more deets.
#4 – Killer shot from outdoor photographer John Fallon, featuring a big Bull Dawg and a hungry muskellunge! 😍
#5 – Let's wrap up this mashup with some memery:
QUICK HITTERS:
– River float musky action w/ Todays Angler (video)
– Taylor Flannery on Back Lash Podcast (link)
– Summer tigers in northern WI w/ Matt Vavroch (video)
– "Killer Cold Front Tactic" w/ Joe Bucher (video)
– Topwater musky fishing w/ Smith’s Fishing (video)
THIS WEEK'S MONSTER MUSKIES:
Huge props to Kyle Jones on popping this big 51.5 inch Ohio bruiser on a Llungen .22 Short SS crankbait.
Unfortunately, not the best hold or handling on this pork-bellied beauty, but salmon guys probably aren’t used to dealing with muskies, especially a fish of this caliber. We still wanted to give her some love in the newsletter. The sumo-sized gut is absolutely insane 👀
Lovin' this photo from Troy White and his son – it's always great seeing kiddos experience musky action up-close-and-personal!
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. 🤙
Want to see more from Musky Insider? Make sure to follow us on Facebook and Instagram for bonus content throughout the week!
Send all business inquiries to josh@muskyinsider.com