Figure 8 Tips - Crazy Stats - Angler's Summit News
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*Announcement*
We are planning to space out our issues a little more over the next month to give us additional time to prepare for a new season of Musky Insider PRO classes, Q&A’s, custom lures, and member discounts. Stay tuned!
Are You Making This Boatside Blunder?
There’s one particular blunder that’s hurtin’ a lot of folks’ figure 8’s these days. And once you know what it is and what to look for . . . It’s kinda crazy how often you’ll see it constantly popping up on YouTube and social media.
So as a PSA for those not yet “in the know” here’s a few figure 8 tips from Josh Borovsky that may help you out the next time a ‘skie pays you a visit boatside.
“A couple of the biggest mistakes I see on a consistent basis are related to leash length and where people are looking with their eyes when starting their 8’s.”
“There are different levels of skill to figure 8 technique that anglers must learn and master in sequential order. You can actually hurt yourself by trying advanced tactics when you aren't ready.”
(Tricky thing is most anglers think they are better than they really are.)
A good example is where you should focus your eyes when you're performing an 8.
From Josh: "Your leash length (length of line between your leader and rod tip) is one of the most important factors to doing a good figure-8. You can do everything else PERFECTLY and still won't catch the fish if your leash is too long.
But if your leash is perfect (nice and short), you can often times get away with making some mistakes on other things and still have a shot at catching that fish."
Note: There are a few leash length exceptions for specific baits and situations.
"When I teach new people to figure-8, I train them to keep their eyes focused on the leash as they sweep their bait along the side the boat before doing their first big turn away from the boat.
It’s an opportunity to monitor your leash, see where it’s at, and shorten or correct it if necessary before you turn it away. That's also the point at which poor leash management will start to hurt you."
So that's level #1.
Most people think they are beyond that level, but I can't tell you how many videos we've watched of guys running leashes that are WAY too long.
Once you can get your leash perfect 100% of the time WITHOUT LOOKING (and you need to be honest with yourself), you can graduate to the next level....
"Watch 6-10 feet behind your bait (if the fish is closer, you won't miss them), but as your bait approaches the boat, at some point (based on water clarity, sunlight, polarized glasses, etc.), you will be able to see your bait as well as the water around and below it really well. In moderately clear water, that might be 10 feet from the boat.
"Once the bait passes through that window of water, I keep my eyes fixed there while sweeping my bait alongside the boat and turning it away. I don't shift my eyes back to the bait until it's coming out of the first turn.
By watching the 'back door', you will start seeing a lot more muskies coming in late.
Not all of those will be catchable, but some of them will be.
Seeing them at the back door versus later in your technique (or not at all) is important, because it's the first cue that you likely need to alter/adjust your technique to catch it. If you don't, you could end up watching a fish you could have caught head for the exits.
The big key here... If you're watching the back door before you've mastered blind leash control, your leash length will likely suffer mightily and you will see more fish but catch less of them."
At the end of the day, don't sacrifice a good leash and proper mechanics for ANYTHING - master the basics before you jump to any advanced concepts.
Naturally, this is just scratching the surface of boatside musky techniques and theory. If you want the FULL deep dive, check out Josh's virtual class: "Closing the Deal" Figure-8 Wizardry."
MN-FISH Angler’s Summit News
The MN-FISH Sportfishing Foundation & Coalition held its Angler Summit this week.
We were hoping to have boots on the ground at this event but it conflicted with our Musky Insider PRO class with Chris Willen (which was awesome by the way).
Thankfully, Devoted Outdoors streamed the meeting live on their Facebook page and the recording is available right here. While the summit was intended for anglers of all species, there was definitely a strong representation of musky sticks in the house which was evident viewing the Forward Facing Sonar (FFS) and Musky Management sections of the meeting.
Here’s a few key takeaways . . .
It appears as though there is growing concern about how FFS is impacting the resource coming from bass, walleye, and panfish anglers as well. That was a bit of a surprise to us. It may hint that some sort of regulation around FFS could potentially be supported by the wider angling community.
The ability to target deep fish with FFS and potential barotrauma concerns were discussed repeatedly and concern for panfish, walleye, and musky were all brought up at some point.
There was a sentiment expressed that one of the responsibilities of anglers and outdoors people is to pass the resource onto the next generation in better shape than we found it. Obviously, there’s concern as to whether the resource can withstand the increased pressure FFS use is fueling.
Aaron Meyer of the MMPA spoke on Musky Management which was somewhat of a continuation of the FFS discussion. One point he tried to make is this is not a problem we can stock our way out of. Given the cost, limited resources, and the 10+ year wait, we wouldn’t see a return on stocked fish until beyond the year 2035.
There were a couple new (to us anyway) ideas on how to potentially regulate FFS going forward that were shared:
- Consider banning FFS use for muskies during the months of June and July. (The idea being it protects fish while suspending after spawning but then also during the warmest water temps of the summer.)
- Someone shared that the electronics companies may have the capability to turn off certain features on the units so that they don’t work past a specific depth, or within a certain GPS grid and/or if you were required to take an FFS certification, you would have to enter a code to turn on a specific feature. (Not sure if those options are truly possible but definitely a different idea.)
This may not be completely accurate, but it’s starting to feel like anglers are becoming less divided on certain aspects of FFS than they were in the past. While ethics and fair chase are still very polarizing topics, concern for the resource itself seems to be growing and it makes sense if you think about it. Whether you fish with or without FFS, it’s not very fun if there are no fish left.
Crazy Stat on Water Release
While regulating Forward Facing Sonar (FFS) to help protect musky populations has been the talk of musky town lately, there are other less discussed strategies that could also potentially help address the issue of increased catch rates and delayed mortality.
It was a pretty jaw dropping result . . . 33% of the fish removed from the water died (post release mortality) while only 1.7% of water released fish died.
While a regulation mandating water release may or may not be something we see in our future, we don’t have to wait for a law to be put in place to start doing it. As we set our goals for this musky season, maybe a good goal to add to the list should be focused on the percentage of our catches that are water released? Something to think about. 🤔
This Week's Mashup:
Mashup time!
#1 – Have you seen the prices of some of the “large” bass swimbaits? We’re not even talkin’ about custom painted ones, just production models…
#2 – Found this underwater eat from Master Crow Outdoors on the cast. They’re startin’ to make cameras small and durable enough to attach in front of our baits, so we expect to see some pretty cool close-ups of eats in the near future!
#3 – Our friends at Ezoko just got some 11” and 14” Toddy Tickel Warhammers in stock including some new show colors. They’re going fast! 💨
#4 – Tell us you’re a musky nut without telling us you’re a musky nut. If the photos of your newborn child at the NICU include a musky bait… you might be a musky nut. If said bait continues to appear in birthday pics each year… Well, that answers any doubts we had! Big thanks to Timmon Lund for sharing. 😂
QUICK HITTERS:
– Thorne Brothers Spring Sale Happening April 11th-13th (link)
– The Battle and December Muskies (video) w/ Keyes Outdoors Musky Hunting Adventures
– Cisco Spawn Muskies in Minnesota (video) w/ Mayhem’s 10,000 Casts
– KY River Classic, Flooding, and Locating Water - The Spot Burn Podcast (video) w/ Musky Fool Fly Fishing Co.
– Fishing for Tourism - Warren County gains reputation as Southern musky destination (link) w/ Southern Standard
This Week's Monster Muskies:
After this fish abandoned his figure-8, Brendon Rurak paused to let his Big Action Baits Flutter Glide flutter down and this absolute slob re-engaged and ate on the drop.
Small river, big fish. Congrats to Larry Tressler for this Maryland beauty that came from a small tributary of the Potomac! 👊
Dexter Dykins popped this Western Pennsylvania sweetheart with a Waggin’ Dragon while fishing with his dad, Earnest.
Last but not least, how ‘bout this gorgeous fly munchin’ tiger out of Washington State caught by Ron Camp? Love the paint job on this one! 😍
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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