NEW Record MN Musky???? – Tips for Pressured Waters – CRAZY Musky Clips
Possible MN Musky Record???
Remember that 56-incher we shared last week from Eric Bakke?
Well just a few days ago, Eric had the opportunity to net a fish that was EVEN BIGGER....
In fact, this ballistic missile might be the NEW Minnesota catch-and-release record!!
HUGE props to Laura Schultz on putting this plus-sized musky (57.25 x 25.5) in the bag – truly a fish of a lifetime! They found her lurking in the vast basin of Mille Lacs Lake where she fell for a 10” Headlock (surprising...not) in a tullibee-style color.
It’s no secret that Mille Lacs has been kickin’ out some serious fish this past month, but the bite gets a LOT tougher when the fish slide out into open water, which makes this catch even more impressive.
Last we heard, they were still “undecided” as to whether or not they’d register the fish, but it would most certainly beat out Andrew Slette’s Pelican Laker that measured 56⅞" x 25½":
Catch More Musky on Pressured Lakes
One of the most underrated aspects of catching muskies is fishing pressure.
Fish that see a lot of baits don't react the same way, plain and simple.
To help solve this problem, we reached out to metro musky guide Ryan McMahon who bags a bunch of muskies this time of year in the highly pressured waters of the Twin Cities.
Here's how he's been targeting muskies on his lakes this year:
"First of all, I like to position my boat off the break line or weed edge the distance of a long cast. With the boat sitting in roughly 12-20 feet of water, I like to throw a variety of baits that cover different depths in the water column (hopefully you brought some buddies along!)"
Here's Ryan strategy for lure selection:
"I like to lead the boat with a unique sounding bucktail like a Kramer Bros Tackle Revolution Ticker or a big double bladed bucktail. The larger blades seem to be easier for muskies to track in the figure eight when you get them off the break line and next to the boat.
"Next, I like to have somebody ripping a rubber bait like a Medussa or Magnum Bull Dawg. This is a nice erratic rip and drop technique that is great for getting reaction strikes from early summer muskies that just aren’t ready to chase bucktails yet.
"The last bait l like to throw is a dive and rise jerkbait like a Barfighter or Suick. This is another stop-and-start bait like the rubber baits but it will slowly rise up on the pause. It’s a great option for finding curious but lazy muskies. It may seem like an odd trigger but deadsticking these baits 15 to 20 feet from the boat has put several nice fish in the net for us this year already.
"If the fish is looking at the dead sticked jerkbait but not eating, I will crank my trolling motor up and pull away from the bait leaving 20-30 feet of line out and twitching the bait lightly on the surface. This will prolong your retrieve and can eventually entice a strike!"
For the most part, the jerkbait bite is typically a lot better early and blades start to heat up as summer kicks into full gear. Depending on the water temps where you're fishin', you'll wanna keep that in mind!
Top Musky GIFs so far....
So, Mike Keyes has been running a cool contest over on his YouTube channel where musky heads have been sending in their GoPro footage for a chance to win some free stuff.
It was a killer idea, and there's been some great clips sent in.
Thought it would be fun to highlight a few of our favorites so far:
First up, West Virginia native Joel Miller with a 49" Leaping Lena who's not a huge fan of musky nets! She almost ended up on the floor of the boat...
This next one's gotta be one of the sickest boatside eats we've seen, all thanks to Tristan Marten, a walleye-colored Dyin' Dawg, and a frisky 42" musky.
But not all of the best highlights are "action packed".
This clip from Ryan Plautz features a big ole musky practically lying on the surface nipping at a Shallow Invader. The clip's too long to show in a GIF, but Ryan actually got this fish to bite. You can watch the full video by clicking this link.
Last but not least, we have another awesome clip from Ryan, this time with a much more aggressive musky that blows up on the 8. Makes you wish you were castin' and not looking at a screen right now, eh?
As much as it sucks wearing a GoPro on your head, these clips are really fun to watch, and these guys have MORE than just memories and a quick photo to look back on.
Hopefully we'll see more and more guys filming their musky catches and posting them online. I've had enough of all the bassin' videos on YouTube – we need more musky guys adding to the heap!
"Hack" for open water fishing
Traditional Side Imaging and 2D sonar are awesome for seeing muskies directly beneath you and off to the side, but what if you want to see the fish BEFORE you run 'em over with the boat?
MN guide (and co-founder of this here newsletter) Josh Borovsky solves this problem by mounting a MEGA SI transducer on his trolling motor:
Pointing straight in front of the boat at all times (not spinning around with the lower unit), it's a sweet setup for open water musky fishing.
Josh uses the same 360 Imaging mount in this video. Here's a quick clip for illustrative purposes:
In a perfect world, you've got a Panoptix transducer up there, but not all of us have barrels of money stashed in our basement...😉
QUICK HITTERS:
– Anglers spent more on fishin’ gear in 2018 (link)
– 360 Imaging is now in MEGA (link)
– Spring-to-summer transition tips via Team Rhino (video)
– Pennsylvania will now stock yearling muskies (link)
– Former MN Viking B-Rob catches his first musky (photo)
THIS WEEK'S MONSTER MUSKIES:
The open water bite continues to kick out some behemoths – including this 54¼" Minnesota monster from Mike Madden. As you can see, she's been eating good this spring!
Remember the feeling you had when you caught your first 50?
Well, Ben Stone just joined the 50-club and the smile says it all! Even more impressive, he caught it on the figure 8 with a MuskyFrenzy 8/9 Stagger and put her in the bag with a great solo net job.
You can actually watch the whole catch on his YouTube channel. He did a great job documenting the day.
Brian Fay popped this 52" Canadian slobasaurus on a trusty bucktail. Can't help but notice the custom bucket rig under his pedestal seat, too. Wouldn't mind a closer look!
Check out this 51¼" freight train from Mike Grant who was fishin' a secret little lake with about 14,632 islands. He caught her on the figure 8 with a Red October.
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