Simple Bait Mod for Spring – Underwater 'skies – Saric & Maina Appearances
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Simple Beaver Mod
Let's kick this newsletter off with a quick tip that will help you catch more 'skies this spring.
Baby Beavers are a proven fish-catcher during the early season. They're a staple for many top guides throughout the springtime months.
Luke Ronnestrand mentioned them in his recent seminar for the virtual MN show. It produced two of the biggest fish in Josh Borovsky's boat in recent years: a 56-incher and a 56 and a half:
They are great trigger baits, and if you've fished them enough, you'll notice that muskies often times like to eat 'em head-first. When the fish are head hunting like this, it's possible to miss a few big bites.
You can solve this problem by adding a split ring and an auxiliary treble hook directly to the line tie at the nose of the bait.
Adding the extra hardware to the nose changes the action slightly and creates a little extra noise when the hook bangs against the head on the retrieve.
Sometimes the fish are going to prefer this version, but other times it will be "too much" and you'll need to remove the hook.
It's a great mod to try if you're missing fish, but isn't necessary if your hookup ratio is fine. The less hooks, the better – no need to do unnecessary damage to the fish.
Sounds like the Beaver's Baits website is loaded up with a bunch of custom colors right now with the late season sport show cancelations last month.
Would ya look at that....
In our everlasting quest to learn everything we can about muskies, there's two things we know for sure:
- They can be EXTREMELY curious
- They are totally fearless....most the time anyway!
These GIFs illustrate both points pretty dang well:
This 'skie came right up to Bernie Barringer's boat/GoPro for a closer look at the strange UFO-style dealio danglin' in the water.
Same deal with this hardwater spot-a-saurus from a Kenders Outdoors video:
Gotta love the confidence. Muskies are the masters of their domain – if they see something new in their turf, they're gonna check it out!
Also, did you see this crazy video from Bill Lindner featuring a big gang of water wolfs preparing to do the dirty??
Not musky-related, but too cool not to share.
Early Season Saric Tips
Spring can be a fickle time for all species of fish – muskies are no exception.
If you're new to musky fishin' and looking to hit the springtime bite hard this year, Jim Saric has some rock-solid tips that will get you pointed in the right direction in the coming months.
Warming Trends
"If you have any flexibility for your spring trip, now is the time to consider it. Ideally you want a warming trend for a few days leading into your trip and of course during your trip. Early season muskies can be fickle as you are often dealing with post-spawn muskies, that aren’t always the most active. Nothing can hurt your odds for success more than a cold front.
Warm Water Wins
"Find the warm water. Besides considering the weather trend, try and locate the warmest water in the lake or reservoir you are fishing. Isolated bays, coves, and channels can be significantly warmer than the rest of the lake. Those areas that are protected but exposed to the afternoon sunshine will often warm rapidly in the afternoon. A five-degree surface temperature rise is common in some areas. Search for bays on the north side of a lake that are protected.
"In reservoirs lots of marinas are located in coves that will be protected from cold winds and also offer cover. If you are fishing a chain-of-lakes, spend some time in the channels between the lakes; they often have the warmest water and lots of available cover.
Downsizing
"It’s probably a good idea to keep the larger lures at home and seriously consider downsizing. This is the time of year that on many waters the smaller lures rule. As much as I hate to admit it, the bass anglers catch a lot of muskies early in the season. It’s really because muskies are focused on smaller bait at this time, and often relating to available shallow cover."
In case you didn't already know, Saric posted up a bunch of Musky Hunter TV shows on YouTube earlier this year. Something to watch if you're stuck at home this month!
Throwin' it Back!
How's this for an old school throwback fish!
Pete Maina and John Gillespie with a 40-ish pound musky back in 1995:
It's cool seein' clips like this pulled out of the Wayback Machine.
The fish is dang impressive, but those golden locks are nothing to scoff at either 😉
QUICK HITTERS:
– 2.5 hour seminar with John Anderson (video)
– Spring Top Raider Tips (video)
– How to add a trailer blade to a bucktail (video)
– New PIT tagging study on Miltona, MN (link)
– Musky fishing around dams (link)
– Small business loans & credits via COVID-19 relief program (link)
THIS WEEK'S MONSTER MUSKIES:
This Great Lakes leviathan definitely wasn't camera shy! The Next Bite crew caught her trollin' cranks on Green Bay.
Saric talked about downsizing earlier in the newsletter.....
Well, this 50-inch springtime beast couldn't resist Kayla Grezenski's Flicker Shad. They didn't catch any walleye that night, but who cares, right???
There's nothing better than spankin' plus-sized muskies from the comfort of your quarantine-approved sweatpants, right Vinnie DeStefano???
Dang nice fish, brother!
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