Trolling vs. Casting (by the numbers) – Bad Hook Injury – Ultra Chunky Muskies
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.
'Tis the Season
....to eat turkey and complain about the snow/ice!
Hopefully you're wrapping up a successful Thanksgiving holiday with family/loved ones. This is the season of thankfulness, but it's also the season of eating way more than you should.
The whacky thing about this weekend is one day, you're givin' thanks, the next you're packing into stores to buy heavily discounted shhhtuff you don't even need...
The best is when you see one of your fishin' buddies bragging on social media about waking up early to stand in line for some Black Friday deals – yet three months ago, they couldn't meet you at the ramp before sun-up for the first light bite. 🤷♂️
Trolling vs. Casting (MATH)
The age old debate rages on:
Which is better: casting or trolling?
"It depends" might be the true answer, but here's some interesting math from Steve Ryan in a recent In-Fish article:
"Say we troll a Rapala Super Shad Rap for 4 hours, running at 3.5 mph at a depth of 8 feet. In 4 hours we could cover 14 miles of territory (4 hours x 3.5 mph = 14 miles), absent time to land fish, change locations, clear weeds, and so on.
"An average cast with the same lure might be 65 feet. For the first 10 feet of each retrieve, the lure is diving to optimum depth. During the last 5 feet it’s rising out of the optimum zone, leaving 50 feet of each cast in prime territory. With a generous assumption of one cast and retrieve every minute for 4 hours, we can cover roughly 2.25 miles at optimum depth (50 feet per cast x 240 casts/5,280 feet = 2.27 miles). Trolling covers almost six times more territory."
A quick look at Steve crunching the numbers in his head:
You can't argue with the efficiency of trolling cranks, bucktails, etc. – especially if you can use multiple lines.
That said, casters have a huge advantage in some situations as well:
Trolling is great for covering huge swaths of water, but if you can pinpoint specific structural elements or know exactly where the fish are living, casters can spend all 2.27 of their miles putting baits in front of fish.
Our advice: Learn how to cast AND troll and let the conditions tell you what to do.
Ouch....
Well, looks like it's been quite a November for Green Bay guide Bret Alexander.
He started the month off right with some big muskies and super-sized Walters, but things quickly took a turn for the worse when a jointed crank flew out of a walleye's mouth and into his eye:
Two weeks later – he's back in the boat chasing muskies again.
Mike Keyes talked him into filming a last-minute show, and turns out the big 'skies couldn't hide from Bret, even with just one working eye.
Huge props on getting back on the water and sticking some muskies before the season closes out! Doesn't look like he NEEDS one, but I still think he should've rocked an eye patch for the shoot. 😉
BTW – Sounds like Bret is a few surgeries away from regaining vision in his left eye, so make sure to send up some thoughts and prayers for our esox chasin' brother!
Eagle Lake Trollin' Vid
Our buddy Doug Wegner is finally posting videos on YouTube again. What took ya so long, man???
He's kicking things off with a recent trip up to Eagle Lake with his lady friend Jessie Baker. You might remember a few weeks back when Jessie caught her PB musky on a 10" Mattlock? Well, here's the video:
Lookin' forward to more uploads, buddy!
QUICK HITTERS:
– 15% off Musky Frenzy bucktails (link)
– Shore fishing muskies w/ justkeepcasting (video)
– Iowa Weed Line Musky Fishing (video)
– 2020 Musky Road Rules schedule (link)
– Another ice musky from Tom Boley (video)
– Fall musky tips from a Manitoba newspaper? (link)
THIS WEEK'S LUNAR TIMES:
(Times based on Minneapolis)
THIS WEEK'S MONSTER MUSKIES:
Feast your eyes on this big ole slab of meat from Chris Fusco – 54.75 x 26 and released to swim another day!
This 54 x 26.5 beast from Jim Ford was too massive for the camera screen fishin' solo out of a canoe. What a beautiful specimen! #cleanasawhistle
This red-finned sea serpent couldn't resist the 10" Headlock. 50+ inches and attitude to spare!
Looks like Wisco guide Ty Sennett has been gettin' while the gettin's good, pulling a few muskies up through ice holes in northern Wisconsin. Check out his recent video with the IDO crew icing walleye and muskies on the Chip.
Wanna be featured on Musky Insider? Send in your recent trophy musky photos by emailing nick@muskyinsider.com – 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!