Musky Observations
Let me introduce myself to the reader. I am a 39 plus year old mother of three and grandmother of two. I have been an entrepreneur for over 20 years including, but not limited to, my own cleaning business, helping with my husbands' construction business, online fishing lure sales, and several network marketing companies. My first fishing experience came at the age of 10 on my father's 22 foot Chris-Craft on Lake Erie fishing for perch. I caught my first pike at the age of 14 and my first musky at 39. I have caught three qualified Ohio Huskie Muskies including a 47 inch fish two years ago at Leesville Lake, all released. My oldest son Jim has caught and released a 50 inch fish and has cameo appearances in a couple of musky videos. Mackenzie Guy, my granddaughter, has won the Ohio Huskie Muskie clubs junior girls division twice, once at the age of seven and again at nine. The latter was a 42 inch husky musky!
Now for the first of what I consider to be musky observations. Remember that I'm not an expert and these are only my thoughts.
Despite the myths and legends the musky is a fish. It is a fantastic game fish that makes grown men quiver in their shoes, but it is still a fish! Its teeth are sharp enough to lay you open with the shake of the head if you aren't careful. It can grow to 60 plus inches and 60 plus pounds. It has been known to eat small animals and birds and about anything that swims, but it is still a fish!
Realizing that the musky is a fish leads us to the assumption that it knows very little other than survival. Survival includes eating, reproduction, and not getting eaten. Once the musky angler has learned that Mother Nature has given the musky these survival instincts and not the ability to purposely frustrate us, ( when a musky follows your lure it is deciding if it wants to eat the lure or not), he is on his way to success. Just as an aside, it took us three years to catch our first musky. Fast learners aren't we!
The fish of 10,000 casts is probably just that, but for a reason. I know people who swear they've made ten times that many casts and still haven't caught a musky! To me the reason is very simple, location, location, location. If you are looking for a pair of shoes you don't go to a flower shop. If you are hunting deer, you probably won't hunt on city streets, and if you are fishing for musky, don't fish where they aren't!
I'll talk more about what we've learned in my next article.
Thank you for reading!
Musky Observations II
I consider the musky to be the greatest game fish in the state; however, if we concede that it is a fish as I talked about in my last article, then we must look at how fish in general act to learn about the musky.
Once again, I am not an expert, but here's how I see it. In the spring shortly after ice out the musky tries to spawn. Even here in Ohio where there is not supposed to be much natural reproduction, the fish tries to reproduce. This is Mother Nature taking over and it's going to happen! The female is going to deposit her eggs and the male is going to fertilize them and protect the nest.
After this ritual is over, the fish move away from the spawning grounds to close by, but deeper, water. They spend time here recuperating and feeding. Remember, the fish knows nothing but survival which is reproduction and eating. Oh, and not getting ate! They just sort of hang out and try to stay alive. They might stay until the water warms or at least until they feel like roaming again.
Let's say they stay until the water temperature gets up and they start suspending over deep water off a nice feed shelf. They could hang here for the entire summer if they aren't bothered and the baitfish stick around, but that's probably not going to happen. The baitfishes are going to move, the pleasure boaters are going to move in and the game fish will move. They have to move to survive!
What's my point with all this rambling? You already know all of this and don't need to hear it from me! My point is why, when the fish are spawning in shallow water, do I see so many trolling over 40 feet of water. Let's up our percentages and fish where the fish are located. Follow the baitfish, the musky will, and if you are not there, someone who follows the bait fish and the seasonal patterns, will be the one who releases the musky!
Next time I'll talk to some of the best fishermen I know and get their takes on things.