Habitat. The musky fish is generally a solitary fish with a small home range. They tend to roam more during their spawning season and when the food supply is short. Muskellunge thrive in lakes that range widely in depths and have large aquatic plant beds such as bulrushes, pickerelweed, water lilies, and arrowleaf.
What month is best for muskie fishing?
Some of the highest catch rates for muskies are during the summer months when the water is warm and the fish are most active. Fall fishing can also be very productive at times, and many of the largest muskies are caught during the fall.
What is the best time of day to catch muskie?
Like many predatory fish, muskie are most active at dawn and dusk, and these times typically provide the most action, especially on warm, sunny days. Cool, overcast days are usually best for muskie fishing.
What lake has the most muskie?
The world record muskie is currently living in Minnesota’s Mille Lacs Lake—or so biologists think. In a recent press release, the Minnesota DNR announced that earlier this year they landed the largest muskie they’ve ever seen.
Where is the best place to fish for musky?
The three best big-water producers of giant muskies are Green Bay, Lake St. Clair, and the Ottawa River/St. Lawrence River systems. Anglers have a legitimate shot at a 50- to 56-inch muskie nearly any day of the season there and it’s possible a record fish swims in at least two of these fisheries.
What bait is best for muskie?
Bucktails – Bucktails are arguably the most popular bait used by musky anglers. Bucktails produce vibrations in the water that are easily felt by a musky’s lateral line. Bucktails can be retrieved at any speed, depending on the conditions. The most popular bucktails are double 9 blades and double 10 blades.
Are muskie good eating?
People who love eating muskies will tell you that muskie tastes quite similar to bass. Others believe it tastes more like pike. Either way, muskie is more of a bland fish with not as much flavor as other fish species, like salmon or tuna. Much of the taste of the fish depends on how you cook it.
How old is a 50 inch muskie?
On average, musky are about 11 inches long after their first year of life, reach 34″ in year 7, reach 40″ in year 9, and reach 50 inches by age 17.
What is a muskies favorite food?
Given the opportunity to choose, Muskies prefer soft rayed, high protein based fish such as Suckers, Tullibee, Ciscoes, Bullheads, Carp, and minnows. In fact, the food sources Muskies prefer most are usually fish species that most people would desire to not have in their lake.
How deep should you fish for musky?
Most muskies are caught less than 30 feet deep, often from 15 to 25 feet. Sometimes they’re much shallower. Most casters lure fish in from 5 to 15 feet deep while trollers usually catch them from 8 to 30.
What colors do muskie like?
The most popular choices were natural, stealthy colors that match the hatch of the muskies’ forage in most waters. Black, white (or silver), and gold are all colors of fish that are on the musky’s menu, including: suckers. walleye.
What’s the longest muskie ever caught?
For muskies, the world records for length and weight are held by two different fish. The maximum documented length is 72.04 inches (183 cm), and the heaviest documented weight is 70.10 pounds (31.8 kg), according to FishBase. Holm notes that world-record fish are not always caught by sportsmen.
What depth do muskies like?
As a rule, muskies prefer shallow waters. They rarely go deeper than 40 ft (12 m) because they like to hide among the vegetated areas that need sunlight for growth.
Where do you find muskie in a lake?
Muskies spawn at around 55 degrees so ideal spawning sites are located in shallow, flat, marshy areas usually lees than 3 feet in depth. Protection from wind and colder main lake water temperatures make isolated bays, islands and small creek inlets all good spawning sites.
How long should a musky rod be?
We find that a rod length of around 8 feet is the “sweet spot” when fishing for musky. It gives you plenty of length and strength for casting the large lures, yet it’s much easier to handle than a 9-foot rod.
How hard is it to catch a musky?
Even experienced anglers can go an entire day and be lucky to catch one muskie — as they say, it’s the fish of 10,000 casts. Because the muskellunge can be so difficult to catch, there isn’t a lot of concrete evidence as to the best time of day. Some fishermen say the best time is whenever the weather stays the same.
Do muskie fish bite humans?
Obviously the muskie is not out to bite humans and likely just see the flailing hands or feet as some sort of wounded fish in the water. They are aggressive predator fish and are generally tricked into biting anglers’ large, loud moving lures.
What water temp is best for musky fishing?
Biologists classify muskies as “cool-water” fish. They are most comfortable at water temperatures between 63 and 67 degrees. In that temperature range, and in even colder water, there’s enough oxygen in the water that a muskie can exert itself without lasting effects.
What does musky taste like?
Musky has a mild fish flavor with firm white meat. Their white filleted flesh has been compared to lobster when prepared with butter. As an ambush hunter, it eats mammals, poultry, and fish alike. It has a clean taste and is not muddy, as it likes to live in clean, clear water.
Do muskies bite at night?
The musky is a predatory fish that hunts and feeds both during day- and nighttime. What is this? It is, therefore, possible to catch them in the dark and, especially during the warmer months of the year, nighttime fishing can actually yield better results than fishing during the day.
What are the best tasting freshwater fish?
- Brown trout.
- Brook trout.
- Rainbow trout.
- Cutthroat trout.
What eats a muskie?
Predators. Adult muskellunge are apex predators where they occur naturally. Only humans and (rarely) large birds of prey such as bald eagles pose a threat to an adult but juveniles are consumed by other muskies, northern pike, bass, trout, and occasionally birds of prey.
What is considered a trophy muskie?
What is this? This is a much-debated question, and the answer most anglers will give you is that a trophy muskie is a fish of at least 50 inches. A 50+ incher is undoubtedly a fish that dreams are made of, and to many, it’s the ultimate goal in life.
What is the lifespan of a muskie?
Adult muskies have no aquatic predators, but may fall victim to disease, large birds of prey, or people. Muskellunge can live to about 18 years old, but fish up to 30 years of age have been documented.
Do muskies eat dead bait?
Live bluegill has also proven to be a very effective live bait for big muskies. Dead bait can be as effective as live ones, especially when fishing in cold water conditions.