Damn Muskie!
 

Hi to all!
I'm an Italian fishing-maniac ;-) who resides in Chicago and who doesn't
enjoy little fishes (I always like aiming to medium/big fishes).

Yesterday I went fishing in an harbor in Chicago downtown, just for
trying various lures I bought at BPS and studying how they work when
suddenly I saw a beautiful and relaxed 6pound like Muskie resting 3 feet
under the surface.
I casted far the lure I had at the moment, a Martin Panther like spinner
and I achieved to make him aggressive speeding my reel and flipping with
my wrist, he chased my lure and he tried to bite the spinner twice
softly, not in a determined and hard way.
Then he saw me and he went slowly away. I tried a lot o other lures but
unusefully :( and I can't imagine what I wronged, if I wronged anything.

--
ciao
Vittorix

"Vittorix" wrote in message
...
Hi to all!
I'm an Italian fishing-maniac ;-) who resides in Chicago and who doesn't
enjoy little fishes (I always like aiming to medium/big fishes).

Yesterday I went fishing in an harbor in Chicago downtown, just for
trying various lures I bought at BPS and studying how they work when
suddenly I saw a beautiful and relaxed 6pound like Muskie resting 3 feet
under the surface.
I casted far the lure I had at the moment, a Martin Panther like spinner
and I achieved to make him aggressive speeding my reel and flipping with
my wrist, he chased my lure and he tried to bite the spinner twice
softly, not in a determined and hard way.
Then he saw me and he went slowly away. I tried a lot o other lures but
unusefully :( and I can't imagine what I wronged, if I wronged anything.

As a muskie guide for over a decade, I can positively tell you that you did
nothing wrong. Pike species like northern and muskies are very curious
creatures and will follow a lure just to see what's up. The only thing that
you might have done differently would have been to stick your rod tip into
the water about a foot and draw as large of a figure 8 in the water as you
could.

Sometimes the change in the lure's speed and direction will trigger a
strike, other times it won't.

If he really wanted that lure, believe me, he would have had it. AND, if
muskie fishing was easy, everyone would be doing it.

Welcome to the often times frustrating world of toothy critters.
--
Steve @ OutdoorFrontiers
http://www.outdoorfrontiers.com
G & S Guide Service and Custom Rods
http://www.herefishyfishy.com

Steve @ OutdoorFrontiers wrote:

If he really wanted that lure, believe me, he would have had it. AND,
if muskie fishing was easy, everyone would be doing it.

Welcome to the often times frustrating world of toothy critters.

Dear Steve, thank you for your stimulating answer and for that
suggestion, so you experimented to put the tip of the rod in the water
and drawing a big 8 is an attempt to do. very interesting, I didn't know
it.
And I'll take advantage to ask you a suggestion.
I'm planning to fish small live fishes like rock basses and bluegals (?)
to use them as bait for pikes. is it a good idea?
I use a green 30lb Spiderwire Original braided (thick as a 6lb), pikes
are used to care at them?

I agree with you that it's better it's a difficult fish to catch, that
makes their fisking so interesting!

--
ciao
Vittorix

On Fri, 22 Jul 2005 15:38:24 -0500, "Vittorix"
wrote:

(snipped)

I'm planning to fish small live fishes like rock basses and bluegals (?)
to use them as bait for pikes. is it a good idea?
I use a green 30lb Spiderwire Original braided (thick as a 6lb), pikes
are used to care at them?

That may be just a tad illegal. Check with your fish and game
department as to what you can use for bait before you get yourself in
trouble. Minnows are legal most places. Minnows are not just small
fish, they're particular species of fish. Chubs may be legal to use
as bait, but, as I said above, check with fish and game first.

(side note, it's bluegills, since you had the question mark after it.
Named for their colouring on the gills).

Cyli
r.bc: vixen. Minnow goddess. Speaker to squirrels.
Often taunted by trout. Almost entirely harmless.

http://www.visi.com/~cyli
email: lid (strip the .invalid to email)

Cyli wrote:

I'm planning to fish small live fishes like rock basses and bluegals
(?) to use them as bait for pikes. is it a good idea?
I use a green 30lb Spiderwire Original braided (thick as a 6lb),
pikes are used to care at them?

That may be just a tad illegal. Check with your fish and game
department as to what you can use for bait before you get yourself in
trouble. Minnows are legal most places. Minnows are not just small
fish, they're particular species of fish. Chubs may be legal to use
as bait, but, as I said above, check with fish and game first.

Thanks for alerting me Cyli, I had no idea there were limitations in
using live baits!!

(side note, it's bluegills, since you had the question mark after it.
Named for their colouring on the gills).

ehehe thanks again, I couldn't find in fishbase.org for that reason :)
it's just 1 year I moved here from Italy, so my English it's mediocre.

r.bc: vixen. Minnow goddess. Speaker to squirrels.
Often taunted by trout. Almost entirely harmless.

you have her rapresentation?

http://www.visi.com/~cyli

I really like those paintings, are they yours?

--
ciao
Vittorix

On Fri, 22 Jul 2005 20:18:42 -0500, "Vittorix"
wrote:

(snipped some more)

Thanks for alerting me Cyli, I had no idea there were limitations in
using live baits!!

I thought you might not know. It's not an obvious thing, but it's
covered in most state game and fishing laws and regulations.


it's just 1 year I moved here from Italy, so my English it's mediocre.

Figured that, too. Lots better than I could do in any foreign
language, so be proud of your learning so far.


http://www.visi.com/~cyli

I really like those paintings, are they yours?

Yes, they're mine. You can download a copy for personal use, should
you wish to.

Cyli
r.bc: vixen. Minnow goddess. Speaker to squirrels.
Often taunted by trout. Almost entirely harmless.

http://www.visi.com/~cyli
email: lid (strip the .invalid to email)

"Vittorix" wrote in message
...
Steve @ OutdoorFrontiers wrote:

If he really wanted that lure, believe me, he would have had it. AND, if
muskie fishing was easy, everyone would be doing it.

Welcome to the often times frustrating world of toothy critters.

Dear Steve, thank you for your stimulating answer and for that suggestion,
so you experimented to put the tip of the rod in the water and drawing a
big 8 is an attempt to do. very interesting, I didn't know it.

***Figure 8's in the water at the end of each cast is standard to a muskie
hunter's arsenal of tricks. Many times you won't be aware of a following
muskie or pike and it will seemingly come from nowhere and strike the lure.
It's fairly exciting to have a 3 foot or longer fish strike your lure with 8
inches of line from the end of the rod tip.

And I'll take advantage to ask you a suggestion.
I'm planning to fish small live fishes like rock basses and bluegals (?)
to use them as bait for pikes. is it a good idea?

***It can be a great idea but you'd have to check the regulations for the
state of Illinois. Here in Wisconsin, it is legal to use gamefish or
panfish for bait providing you follow the following restrictions.

You cannot transport the fish intended to be used as bait to another lake.
You must use them in the lake you caught them in.

If there is a size limit to the fish intended to be used as bait, the fish
must meet the minimum size requirements.

If there is a daily bag limit, the fish being used as bait must be
considered to be part of the daily bag limit. In other words, if you wanted
to use walleyes as bait and there was a 5 fish daily bag limit, with a 15
inch size limit, you could only use 15 inch or larger walleyes for bait, and
INCLUDING the one you have out for bait, not have more than 5 in the boat.

I use a green 30lb Spiderwire Original braided (thick as a 6lb), pikes are
used to care at them?

***I typically use 50 pound PowerPro when fishing pike and muskies. It's
very tough stuff and resists bite-offs better than 30 pound Spiderwire. If
you're going to consistently fish for muskie and pike, you might want to
consider getting some 50 pound or stronger leaders made of SevenStrand
leader material.

I agree with you that it's better it's a difficult fish to catch, that
makes their fisking so interesting!

***I'm glad you think so, it keeps me going.
--
Steve @ OutdoorFrontiers
http://www.outdoorfrontiers.com
G & S Guide Service and Custom Rods
http://www.herefishyfishy.com

On Fri, 22 Jul 2005 21:55:15 -0500, "Steve @ OutdoorFrontiers"
wrote:


"Vittorix" wrote in message
...
Steve @ OutdoorFrontiers wrote:

If he really wanted that lure, believe me, he would have had it. AND, if
muskie fishing was easy, everyone would be doing it.

Welcome to the often times frustrating world of toothy critters.

Dear Steve, thank you for your stimulating answer and for that suggestion,
so you experimented to put the tip of the rod in the water and drawing a
big 8 is an attempt to do. very interesting, I didn't know it.

***Figure 8's in the water at the end of each cast is standard to a muskie
hunter's arsenal of tricks. Many times you won't be aware of a following
muskie or pike and it will seemingly come from nowhere and strike the lure.
It's fairly exciting to have a 3 foot or longer fish strike your lure with 8
inches of line from the end of the rod tip.

And I'll take advantage to ask you a suggestion.
I'm planning to fish small live fishes like rock basses and bluegals (?)
to use them as bait for pikes. is it a good idea?

***It can be a great idea but you'd have to check the regulations for the
state of Illinois. Here in Wisconsin, it is legal to use gamefish or
panfish for bait providing you follow the following restrictions.

You cannot transport the fish intended to be used as bait to another lake.
You must use them in the lake you caught them in.

If there is a size limit to the fish intended to be used as bait, the fish
must meet the minimum size requirements.

If there is a daily bag limit, the fish being used as bait must be
considered to be part of the daily bag limit. In other words, if you wanted
to use walleyes as bait and there was a 5 fish daily bag limit, with a 15
inch size limit, you could only use 15 inch or larger walleyes for bait, and
INCLUDING the one you have out for bait, not have more than 5 in the boat.

Illinois has practically the same regulations as Wisconsin with regard
to using other species of fish as bait. There is one addtional rule
however regarding their use, if the fish is over 8" in length you MUST
use a quick-set rig instead of a plain hook. This is to ensure the
health of muskies in particular in case you catch one that is below
the minimum length limit which is 48" in most Illinois waters.

Jay
Lake Shelbyville Muskie Club www.shelbyvillemuskie.com
and
Illinois Muskie Tournament Trail www.illmuskie.com

Cyli wrote:

it's just 1 year I moved here from Italy, so my English it's
mediocre.

Figured that, too. Lots better than I could do in any foreign
language, so be proud of your learning so far.

ehehe I'm trying to learn, I have to survive here :-)

Yes, they're mine. You can download a copy for personal use, should
you wish to.

I did, they're beautiful

--
ciao
Vittorix

Steve @ OutdoorFrontiers wrote:

***Figure 8's in the water at the end of each cast is standard to a
muskie hunter's arsenal of tricks. Many times you won't be aware of
a following muskie or pike and it will seemingly come from nowhere
and strike the lure. It's fairly exciting to have a 3 foot or longer
fish strike your lure with 8 inches of line from the end of the rod
tip.

so, you usually have your reel friction opened?

And I'll take advantage to ask you a suggestion.
I'm planning to fish small live fishes like rock basses and bluegals
(?) to use them as bait for pikes. is it a good idea?

***It can be a great idea but you'd have to check the regulations for
the state of Illinois.

in Italy there are no limitations, so I didn't imagine there could be
here.

I use a green 30lb Spiderwire Original braided (thick as a 6lb),
pikes are used to care at them?

***I typically use 50 pound PowerPro when fishing pike and muskies.
It's very tough stuff and resists bite-offs better than 30 pound
Spiderwire. If you're going to consistently fish for muskie and
pike, you might want to consider getting some 50 pound or stronger
leaders made of SevenStrand leader material.

ok, I have the 50lb Spiderwire, I'll use for muskie fishing.
I don't know PowerPro, is better?
did you compared PowerPro and Spiderwire having the same strenght? (50lb
for example)
I don't know SevenStrand either, is braided or steel wire?

--
ciao
Vittorix