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