Spinnerbaits are an effective presentation for covering expanses of water looking for pike. Whether you’re working weedbeds, shallow sand flats, or rocky reefs, these lures are sure to put fish in the boat. Here are some of my top tips for targeting pike with spinnerbaits this season.
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The muskie world has recently been overwhelmed by a trend toward big baits,especially since a multitude of double-bladed, No. 10 bucktails have hit the market. But, big isn’t always the ticket. Sometimes, smaller is better. Early spring, mid-summer, and post-frontal conditions present conditions, which prompt experts, such as Jim Saric of Musky Hunter magazine, to reach for baits that were once the standards, but are now labeled "small." Here’s why.
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With another year firmly upon us, the traditional resolutions to lose weight, quit smoking, or eat healthier, quickly run out of steam. However, proposing and adhering to fishing resolutions are easier to stick with in the new year. Here’s my top 10 list of fishy things to try this year. They are all guaranteed to broaden the mind, awaken the soul, and most of all, conjure up a whole lot of fun!
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On Saturday, Aug. 20, 2005, Russell Crawford left his home in Sykesville, Md., to go fishing in nearby Piney Run Reservoir. An unfortunate mishap would thrust Crawford into a bloody struggle with a huge, hooked fish, leaving Crawford with serious injuries and a truly remarkable fishing story to tell for years to come.
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The University of Esox conducts weekend and week-long muskie fishing schools throughout the Midwest and Canada each season. Each school combines classroom seminars with on-the-water instruction and fishing, and focuses on the location and the time of year in which the school is held. The University recently had this lesson to teach — fall is a great time to catch trophy fish, and live bait is a good way to do it. Proof came when Reed Remley of Evansville, Wis., boated a 50.5-inch muskie on a large sucker!
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Outdoorsmen simply love hunting and fishing, if only we could do both at once. Maybe as close as you can get is casting for tiger muskie. Tiger muskies are an aggressive sport fish, by all accounts, more so than muskies or northern pike. And they do get big! The all-tackle record stands at 51 pounds and 3 ounces, caught in Wisconsin in 1919.
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Chad Severts is certainly glad that he made that last stop at a tackle store before going on to fish the 38th annual Muskies, Inc., International Tournament, which was Sept. 9-11, 2005. Over 700 muskie fanatics fished in the tournament. He used a Buck-A-Boo with red marabou/yellow bucktail and chartreuse blade with a splash of red to catch the biggest fish in the tournament with a 54-inch monster!
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Lee Tauchen likes hanging out with walleye guys when he guides for muskies at Lake Mille Lacs in northern Minnesota in late summer and autumn. Tauchen loves to fish for muskies on the rocks, so he targets the same reefs that walleye anglers prefer. Tauchen’s clients had boated five muskies over 50 inches by mid-August of 2005. (They included a 51-1/2-inch fish Ted caught while researching this story.) And two of the five muskies were 55 inches!
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A big, green submarine about as long as my leg, came flashing up through the clear water, grabbed the 18-inch walleye I caught broadside, and dove for the bottom with his prize. I jerked and became free of the muskie. I cranked in the dead walleye to the surface, and the muskie came shooting up from the depths again, not about to let his prize get away so easily.
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