Do Tigers Follow?

[MN Slick]

I've dabbled for Tigers a couple times in the Metro and have yet to have one follow in a lure. I realize they probably don't follow as much as a pure strain but do they ever? I've boated 1 but it hit on the end of cast. Any experiences?

[Slamr]

Yes

[ToddM]

Slamr is very correct, I have had them follow also.

[MuskieKid]

I can assure you that they do follow, and yes, they do hit a figure 8 (I've seen it).

[happy hooker]

Ive fished alot for metro MPLS,St Paul,,tigers and my experience is that has a rule they dont follow half has much has pure strains ,,maybe tigers in other states or naturally occuring ones follow more but the stocked hybrds in Minnesota Metro usually strike or you dont see them. You guys that posted above is your experience with Tigers in the Mpls Metro areas??? Im very intrested in this too

[tomcat]

my question is, what game fish doesn't follow lures??? bass do (large and small mouth), pike do, walleye do, musky do, blue gills do, perch do, tigers do, trout do, ....any other brain busters?

[happy hooker]

yeah Tomcat but on a regular basis like pure strain muskies

[tomcat]

"I've dabbled for Tigers a couple times in the Metro and have yet to have one follow in a lure."

Hi happy hooker, as i read this guys post, i read it as he never has had a follow from a tiger... and he was asking if they do follow. I've have never encounter any fish that follows lures like pure strain do, i agree, i was just tryint to answer his question if they follow. Another fish that really likes to follow are gar. THere are some big gar south of most of you guys, and they are notorious for following too.
my son and i have caught largemouth, crappie, walleye, smallies on figure eights.
tomcat

[MN Bassfisher]

Tom Cat - You are right on the money!

[tomcat]

MN bassfisherman, send me an email
tomh@angieslist.com
tomcat

[MuskieKid]

As I said earlier. Yes they do follow, and they do hit on a figure 8. I live in Maryland. We are not a Musky state. However, we are fast becoming a state with a lot of lakes with Tiger Muskies in them. We get our fingerlings from Pennsylvania and are now breeding them in the Hagerstown Prison. My small (505 acre) lake is loaded with them. There are no naturals in the lake. I know that stocking programs in some states have not been very successful. However, the program (although not very old) seems to be very successful here and the size of the fish are is getting bigger. At first (and sometimes now), the Bass guys claim it has hurt fishing. However, it seems to be making the quality of Bass fishing here better. Could be that since your particular lakes do not have as many Tigers, perhaps you are not seeing them follow.

I have heard lots of reports (Tigers have a reputation here of being followers) and seen follows by Tigers. Last year we had one (36") jump in a boat of a 16 yr. old kid as he was pulling live bait out. My fishing partner had one hit the side of his boat head-on attempting to hit a lure. Stunned the fish and it rolled up on its' side momentarily. My friend said he could have grabbed it out of the water (but didn't). It swam away after (apparently) it's head cleared up. Myself-I have seen them following lures to my boat and have had hits within inches of the side of my boat. I've also seen them (on several occasions) "porpoising"-swimming on top with their mouths open for some reason. FYI: I've also found that they will hit as the sun comes up, but generally speaking, do not hit after dark. It would be interesting to hear what anglers from areas like Colorado and Utah would say about them. Their programs are producing world-record sized fish, and I assume, numbers.

As Buck Perry says: A fish, is a fish, is a fish, has a pea brain and never had an original thought in his life!!! Why would they be any different elsewhere (other than size) than they are in your area, or anywhere else? As a newby of 6 years to Tiger Muskie fishing, I have found that the same methods that work for them up north work here too.

[Phish Freak]

We get a lot of follows in Colorado. I wish they would stop following and just hit the lure. I have seen tigers porpoise a lot and heard that if a tiger is doing this that they are on the feed. Was wondering if anyone else has heard that.
Our state has some very nice tigers and I think Colorado was one the first states to stock them. The state record is 53" 40lbs 2oz. Big fish! I see quite a few near the 48" range. Now i just need to figure how to get them to bite.

[happy hooker]

phish if you mean by porpoising that they cruise with their heads out of the water,,we see that alot here in Minn but almost always on dark, murky water,,,The biologists say that they are trying to flush parasites from their gills

[Phish Freak]

Happy,
That makes sense. But we have tigers in very clear and cooler lakes in the mountins that do this. The tigers do very well in some mountins lakes because the pike side of them like cooler temps.

So do pure strains also porpoise?

[Phish Freak]

Muskiekid,
what kind of fishfinder did you end up buying?

[MuskieKid]

If that was you that emailed me, please accept my apology. somehow I lost the message and could not retrieve it. I screwed my knee up and have been out of action, thus I haven't been able to pursue it. I was leaning toward a legend, but haven't been able to get around much to check anything out. Someone (you?) emailed me offering to sell a unit, but after I lost the message, I decided to hold off until my knee operation.

[Phish Freak]

muskiekid,
that wasnt me that offered to sell a unit. I almost bought one but i decided on going to canada for a fishing trip. I saw the legend at the store and for what it does and what you get the unit is a bargin for the price. the name changed but its still a zercom.

[Jamie Schmidt]

Have had tigers follow on Metro lakes numerous times. But I wouldn't say they follow as often as true strain muskies.

The "porposing" deal has always intrigued me. In a discussion with a bioligist about this one time, he theorized that the because tigers are fed floating pellets in the hatchery ponds, it might be possible that they are simply conditioned to searching the surface for food! Not sure if that theory holds any water, but he's the bioligist, so I didn't argue. I haven't had much luck catching one that I saw porposing though.

Jamie Schmidt
Esoxjunkie Inc

[Mark Sewald]

The tigers in the metro lake I've fished don't follow often enough so that you can use the follows to help you pinpoint the location of specific fish (i.e like you can with pure strain). We've had to rely on baitfish location, and then fish apparent ambush spots next to the bait. It's always seemed that when the Tigers are active, they're very easy to catch. When not active, it seems there's not a fish in the lake. It's not like pure strains, where you can most time get a sluggish follow on the toughest days to provide some clues as to location.

Mark