beginner at muskies, need some advice.

[dalton1294]

i just started fishing for these trophy fish, i was hoping i could get some advice on line choice and river fishing tactics. just got a cabin on the flambeu river and ive heard the river produces alot of big fish.

[J-Man]

Cant help you with river tactics, but you should be using nothing less than 80# braid. You will get a lot of difference opionion on type of line. My personal preference is Spiderwire Ultracast Invisibraid. Second choice would be TUF Plus.

you can handle fish on smaller lines, but bigger baits will break knots on backlashes and accidenal engagment on casts.

New lines are so thin, it's hard to tell the difference between 65 and 80 just be looking and feeling.

[muskyhunter47]

no help on river but yes go with 80 or 100 seems big till you get a back lash

[AllenW]

I run the 65# Musky braid stuff from Thorne Bro's and it's worked well for many years now, each time you start the day or after a lot of casting I'll cut the last 6 foot of line off and retie.

One of the problems imho is with heavier line people tighten the drag down and lose fish by pulling the lure out of the fishes mouth.

Start of with the lighter lures, Suicks, Bucktails, Spinner baits and such, casting the large heavy lures can get tiring quick, don't be afraid to try trolling if ya get tired, it does produce fish, sometimes a lot of them.

An 8 foot rod works well, some like longer but 8-8.5 has worked well for me both in casting and figure 8's, personal choice here.

I also like at least 2 foot leaders, I've had big Musky's or northerns roll and get line caught in the gills/? so longer leaders help take care of that, I have a bunch of the seven strand DIY ones that are 3 foot long and work great for me.

Have fun and just remember not to panic when that 50"er starts to follow that lure up to the boat..

Al

[wallymn99]

if you are talking about the flambeau in Price/oneida county wisconsin, you are right. Lots of nice muskie in there.

80# braid, or 100# braid for sure. I would use some crankbaits, and bucktails to start out. Look for bends, curves and fish the edges of weeds parallel to the weeds, not necessarily perpendicular.

[dutchboy]

Welcome to the world of Muskie madness! You truly are a lucky guy to have your new cabin. I'll leave the tackle to the other guys. My advise is this..........if you are getting into Muskie hunting big time get yourself into shape. Nothing will knock the heck out of you like throwing big baits for 8 hours day after day. Might want to consider one of those wrap around back support vests. Another thing is to practise your casting. It's not like being out on the lake. You will have lots of over hangs and low hanging branches. Learn to cast side arm and zip those baits in under the tree's.

BTW, you might think you will be a casual Muskie hunter, that will change the first time the big boy follows you to the boat!