# New Here.



## Fullback (Jun 2, 2006)

Hey guys...I'm new to the forum and wanted to say hi.....I also would like to get some opinions....I've been muskie fishing with my dad numerous times, so I'm not a complete stranger to the sport.....I caught my first when I was 16 and my second when I was 21, so I'm not very good at it either....LOL...But, in my own defense, I haven't been a die hard like my dad......My dad just got a new boat and handed me down his old one, a 14' jon boat with a 15hp Merc......I've taken it out twice in the past week, equipped with a muskie rod and one giant killer and one shad rap(the only two lures he'd give me), no net(LOL), no trolling motor, and I've had two follow my giant killer to the boat......I done the figure 8 but to no avail.....that's the way it goes, Dad said I was just a notion of catching both of em......now that I've got the boat at my leisure, I'm going to start fishing more, for muskies.....on the same token, I don't have dad's tackle box to dive into and grab something out of it or get his opinion....so, with that said, what is a good 5 or 6 lures to start out with......I'm not lake fishing, I'm river fishing in Va......the river holds smallmouth, bluegills, perch for the muskies to dine on......it's also more suited to float and cast rather than trolling......I would ask my Dad all this, and he could answer it, but I don't want him to think that I'm trying to horn him out, and basically try to take his advice when he wants to give it, rather than probing and hammering him with questions, like alot of the other folks around our home do............also, most of the time, I'll probably be by myself, would you all recommend a net or a glove to land the fish.....any help or opinions would be greatly appreciated, and all the fish will be caught and released.


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## Invector (Jan 13, 2006)

River fishing eh? Well here is what I can tell ya about things you should try. First get a net. Beckmen (think thats how its spelled) makes the best nets for big game you can find (imho). Next try and find a tiller style electric. You might not need a very big one but then again you might depending on the current and areas you wish to fish. Next thing get a life jacket...trying to handle musky in those small boats can be a bit on the touchy side. For lures all I can say is match the water color. If you got dark water (stained or murky) brighter colors should work fine. Dont worry about flash as much as vibration. If you got clearer water then things like gold silver and a touch of color would work. I use many types of giant killers but have found the orange/charturse/green blade with black skirt works the best. I mainly use brown due to suckers, bass (at times) and other minnow type fish. You could use some fancy colors since you did say gills are in you area. For lure types, cranks are used up here alot for river fishing. I personally live very far form any rivers that hold musky so lake fishing is what I do, but form reading and watching TV shallow cranks casted into edies, slack water, or other high persentage spots work. Some use topwater but you would need to get into back water areas to use them to their best. I will leave you with the biggest fact of all...you are getting the fish up on one type of lure. Try other colors in the same lure. You mentioned musky killers so try some variations of that lure. And try various lures in that color that the fish are following. Few years back my uncle in MN was doing good with a silver and black bucktail. We managed to swipe on of my bucktails that had the same color just different blade and different body style and his catch rate went up. Also my best day out was 4 fish on 4 different colored musky candy. So alot of it is to find a lure that they are liking and trying to form around that.

Try some experimenting. I use brown...that does not mean you have to. When I first got the bug about musky I dropped alot of $$$ on different lures just to try and give myself the edge. Now I use small bass tandoms on one lake and only that lake. Other lakes I have with my musky candy, 2 brown with gold blade bucktails, 2 double bladed bucktails but with maraboo instead of hair, several colors of suicks, and some top water. I have tryed many other types of lures but these are just the ones that I find always reaching for. But those are the lures I catch my fish off of. Good luck cause as much fun as this sport can be, it can be frustrating as well.


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