Good evening guys. I just wanted to see if we have any Musky and or Pike fishermen here. I've got the esox bug badly and I was wondering if anybody here does as well. If you do, what gear are you using and whats your biggest fish? Let's see some pictures! Bait box: Here is my cheap homemade big bait box I made this year. It works great and lets everything dry quickly. I added a carry strap because I am usually shore fishing. Rod and reel: I am using an 8' heavy action Shimano compre rod with a Calcutta 400b reel. It's spooled up with 80lb power pro and a 130lb stealth fluro leader. More baits: I am usually throwing bucktails and medussas of various sizes. This was my haul from the musky expo this year. The top bait is my first custom bait from Lee Tauchen called the boilermaker. It looks to be a very promising lure as it can be be fished fast, slow, and in a start stop motion. I picked up my first suick and a phantom glide bait this year as well. Now that we have open water where I'm at I am looking forward to wetting some line!
Wow that tackle is a lot nicer then my pike gear. We power troll daredevils and big Rapalas. Nothing fancy or expensive.
We have several good lakes for muskie around me, but really only one decent body of water for pike. That said, I spend a decent amount of time in the late winter/spring throwing for these guys. Seeing a big muskie slam a bait right beside the boat is a memorable experience!
I've only had followers when it comes to muskie unfortunately. We had some monster followers on a trip to my Dad's friend's cabin in Wisconsin years ago but I was so inexperienced I really didn't know what I was doing. The middle to end of last year is when I really got back into to fishing for muskie. I've caught tons of pike throughout my time fishing but have never hooked into the muskie I am dying to catch. I don't own a boat and no-one in family who lives close to me has one anymore, so I am limited currently to were I can fish for muskie which makes it harder. I did have a nice pike destroy one of my medussa's right off the shore river fishing last year and it got my heart pounding.
Well believe me, I'm not much of an experienced muskie guy myself. I've had three hooked, two of which were followers. One beside a guy's boat on a local fishing day, one from shore. Only landed one myself and it was around 35". The other two were considerably larger. Like you, I just didn't have the experience to get the job done. I've had a flat bottom Jon boat for years, but all our muskie lakes are open power and people drive like idiots. I don't trust someone not to power by me and Swamp my little boat. I just recently picked up a 16.5' deep v Lowe, so I'm hoping this year will be my time to get out and make it happen.
Leeroy37 That is a beautiful pike! Nice fat belly on that guy! What did your brother catch it on? Very cool photo of the lures and the PM2! I love my PM2, it's the best pocket knife I have ever owned. IW17 Congratulations on the Lowe! Let's see some pics of the new boat dude! I miss fishing the open water so much. I used to go on tons of fishing trips because both my Grandpa's and Uncle's owned boats. Unfortunately they are all sold now and I am stuck on the shore again. One day I'll hopefully be able to afford a boat. If any of you guys like watching fishing videos especially for Musky and Pike, I highly recommend the Todays Angler channel on YT. Their videos are some of the best produced and edited I have ever seen. I had the pleasure of meeting Lee and Robbie from the channel at the Musky Expo in Illinois this year. They were extremely nice and shared tons of time and info with me. I am thinking about possibly doing a guided trip with them this year to help me land that first Musky.
That one was on a deadbait, lovely marked fish isn’t it, pike fishing last few seasons hasn’t been great in the uk unfortunately
This was the biggest pike I caught last year. No where near as big as the one your brother caught. The colors on it where beautiful though. It nailed my bait about 3 feet off the shore early in the morning and startled the hell out of me! It may not be a giant but it was an exhilarating catch!
IW17 Very nice man! Looks like that Lowe is going to make for a very nice setup! Also looks like you have that jon boat pretty customized. Liking the look of the led light bar and the paint job on it.
That's my bowfishing rig. Great shallow water boat, but to low to the water for taking waves with all the extra weight.
Oh man that thing is all tricked out! I have always wanted to try bow fishing as I love shooting my bow and I love fishing. So how could combining them not be a blast!? I don't blame you for not wanting to take it on big water though. You got 2 very nice boats there bud!
