Musky from shore

[TASPL-Designs]

Im heading down to ottawa this weekend, I heard a stretch of the Rideau River has a lot of musky.

I've never caught one and would love to. Is it possible to catch them from shore?

I have a Penn Fierce 10ft Heavy surf rod with a Penn Fierce 8000 Reel on it, I think the gear should be more than capable of bringing one in as I was shark fishing with it.

I'm trying to search up rigs and setups, I found one suggestion that looked very close to the rigs I was using for sharks. Fish finding rig with a slide weight and circle hook and a live/dead bait fish on the end.

Would something like this work, or am I looking at this all wrong?

Any other suggestions or anything?

Any advice on what could work?

I was planning on bringing a couple different rods to try some different things, and as i'm doing some research on the areas and that all I keep reading is musky musky musky so now I want to try and catch one.

Thanks for any help or advice.

[zippyFX]

It's definitely possible! I caught a 49 inch Musky at Kars a couple of years ago. You have to decide if you are going to go live bait or lures. If your are going live bait you can pick up large suckers at Manotick bait and tackle... Look into quick strike rigs. this time of year live bait is likely a better choice. Best chances are at dusk or dawn.

I saw a picture of 50 inch Musky caught a Watsons Mill last year.

Another stretch that is popular the river by the Carelton University.


10 FT Surf rod is a bit much for most application even Musky.

[TASPL-Designs]

My other rods I have are Offshore Angler Frigate Heavy 8' Rods with FG6000 reels. One has 17lb Mono the other 15lb Braid. I could run a heavier shock leader if that would help make up for the line being too small. I just thought those would be Undersized, I have heard stories of musky rods being massive and breaking rods and all kinds of stuff.

I will look into the quick strike rigs also. And that works good, I'm an early bird anyways so the timing works great for me.

[MRQturbo]

you don't need such heavy gear...we've caught musky while bass fishing using m/h rods w 12# flouro and no leaders....just luck of the draw having one strike....

[TASPL-Designs]

good to know, I've heard from friends/acquaintances that you need crazy thick rods with 65+lb braid and steel leaders and giant lures.

I personally didn't believe all of it since I used smaller/less gear to fish for sharks that are much bigger and stronger than a musky. But thought maybe some of the tricks down south hadn't trickled up here yet. Good to hear that these people are probably just spinning fish tails as usual, it can just be discouraging for someone new to this to even want to try.

I guess we will see what happens.

Thank you.

[Eli]

The reason most people use heavier gear to target muskie is because they can very easily be over-played on light gear, resulting in fish mortality. They're sensitive to being handled, and will go belly up if played for too long.

[TASPL-Designs]

I have heard they need to be released quickly, i got myself a mouth spreader and a few diffrent kinds of hook removal tools. Anything else i should look at grabbing to help release them quickly before i attempt to catch any?

[MRQturbo]

every musky we've landed went back in the lake w/o issue....i don't believe that they've evolved to become apex predators w/o being fairly hardy and tough...but thats just me...

[MuskieBait]

There are many more reasons to use a stiff and heavy rod for muskies than to land the fish quickly.

With truly BIG muskie lures, the hook wire is very heavy gauge and the gap is wide. This combination will make a solid hook set difficult on a MH rod as it is much too soft. You need the stiff rod to deliver a heavy hook set into the bony jaw.

The stiff rod is meant to handle heavy lures. Many BIG muskie lures weight anywhere from 2-8oz. Lures at this size will snap MH rods which are not designed for casting in this range.

Depending on where you fish for muskies, some fish live around log jams or heavy weed bed. You need the heavy rod to pull a big fish away from these snags as quickly as possible. It is the same argument that bass anglers provide when they justify the use of 65lb braid and MH to H bass rods to pitch in heavy weeds or wood cover. Otherwise, that type of gear is overkill for even tournament winning bass.

Some rods are also designed with trolling in mind. Trolling a large crankbait or double 14's spinner generate a lot of resistance on the rod. Anything less than XH rod will constantly put a strain on the rod while trolling.

As for the heavy line justification, there is a rule that is well known to distance casters. It is the one-ten rule: For every one ounce in casting weight, you need to use 10lb of line strength. Thus, if you were to cast a 3oz swimbait, you better have a minimum of 30lb line. Again, the super heavy line recommendation is based on application...and for some people, versatility dictates that the heavier the line, the more situations it can handle. Spooling with 65-80lb braid will allow anglers to fish heavy lures as well as troll with the same outfit.

Yes, you can catch muskies on MH rods. I use an Okuma Komodo 364 with 40lb braid and a Shimano Clarus 7' MH for smaller muskies. So far, my biggest landed was a 32" fish. My friend Matt used a 7' MH spinning rod, a 3000 size spinning reel and 30lb braid to land a 36" and a 41" muskie on the same day. People have caught big muskies on M spinning rods with 8lb test unintentionally. Is this the best gear to use? No. Does it get the job done occasionally? Yes. But if you are serious about catching BIG muskies consistently, then you need to be tossing BIG lures...not bass size lures...and that dictates heavy outfits.

** A friend of mine recently went to California with a M action travel rod to fish for tuna. They caught some tuna under 10lbs...but he said it was the most painful experience fighting hard running fish on undersized gear. So if you want to target fish a species and do well, use appropriate gear.

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(10-05-2015 08:31 PM)MRQturbo Wrote:  every musky we've landed went back in the lake w/o issue....i don't believe that they've evolved to become apex predators w/o being fairly hardy and tough...but thats just me...

If that's the argument, I don't know why salmon belly up when they are being played for too long. Aren't salmon designed to be hardy and tough so they can jump waterfalls and swim hundred of kilometers to reach the spawning grounds?

If that's the argument, I don't know why marlin die on the line when they are being played for too long. As an apex predator with only sharks to worry about, and these predators travel across the ocean chasing bait schools, are they supposed to be hardy and tough?

If that's the argument, I don't know why Tiger Sharks belly up when they are being played for too long. A 14 foot Tiger Shark has no other predators aside from man, and it is as tough and hardy as you can get when it comes to apex predator.

The truth is this: over playing a fish can cause significant lactic acid buildup that a fish cannot recover from the ordeal. This has been shown. In extreme cases like marlin and tuna, they have been known to suffer heart failures (heart attacks) during extended struggle and the fish dies on the line. Although a fish may appear to swim away fine at the moment of release, recovery following release is not 100% and there is a mortality rate. As such, anything that an angler can do to land and release a fish quickly can improve survival rate...and if you are able to mitigate for fish loss, it should be done.

[TASPL-Designs]

That video was awesome. I may just try fishing for other things and if I hook one I hook one. We will see, thanks for all the info everyone.