Northwest Fishing Reports

So one of my summer fishing goals is to fish and catch some tiger muskie. I was wondering if you could give me some advise and tell me what gear I need. Also any lakes in pierce county that have them?

Thanks,
greatly appreciated

Hey dude,give me a call or I'll stop by the house.Tell your dad to have the new brew ready too.

There are a lot of web sites out there on how to catch Muskie, and Pike, and consider the Tiger Muskie a mix of the two. All of the Web sites can teach you something.

Tigers grow faster then Musike up to about 36" or so, then slower from then on. Still, they grow faster then a Pike, and cannot reproduce, so they are a great top end predator that can clean up trash fish or excess bait fish.

For a good fishing rig, a medium heavy, fast action, bait caster, in 20 to 40 pounds works pretty well. I use a heavier range with 80 pound power pro line, but I also toss huge lures. On the eastern side, that is not always necessary.

Consider Larry Dahlberg's Whopper Plopper, Meps in line Muskie Killers, etc. The list is endless, but Spinners have great attracting qualities, but follows are common. I also love, dare I tell anyone, the River2Sea S-Waver. Now that sucker knocks them dead.

Thanks Anglinarcher

Nathan, solid info there by AA and you know kevin. I can tell you from my experience, I've caught a dozen tigers from Tapps, from my tube. All have come on crankbaits while just casting and retrieving around points and docks. I use my general casting gear...medium casting rod, curado reel, with 15 lb. mono with a wire leader. I've had more follows, than I can count. Stepping up the gear will increase your odds though. Good luck,dude!

Hey Jerry it has been awhile lol
thanks for the info, really looking forward to my first musky trip :D

Sorry,been a bit busy and was in Snohomish longer than expected. Went to Tapps earlier today.
I'll give you a call back. Also saw your departments aid unit out of service downtown.
Anyhow,I'll try to help you out

Its all good I understand

Maybe in a day or two,I can provide some pics of basic gear and tools.
For the begginer,approx. a 7ft MH rod is a fine start. I use rather heavy line,Spiderwire 80lb with a 150lb flourocarbon leader. For tigers,this is overkill
but it hasn't been an issue and tigers are certainly not leader shy.
For tools,jaw spreaders are helpful but a pair of pliers and hook cutters are a must.
Sacrifice your hooks,not the fish.
As for baits,I will keep it general for now. Think of bass lures with a bigger profile. Spinnerbaits have been a very solid producer for me as well as crankbaits.
Bucktails are an excellent choice and pretty universal. There are tons of lure options out there but hopefully this is just the start for your musky fishing endeavors. Topwaters,swimbaits,big tubes,Bulldawgs,jigs will continue on the list but again,don't overwhelm yourself with everything just yet. I suppose the most important thing I can share is PATIENCE,I've met folks that have been attemtping there first musky for years. It may take awhile to get your first but the payoff will be there.
Again,this is just basic info and others can chime in.
I'll have to stop by your place and show you some of the gear etc.
Also remember the 50 inch minimum on WDFW tigers

very good info thanks Kevin
Ya I started looking at lures and reminded me lot of bass lures. SOO many though lol

, a casting or spinning reel?

R0cky23 wrote:, a casting or spinning reel?

I prefer a baitcaster,I can cast much further and cover more water but nothing wrong with a spinning reel. My wife and son use spinning gear and have done very well,especially with northerns. Use what you feel more comfortable with and you can progress from there.

ok sounds good, So would a bass fishing reel work or should I get a little bigger reel?

R0cky23 wrote:ok sounds good, So would a bass fishing reel work or should I get a little bigger reel?

If your tossing bass sized lures, then a bass sized real is perfect. Most of us that fish with large lures find that we burn up the real pretty quick if we don't upgrade.

A Shimano Curado 30 is perfect, but it is pricey as well. If you are just into the occasional Tiger Trip, just use a quality Bass real with a good drag.

I have fished with ABU 6500's, 5500's for 25+ years. They have always been reliable. Not flashy, not the easiest to cast, they just plain work. Can't beat them IMHO for the money. That being said, I have heard of some problems with them lately, but then all of mine are 10+ years old. You can land tigers on a snoopy pole if you want. The problem you will find, is the amount of stress you put on the fish. The longer you take to put her in the net, the more you stress the fish. You have to find that balance of getting her in the net, but having her tired enough she doesn't cut you up. I put one in the boat yesterday that cut me up pretty bad. She was not hooked well, so we got her in the net inside a minute. Not a good situation to be in.

ok cool, thanks for the info guys