Northwest Fishing Reports

what do you see rookies do day in and day out? hopefully i can get a few newbie tips and prepare myself. though i know nothing beats on the water experience. hands down its the only way to learn.



tia

Hey T Dot

I'm sure theirs a list of rookie don'ts and do's.
I can't think of a whole lot off hand. I strongly suggest learning the fine art of patience.
Many of my muskie trips end with seeing only a few fish,maybe a follow....some end with not seeing any fish at all.
Then I asked myself,"Why do people fish for these things?" But then when you get a hookup on one or net your buddies muskie,
it all comes back to you and you remember why you love this fishery so much.

I hear Bill's getting you out,he'll put you over fish. You'll be fishing with a pro.

Thought I might add,bring some pain reliever. Tylenol,Advil,....whichever,... I should talk myself up as a tough guy
but the sad reality is I'm a pansy. After a couple hours my shoulders and back ache. I usually bring a few rods,I'll take a break
and fish bass to let my shoulders relax a little more. Muskie baits are usually pretty heavy...

Rookie mistakes, well let’s see, off the top of my head …

1. Not keeping your tackle in good repair. A reel failure on the water can end your fishing trip. Winter is a good time to get service and repairs done, and early spring before your first fishing trip is a good time to make sure everything works.

2. Not retying your line often enough. The last several feet above the leader is where the line gets damaged from dragging against logs, rocks, and docks. This area should be checked frequently, both by visual inspection and feeling it between your thumb and fingers. If you find any cuts, nicks, abrasion, or fraying, cut the line off above the damaged area and retie. Inspect your leader frequently and replace it with a new leader if you find any nicks, abrasion, or other damage.

3. Fishing where they ain’t. Just because you caught a fish at Spot X in early June doesn’t mean they’ll be there in the heat of August or the chilly rains of September. Muskies move with seasons and weather changes, so you have to move, too.

4. Being a one-trick pony. If chucking bucktails over weedbeds is the only way you ever fish, you won’t catch as many fish as you would if you mastered a variety of techniques and learned when and where to use them.

5. Using the wrong lure. It’s easy to fall in love with a lure because it’s caught a nice fish, and it's tempting to keep using it day in and day out. But it caught the fish because it was a good match for the conditions, not because it possesses a mysterious allure that other lures lack. As conditions change, you must change lures. If the fish are deep, use a sinking or deep-running lure that can get down to them. In turbid water, you need a bright colored lure with plenty of flash and vibration to help the fish find it despite the poor visibility. What works in one situation is often the wrong choice for other situations. There is no universal lure that works in every situation.

6. Hone your casting skills. You don’t have to be the World’s Greatest Caster, but you do need to throw with reasonable accuracy or you’ll spend too much precious fishing time untangling lures from bushes, logs, and docks. Plus you ruin the spot by taking the boat through it to get your lure back; any fish that was laying there will be gone when you resume fishing. Casting short of the target is almost as bad, because if you’re underthrowing the lure won’t get into the strike zone and you won’t catch anything. Like anything else, good casting comes from practice.

7. Fishing the same spots in the same way on every trip. This is fine if you’re catching fish, but if you’re not, try something different – a different area, a different depth, a different type of structure … see #3 above. If what you're doing isn't working, don’t just accept fishless days; climb out of your rut and try something else.

Those are the items that come to mind right now; I’m sure there are others I can't think of right now.