No Nets ?

[T Dot]

my buddies and i are bass anglers. this year we have targeted larger fish, and are now moving into the swimbait realm.

since we will be upgrading our equipment to hold bigger lures, and tackle bigger fish, muskie fishing will now be within grasp. ive seen that most muskie anglers are also bass anglers, so its just a matter of time until we venture down that path.

we have one rule in the boat - no nets allowed

with that one simple rule, we have done very well this year. if i recall correctly, we did not lose a fish while trying to lip it.

:king:

is there a glove one the market that an angler can use in order to land a muskie?

thanks

[muskie guy]

T- I think you and your buddies are going to enjoy the challenges of muskie fishing. I myself heavily rely on swimbaits to fool tiger's. I use Charlie's and Bulldawg's on every outing I think. They just always seem to work for me. I imagine they are as effective on the west side as they are for me on the east side.
Lindy makes a good fish handling glove that I've seen sold at several sporting goods stores, bright orange colored thing, can't miss it. I still use a heavy leather glove myself.
I'm sure you and your buddies are not novices, but I would STRONGLY recommend the use of a large net to aide in the landing, unhooking and release process. I hand-landed fish for some time, the smaller fish aren't so difficult. But when you start messing with 20 + pound fish, it's just a different game all together. There are a lot of big teeth in that mouth.
The major concerns of course are safety, yours and the muskies and fish mortality. Do NOT leave the dock with out long nosed pliers and a pair of heavy duty cutters for cutting the hooks off of a bait. This is considered a standard practice on a badly embedded hook. Sacrifice a hook, not a fish.
The net is an effective tool for muskie anglers to help reduce stress associated with handling a fish for release. I wouldn't be on the water without my big net now. Once safely contained, the release process is significantly easier. Consider the low population density of this fish, the length of time they take to grow, increased fishing pressure on a limited resource and it clearly makes sense to make every effort to keep these fish healthy.
If your group of buddies goes out muskie fishing, please consider changing your rule to the muskie friendly "All boats have nets". And please C.P.R your toothies, but since you guys are all ready hard core bass angler's I'm sure you release all fish anyway.

[KUP]

T Dot: Welcome aboard! and come on down that path... We will pass on our experience of what works... and what does not.
Muskie Guy is right - on about the net. I know I grumbled about having the big Beckman Net Pen taking up so much room in the boat at first, but after losing a BEAUTY to a lousy cradle landing (my fault) we motored back to the truck to retrieve the net and it has been wet a few times since.
Nice to be able to take a breather and get the camera ready for the quick HORIZONTAL hold, then back she goes over the side.
Boga grips (those clamps that go on their lip) have fallen into dis-favor mostly because of damage to the fish and it is not recommended to hold any fish of that weight vertically, if you plan on C&R.

A good safe hold can be had with a little practice, under the jaw with one hand and balancing the fish's weight with your other hand. It might take a few tries (WITH glove) but that is the beauty of the net, if at first you can't grab her, you won't lose her if she is in the net at the attempt.

For some great ideas from some serious musky anglers: http://www.muskyfanatics.com
"Tools of the Trade". awesome pix there, too.

[bad esox]

Good advice Muskie Guy and Kup!
These fish do have teeth and should be handled with care. Remember our Washington "Tigers" are sterile and each fish is valuable. Have fun fishing them. Along with a net, or cradle, you might want to "beef-up" your tackle and equipment...leaders, line, lures etc...

[jigman]

I carry both a net (Frabill big kahuna) and a cradle, also a frabill. I've had occasion when a muskie has put my net out of commision on the lake by ripping a nice hole in it with thier teeth. I now carry some heavy fireline for repairing the net on the water. I've tried to handle a fish without a net and it's no picnic. I would definitely recommend carrying one in the boat, and the bigger the better. Mike.

[T Dot]

T- I think you and your buddies are going to enjoy the challenges of muskie fishing. I myself heavily rely on swimbaits to fool tiger's. I use Charlie's and Bulldawg's on every outing I think. They just always seem to work for me. I imagine they are as effective on the west side as they are for me on the east side.
Lindy makes a good fish handling glove that I've seen sold at several sporting goods stores, bright orange colored thing, can't miss it. I still use a heavy leather glove myself.
I'm sure you and your buddies are not novices, but I would STRONGLY recommend the use of a large net to aide in the landing, unhooking and release process. I hand-landed fish for some time, the smaller fish aren't so difficult. But when you start messing with 20 + pound fish, it's just a different game all together. There are a lot of big teeth in that mouth.
The major concerns of course are safety, yours and the muskies and fish mortality. Do NOT leave the dock with out long nosed pliers and a pair of heavy duty cutters for cutting the hooks off of a bait. This is considered a standard practice on a badly embedded hook. Sacrifice a hook, not a fish.
The net is an effective tool for muskie anglers to help reduce stress associated with handling a fish for release. I wouldn't be on the water without my big net now. Once safely contained, the release process is significantly easier. Consider the low population density of this fish, the length of time they take to grow, increased fishing pressure on a limited resource and it clearly makes sense to make every effort to keep these fish healthy.
If your group of buddies goes out muskie fishing, please consider changing your rule to the muskie friendly "All boats have nets". And please C.P.R your toothies, but since you guys are all ready hard core bass angler's I'm sure you release all fish anyway.

do they make gloves that have a long sleeve to them? i would like one what would wrap up to my elbow, or atleast well past my wrist.

:king:

we like the challenge of not having a net. we concentrate more on the fish, and not stumbling around the boat for the net. we are open to the idea of having nets specifically for muskie fishing, but again we are new to all of this.

how have your swimbaits put up against muskie fishing? we would mainly be throwing hard bodied lures.

[A9]

From what I've heard, you will want gloves AND a net. Musky fishing is different business then bass fishing, I'm sure your aware of that, but you wouldn't be able to lip any musky...

[T Dot]

T Dot: Welcome aboard! and come on down that path... We will pass on our experience of what works... and what does not.
Muskie Guy is right - on about the net. I know I grumbled about having the big Beckman Net Pen taking up so much room in the boat at first, but after losing a BEAUTY to a lousy cradle landing (my fault) we motored back to the truck to retrieve the net and it has been wet a few times since.
Nice to be able to take a breather and get the camera ready for the quick HORIZONTAL hold, then back she goes over the side.
Boga grips (those clamps that go on their lip) have fallen into dis-favor mostly because of damage to the fish and it is not recommended to hold any fish of that weight vertically, if you plan on C&R.

A good safe hold can be had with a little practice, under the jaw with one hand and balancing the fish's weight with your other hand. It might take a few tries (WITH glove) but that is the beauty of the net, if at first you can't grab her, you won't lose her if she is in the net at the attempt.

For some great ideas from some serious musky anglers: http://www.muskyfanatics.com
"Tools of the Trade". awesome pix there, too.

i think we are going to walk that path next year.

:king:

i worked with a buddy of mine, and we would always talk fishing. he was a hardcore muskie guy, and would tell me new stories each week. i always planned on going with him, but it just never panned out

boga grips are on the list of purchases for next year. they are the only scale that is state record approved. we wont be using the grips to hold the fish out of water, but more to secure it while its still in the water.

thanks for the link as well

[Deadeyemark]

There's some darn good advice stated above from some very good tallent so I won't be repetitive. I'd just heed what's already been stated.
Consider a worse case scenario: A badly hooked musky at the boat thrashing all around and rolling over and over. The fish is beating itself up badly against the boat and damaging itself in the line and leader because of the time involved trying to get this beautiful predator under control. You dropped you pliers in all the excitement or while trying to get a hold of the lure while this large fish is practicing survival and are now reduced to your spare(little)pliers if you have a spare.
Options: you probably don't have many since you don't have the standard release tools and no net to safely contain this musky.
End result: Worse case-a dead fish(starves) that swam away with a lure stuck in it's mouth!!!
Many times I"ve cradled a musky in the bottom of my Frabill net(not a cradle)to keep her under control and removed the hooks from her by reaching through the net material.
Control is for the safety of both you and the fish.
We've all come up the ranks and learned by our mistakes but purposely ignoring the facts would not be to smart.
I use a Frabill knotless net and a glove w/a lanyard on my pliers.
Good luck.
Give me a holler sometime if ya wanna wet a line.