Joe_w1234

*TL;DR at the bottom* Hey everyone Long story short I have a smallmouth river I camped at just a few days ago. Good smallmouth, and there are also lots of muskie in there. I want to catch one. I’ve got a few spots where I know there’s at least 4 muskie, and some big ones too. I will be wading with two others. I think I might be the only one who’s actually gonna target muskie in those spots that we know are muskie territory. They will be available to help out with landing the fish, since we do NOT have a net. I know this complicates things. We should be able to land the muskie using fish grippers right? One person grabs him with the grippers, then the one who caught the muskie will use pliers to unhook him. Then the angler grabs him the “right” way and lifts him up for the third person to take pictures. Then release. Does this sound best? The fish will be sitting in the water almost the whole time. Hopefully the muskie are nice and tired out and don’t give me too much trouble during this. Alternatively I could drag the fish onto a muddy/sandy bank but that doesn’t really sound good to me. We’re trying to minimize our chances of getting injured, especially since my older brother got his finger cut decently bad by a smaller one he caught by accident who wouldn’t stop thrashing when we were there the other day. And we’re 2 hours from the closest hospital so getting injured would be a bad idea. Also I’ll buy some 11 inch pliers to use. Should gloves be used? How exactly do you hold a muskie? I am 99% sure I know how to hold it, but 60% confident in my ability to do it correctly. Then there’s the gear question. I’m planning on dropping like 60 bucks at BPS to get some muskie baits and a leader. I’ll put those on my 7’2 heavy frog rod, which has 80 pound braid on it. Two questions here: what lures? I’m thinking I’ll just get two brown or orange spinners to look like a smallmouth. And what kind of leader? I’ve heard of using steel leaders or just super heavy fluorocarbon. Another thing I thought of: I’m worried about getting all the line peeled off my reel. It’s 80 pound braid, and since it’s so thick, there’s not a ton of it on there. (My reel is a regular SLX) I think I’ll need to chase the fish if it’s big? Anything else I need to know about fighting them? As far as holding them for pictures, I’m planning on just the regular you see online, holding them horizontally by the belly and the chin. Then also a cool angle holding it by the tail and the belly right above the water with his head pointing towards the camera so you can see the teeth. That angle will look especially cool since I’m standing in the water with it. Any other tips about staying safe, or just in general about muskie fishing? Sorry this post is so long, I’ll add a TL;DR at the bottom. I think I know the answers to most of these questions, but I want to make sure I’m doing this right and staying safe, and hopefully you agree it’s a good decision to check myself here. TL;DR: I don’t know s*** about muskie fishing and want to catch them in a river.

I’ve never trusted stairs… They’re always up to something

Cool thanks

Does anyone know how much this rod weighs? Just curious, and I can’t find the weight anywhere online. Specifically the jerkbait special if it matters. I’m sure they all weigh about the same though. Thanks!

Thanks everyone. Just making sure I didn’t stumble on some amazing place that everyone knows about. I was 99.9% sure it was fake, but had to be certain.

Hey everyone. I was looking for an in-stock Expride, and stumbled upon a website called PMAABEST (pmaabestnet.top) which has tons of high end rods for only around 100 bucks. I'm just posting here to make sure that this is a scam, since I wouldn't want to pass up an NRX for 97 dollars if it was actually real. Thanks!

^^^^^ That's a very nice reel

How necessary is it to service/clean/oil my baitcaster? I would probably send it off somewhere so they can do it, because i have no idea how to take it apart and put it back together. Is this something i need to do, and if so, where can i send it?

I’ve had a similar experience at a small pond. I just limited myself to anything not on the bottom. Hopefully someone has an answer...

Any crank bait. Squarebills, lipless, anything. Maybe one fish ever.

Nice! I might have to try those out on my creeks and rivers this year.

Im in Illinois, and i fish lakes and ponds from the shore, but also some small to large rivers sprinkled in. Thank you to all who've replied with tips

So I’ve never really used crankbaits, never caught any fish on them. What are some tips for a newbie crank fisherman like me? I have some nice squarebills, but I just don’t have much confidence in them.

I snapped my rod in a car window... Then a year later I snapped the replacement in a door.

I love finding deals on Amazon. Haven't looked in a while, otherwise yall would find out about them, but last time i looked, i found some Storm Arashi Spooks for two bucks a piece in a certain color.

Used some gift cards at the local BPS. Finally decided to try a pop max and the swing head technique.

Such an inspirational player, brought so many people to the game. He will be missed.

If I cant decide what to throw, you know it’ll end up being a top water.

Yes they are the giant ones. These things are ginormous! Those look nice. Which size would you (or anyone else reading this) recommend?

So I got a pack of ZMan Giant TRDs for Christmas from a friend, and I’m wondering exactly how to use them. I’m planning on getting some magnum trd jig heads, but does anyone know what size I should get, or another way I should rig these?

Wow I had no idea that many strikes went undetected. Does palming a casting reel provide more sensitivity? Or maybe it doesn’t change it?

I did that a few years back with my first bait caster but in the car window. Don’t ask me how that happened...

I’ll be the first to say it, accidentally killing a big fish is one of the worst feelings. I gut hooked my biggest creek/river smallie of about 17 inches with a ned rig, and didn’t bring my pliers. I had to cut the line, and I was devastated the rest of the day.

^^^^ Very true

I recently got a few of their quake lipless baits, and they are beautiful. I can’t wait to throw them this year?