I have found out and started to relize a pattern. I fish the potomac around the hancock area in maryland, and when i fish for smallies using jigs and tube baits every now and then i'll hook a muskie. they aren't small either, i'm talkin like 20 pounders. But when i try to catch them using 50 lb braid a 7 foot ugly stick throwin big spinners and 2 ounce jigs I dont catch anything. are they big bait shy or what am i doin wrong?  >

I think you posted this in the wrong section to get answers on this topic. Try the other species section for answers on muskies.

Harshman

They are just different from bass? If you fish the Upper Potomac river enough you will hook one on bass lures. Last year I caught 4 or 5 in the Potomac while fishing for bass. They are not lure shy but people shy? If you have one follow your bait try doing a figure 8 with it? Muskie in the Potomac like jerkbaits both soft and hard and anything they can catch. Braided line does not help much as I have seen a muskie bite straight thru 65lb braid. Where you are fishing they like to feed on the trout and suckers.

Allen

I do some Muskie fishing up here in PA and usually what occurs with Muskie is in the Spring after they spawn they hang out in the shallows and weed edges during the remainder of Spring before they move into deeper waters. They also seem to be a little tentative during this time and prefer smaller baits. Once summer comes around they move a little deeper and prefer the larger lure. Then when fall arrives, they like BIG baits. But during the spring time, being in the same habitat as the prespawn and spawning bass and preferring smaller lures, many bass fisherman catch muskie at this time. Bass fisherman do catch muskie at other times of the year (mostly walleye and smallmouth fisherman), because they fish the deeper portions of the lake that usually house the muskies, but the muskie bite for the largemouth bass fisherman usually dies out after Spring, especially if you fish shallow (not to say muskies are not in the shallows, but the ones that are seem to like a larger baits after Spring).

I don't know if this offers you any answers to your question, but in the end, enjoy catching the muskies (I know I do).