Beerbohm,
Tigers usually always bite. Getting them to strike is another thing. From my experience they are active from ice out to ice in. Tigers are way different from true Musky. First they don't spawn. Sterile critters from the get go. The state of Washington is scared to get or have lakes with brood stock. Its afraid they will eat all the trout.Which may or may not be true. I seen more bass eat trout than musky.They are predators.And usually nail the weak or the garbage fish.Such as carp,suckers or the pike minnows.They are considered "exotics."They are feeding machines. They don't generally get to long. They get heavy. And they usually don't live for more than 15 years. So when you get a large fish consider yourself fortunate and let it go.Practice CPR,Catch, photo and release. Keep the fish in the water and handle the fish as little as possible. Use the right size net. A large Salmon type net a fin saver net is perfect. Expensive but worth it. I have seen some photos of some really mishandled Muskies here and its terrible to see. As far as fishing now. Hit it. I would personally slow troll. First its cold. Easier on the shoulders this early in the year. Troll humps, troll structure,troll the flats near some drop offs. Watch your Depth/fish finder. You see schools of small fish you'll find the Tigers. If you throw or "rip" bucktails. Weeds beds around ,hit the edges. Hit points. Usually the wind side is good. The wind will blow the bait fish over to what ever side of a point you are on. Look at the shoreline you.If there is a steep hill then there is a steep drop going down into the water. Crankbaits are good. Work them super slow though. And even now is a good time for the larger tubes. Like the tiger tubes. Again slow work'em. I am not an expert by any means. I have watched my father fish some lakes in upper Wisconsin around Crandon,Wi. And I have learned a lot from him and still I learn from him.He has been fishing Musky for nearly 50 years! He is the expert I know!
I read alot! You can learn a lot about these critters on your own. Books, magazines, the outdoor channel too! lol! Check out the internet. Muskyfirst.com, Musky411.com, Muskyhunter.com,Simplyfishing.com,petemania.com and many ,many others. I hope this helps you a little. Good luck to you!