Tiger Musky?

Does any one know when Tiger Musky start biting? I am in Spokane and thing about going out in the morning.

Thanks in advance.

Hey Beerbohm

Nice to see a eastern WA guy on the forum. Muskies are kind of like bass right now. Hit or miss. Water is constanly changing in temp and clarity. There bodies are begining to prepare for the spawn. It will take some work but you can probably catch one now. Let us know how you did.

Like i tell one of my ggod buddies they never stop biting if you put the right presentation in front of one and hes hungry he will bite no matter what time of year it is. Its all about location.

I went to Bonnie lake caught a crappy, wind blew me off then I went silver with no luck with the tiger.

should try evergreen resevoir with a big version of your bass jigs and fish it slow add a strip of smelt

Cuda you've been to evergreen reservoir? That place is so cool looking. Did you catch most of your fish on jigs?

Beerbohm don't wait for the Tigers to span because they don't. They are the top preditor in any water. Fish for them in the best ambush locations, use a 4" suspending jerkbait work it slow with very long pauses. These fish are sight feeders so don't worry about attractent smells. If you can see the fish and it is not moveing work the jerkbait in front of the fish and don't move it, let the fish come to the bait. In stained waters use a dark spinner bait with large blades that will flash at really slow retrieve speeds. Hit the best ambush locations. FISH SLOW
Bill

I am not sure when they start biting, but I say go for it.

I have been wanting to target some tiger muskies myself and never have to date, but I made these for the day I target them for the first time.



I call this one the "Patriot" because of the red, white, and blue bucktail hairs. The white hairs are touch to see with the white background but they're there. I hope it works.

They should do the trick. Again the fish are mostly sight feeders so you need to put them in the best ambush places. If you spool up with some high test floralcarbon line it will keep your baits near the surface and still allow a slow retreive. I'm thinking in the 50 lbs size. The reason I say Floralcarbon is that the fish can't see it. I wish you good hunting.
You know I would be after them If my lake was full of water.
Bill

Bill G,

I take it you mean Lake Tapps? This was the lake I have in mind to target them. I sure hope you can nail them from the shore.

Maybe we can throw some of those spinners some time.

-ib

I will do you one better when we get water I will personaly take you out in my boat and try to get a tiger on your line. Send me an e-mail and we can set the gears in motion.
Bill

Bill,

That is a mighty kind offer there that I just might take up. In the meantime, I had better start putting some more spinners together for both of us.

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!

Hey crappiehunter, You print the truth. keep it up.
Bill