Beware the Fearless Musky Hunters

Diane and I catch our fair share of big fish by chasing the little ones. Instead of flogging the water for hours with huge musky baits, we have caught several over the past ten years while perch fishing. Despite the fact that we use light tackle, six pound line, and tiny jigs, the number of hook ups we have had with muskies has been very good.

The musky usually grabs the perch near the boat in about ten feet of water. We have fought them up to five minutes without actually having them hooked. Diane had one peel off a hundred yards of line this summer. To stop the run I tried to reach in and tighten the drag on her reel. Bad idea. I lost her fish...a fact she has been slow to forgive.

Occasionally, we actually get lucky and the hook in the perch catches in the side of the musky's mouth. We don't always boat them, but below are a couple we caught and released a while back.