The Clio messenger., 1917-06-22
COIN AFTER MUSkY,
My Dear Buck


"tiger" of the waters, the great old
rascal that makes 'em all sit up and
doff the lid. You've bassed, trouted,
and piked and panned bit, now you
feel like taking a whirl at the boss Of
the tribe, caused no doubt by the many
tales that have been spun about this
villa of the weedbeds. No matter, old
man, how narrowing the tale, the mus
kellunge is guilty of everything that
has been said about him.
Where to Find Him.
His favorite haunt is in about 5 to
Is feet of water near the weeds, wa
ter lilies or grasses that grow in
the water, or alongside Of sub
merged rocks. He Is a solitary fell
low, don't make any friends, just lies
around waiting for a piece of food to
go swimming by, then he makes a
lightninglike dart, snaps his power
full jaws shut on his victim and swims
back to his station and gorges the
eats, ready In a minute to take an
other foray. He always strikes a
fish or lure sideways, and there Is no
special time when he Is feeding, fact is
he seems to be hungry all the time, but
he is more active from eight to eleven
In the morning and from four until
dark. When the water Is slightly
roughened by the wind and breaking In
small waves or an overcast day, Is
good musky weather, but he may sur
prise you and strike your lure while
you are trolling into shore to make
landing for the MONDAY lunch.
The Best Time.
Musky fishing Is very good In June,
unless the season is extremely cold
and backward, towards the tail end
Of July 1t slows up considerably, while
August is the poorest month for the
big chief. During dog days" his
teeth are In poor shape and you can
hardly coax strike out of him un-
less he feels so down In the mouth and
mean that he strikes from pure cuss-
edness. Like snake shedding its
skin and the deer its horns, the musky
loses Its teeth In August, but nature
packs In new set by the first of Sep
tember and the old boy is in a fine
fighting humOr for that month. BY far
the best musky fishing Is to be had In
September and October, when the chill
night air seems to fill them with an
extra supply Of pep for the food hunt
the next day. Even up into November
is not too late for the big ones, but for
downright good musky fishing 1t Is
hard to beat September and October.
Troll and Cast.
In the past most of the boys have
contented themselves with trolling for
the musky, but the real sport Of the
game Is to cast for them, using the
same method as that Of casting for
bass. In trolling for musky a silk
braided line of 20 to 30 pounds test
is about right, while a six-thread Cut
tyhunk linen line Is preferred by some.
For trolling lure the spoon hook
holds first place and Is no doubt the
best little all-round bait. Use club,
sinner, black sucker or pork rind with
spoon as an added attraction, and
IL this don't seem to make 'em curl
Gus, put a strip of red flannel about
six inches long on the hooks and let
that wiggle through the water a bit
as an enticer. Some mighty fine ones
have been caught with this rig. Most
beginners load the line with whop-
ping big spoon, even up to No. II
size. Keep her down, old man, to
No. 4 or No. 6 for the single spoon,
and No. 3 or No. for the tandem
style. For good stiff rod for the
beginner make 1t a steel one, and the
five footer will fill the bill for
either casting or trolling for the
musky. OF course IL you are a double
dyed expert you can use your lighter
rod and tackle, but unless one Is an
expert at handling the lighter tackle
he had better stick to the slightly
heavier stuff and feel more sure of the
fish. A musky can sure make a fine
outfit look like junk shop IL It's ham
died by an inexperienced fisherman.
Troll In water about 8 to II feet
deep, off the edges of the weedbeds
and over the underwater weeds;
also off the rock beds and points
Of land as well as quiet coves and
bays. Keep your rod straight out be-
hind the boat; IL you hold 1t out over
the side you put strain on 1t that
Is unnecessary and bad medicine for
any rod.
In casting for the musky keep the
boat about so feet off the casting
waters, moving the boat as noiselessly
as possible and casting In towards the
shore or feeding grounds. An all
white or white and red head artificial
minnow, or spoon and pork rind, frog
or minnow makes a good casting lure.
From the strike the fight Is fast and
gamy and you sure must keep the
slack out of the line or he'll do a
flop out Of the water and corkscrew
back on your line, which means fare
well to the musky.
DIXIE.