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5:04 am
March 26, 2004
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OK guys, there are now two posts here about how hard it is to catch a muskie. For you guys that keep track, I'm interested in how many hours you have (on average) between fish. We won't convert that into dollars per fish, because that would be too sad.
I think we'll be surprised by the answer; I bet the number is higher than we think, and there will be some people who do surprisingly well once they have a water figured out. When I lived in PA, I fished alot of different waters and never really hit one that really produced for me (even the Lehigh and Susky were slow for me; I think these rivers have gotten better in the last 5 years - I see more fish in those rivers than I ever did, and I'm not fishing them more often or differently). I think this message board has helped reduce the hours per fish for many people here; this did not exist when I lived in PA.
Here's my numbers for the last few years. The numbers from 2002-2005 come from fishing a marginal lake in Colorado and waters in Eastern PA a few times a year. Most of the time from 1998-2001 was spent in Central PA, with occasional trips elsewhere. Looks like my overall average is about 50 hours per fish, but if you just count PA, I was probably running more like 100 hours/fish. Only boated fish over 30" count.
2005: 63 hours, 1 fish
2004: 57 hours, 0 fish
2003: 35 hours, 0 fish
2002: 50 hours, 1 fish (skunked on a trip to Vermilion, MN - that hurt)
2001: 129 hours, 7 fish (trips to Pigeon and Chatauqua)
2000: 120 hours, 2 fish (thank God for Pigeon)
1999: 110 hours, 0 fish (bad, bad year)
1998: 64 hours, 2 fish
Hmmm....maybe I need to learn a new hobby. Or go to Canada.
Chris
12:58 pm
Im not that good at keeping my record but here is some number
60 + hr fishing the Delaware river with no fish landed then 2- two fish days = 4 fish in 3 hours total fishing .
3:28 pm
March 22, 2004
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Hey,
As Chris said, I believe it has alot to do with figuring out the water you're fishing, provided of course there is a fishable population of musky in that body of water...aka...more than just isolated fish. Some of our members spend a great deal of their time on select waters and have them figured out and produce fish consistently. Others of us, myself included, have spent too much time fishing different waters and haven't been focussed on one stretch long enough to truly know it. At least that's what I'm telling myself. 😛
D
DL
12:43 am
January 5, 2006
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CAN I PUT IN MY TWO CENTS, DL IS CORRECT IN SAYING YOU MUST LEARN YOUR WATER --AND GOING TO DIFFERENT SPOTS ALL THE TIME AREN'T HELPING HIM NEITHER ----I DID THE SAME THING TOO IN THE BEGINNING -LOOKING FOR THE BIGGER FISH --BUT IN FACT WHAT I HAVE LEARNED IS ANY WATER THAT HAS MUSKY LIVING IN IT HAS POTENTIAL TO GROW A BIG ONE I HAVE OVER THIRTY YRS. UNDER MY BELT AND JUST OVER 400 FISH LANDED FOR A TROUT OR BASS FISHERMAN THAT SUCKS ROYALLY BUT THIS IS MUSKY WE'RE TALKIN ABOUT WE ARE A SPECIAL KIND OF FOOL SPENDING $$$$$ ON DIFFERENT LURES AND SUCH -FISHING IN THE WORST WEATHER--MOSTLY BY OUR SELFS TO PUT IT SHORT [[[WE 'RE KRAZY ]] BUT WE ARE HAVING FUN AND GOT SOME GOOD STORIES OUT OF ALL THIS [NOTHING LIKE WATCHING HER HIT THAT LURE ] FRANK
12:46 am
January 5, 2006
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HEY CHRIS, LET ME KNOW WHEN YOUR IN THE AREA FRANK
2:54 am
I have yet to tally # for 2005 yet.my records only go back 3 years.
2003: 7 fish, 172 hours, avg 24.4 per fish
2004: 5fish, 154 hours, avg 30.8 per fish
3:39 am
June 23, 2004
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It took over 80 hours to catch my first Muskie, and then I had 3 fish in only 25 hours. Mr. Musky said it best - we're crazy!
Although I haven't totaled my hours up, I'd say that my average is right around what Chuck is reporting, about 30 hours per fish.
<<<<><<<
Capt. Dieter Scheel http://www.BigDRiverGuide.com
3:44 am
February 7, 2005
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I totaled the past 5 years. I logged 606 hours for 16 fish = 1 every 38 hours. Understand, I usually fish with one of my boys, much younger than I. During this same hours they caught 38 fish = 1 every 18 hours. ( I can't stand on the front of the boat and cast for 10 hrs., only stopping to change lures or net fish. My best year was 2003 with 9 fish in 210 hours = 1 every 23 hours, while my partner landed 15 fish = 1 every 14 hrs. A big factor in these better numbers is the quality of the waters fished. In 2003 we had 2 trips to The Cave and one to Chatauqua. Then there was 2004 with zero fish and only 47 hours.
Fred Jones Sr.
5:53 pm
March 26, 2004
Offline
Frank,
I'll be around over President's Day weekend. I'm not sure how much time I'll have for fishing, but I'm not far away, so if you're headed out for a few hours, I'd love to tag along. Drop me an email and we'll set something up.
Chris
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