56 inch TANKER caught – Spring Musky Tips – Big News in MN – Musky Insider

Category: Big Fish

May 17th, 2020 by Keith Worrall 124

Modified May 17th, 2020 at 11:51 AM

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Spring/Opener Tips
The long wait is almost over for all you musky-heads in the northern states!

Southern WI opened earlier this month, northern WI is opening next weekend, and MN is opening a couple weeks after that.

Musky Opener usually means cool water and small baits fished slowly or erratically, but don’t forget to keep water temps in mind. Opening weekend will be different for folks fishin’ Minnesota vs. northern Wisconsin. Two weeks can make a big different depending on how the weather turns out….

If water temps are fairly warm out of the gate (which they might be in MN), bucktails could be big players, which is good news in our opinion!

Bucktails are great hooking baits compared to slower, more erratic spring musky lures. 10 bucktail bites = more fish in the net than 10 glide bait bites for example.

Don’t be afraid to lead with a small bucktail, especially when you have multiple casters in the boat, and follow it up with other traditional springtime offerings.

This 53.75-incher from Jesse Piele fell for a MuskyFrenzy 8/9 Stagger at the beginning of the MN season last year:

This year, Frenzy released the 8/8 Stagger (Colorado/Indiana combo) which has a slightly smaller skirt and profile. We’re excited to give it a whirl this spring and see how it produces!

Execution = Reward

Gotta love it when a perfectly executed turn and hookset leads to a big musky hitting the net!

Check out this sweet conversion from Dena Luedtke on nice Indiana ‘skie:

And here’s the final result – a great photo from the Musky Kombat crew:

Killer Paint Jobs

Let’s take a quick moment to admire these fine works of fishin’ art:

Safe to say this jointed crank from Mammoth Customs isn’t trying to “match-the-hatch” with this paint job….and that eye is totally wild!

Diggin’ the “Glitter Green Perch” pattern on this DJ Custom Baits glider 🔥

These BioBait plastics definitely aren’t musky-friendly, but oh how I’d love to see this fancy printing style on some musky plastics!

News in Minny

Gov. Walz made an “earth shaking” announcement this week.

Earth shaking for MN musky guides anyway….

Guide services can officially open for business May 18th. This is a HUGE deal for a large number of people wondering if they would make it through the summer.

The only stipulation is guides can’t have more than 2 guests in their boat at a time.

That means guides can’t pile all their friends, family and casual acquaintances in the boat for extra springtime trollin’ rods – we’re lookin’ at you, Brad! 😉

Also heard the WI Supreme Court overruled the extension of the state’s stay-at-home order. Whether or not you agree with all this, it’s lookin’ like things are starting to open up, just in time for summer.

(unless you live in Los Angeles….)

QUICK HITTERS:

– Northern WI musky opener next weekend (link)

– Spring 4-musky day w/ Todays Angler

– Fly fishing muskies in Maine (video)

– No musky egg extraction this year in Wisconsin (link)

– Charlie Baker Memorial tourney canceled (link)

– Fall 50″ river musky on a sucker

– Making a jointed lure that looks like a tiger musky

THIS WEEK’S LUNAR TIMES:
(Times based on Minneapolis)

This Week’s Monster Muskies:
Tis the season for giant muskies to grace the boats of guys and gals fishin’ for walleye and bass! This honest-to-goodness 56-incher was too hungry to wait for MN Musky Opener. Looks like Mike Buckingham wasn’t too disappointed that this wasn’t a Mille Lacs bronzeback: