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River Muskies

Posted: Thu Aug 24, 2017 12:10 am
by Grasshopper
I just moved close to the juniata river here in central Pa. It like the Susquehanna is mostly known for smallmouth bass fishing, but the juniata also has a little talk of muskies. I've never really spent much time chasing muskies so I figured I'd fish around on here for some tips. You folks from the upper Midwest That have some experience in rivers might be able to point me in the right direction.

Re: River Muskies

Posted: Thu Aug 24, 2017 12:53 am
by Mschmeiske
Remember to practice CPR! Catch. Photo. Release. :P

Re: River Muskies

Posted: Thu Aug 24, 2017 4:51 am
by Blue Ridge
The fish of a thousand casts... start working out!! :lol:

I'm not from the Midwest, but I have caught a few out of the New River. I don't purse them regularly so can't speak a lot to strategy, the two that I caught were in the summer on large inline bucktail spinners. They were hanging out around the moss beds that had grown up over the summer, now holding baitfish / gamefish etc.
I once had a musky rip a smallmouth out of my hand as I reached down to pull it into the boat. :o :shock: Awesome fish to catch that's for sure.
Think long casts... really long. Some guys prefer to troll for them.

Re: River Muskies

Posted: Thu Aug 24, 2017 10:47 am
by Grasshopper
Blue Ridge wrote:The fish of a thousand casts... start working out!! :lol:

I'm not from the Midwest, but I have caught a few out of the New River. I don't purse them regularly so can't speak a lot to strategy, the two that I caught were in the summer on large inline bucktail spinners. They were hanging out around the moss beds that had grown up over the summer, now holding baitfish / gamefish etc.
I once had a musky rip a smallmouth out of my hand as I reached down to pull it into the boat. :o :shock: Awesome fish to catch that's for sure.
Think long casts... really long. Some guys prefer to troll for them.


I watched Larry Dahlberg fish the New River for musky with a fly Fisher they were using articulated streamers it was pretty awesome. His videos are pretty cool.

Re: River Muskies

Posted: Thu Aug 24, 2017 12:27 pm
by rfickes87
My buddy at work is pretty experienced fishing the juniata. He only uses 1 lure. Live minnows. :shhh: lol. He's caught a few muskies and a ton of smallies with minnows.

Re: River Muskies

Posted: Thu Aug 24, 2017 12:31 pm
by Jonny
rfickes87 wrote:My buddy at work is pretty experienced fishing the juniata. He only uses 1 lure. Live minnows. :shhh: lol. He's caught a few muskies and a ton of smallies with minnows.


Never caught a muskie using muskie lures. But man do I catch them walleye fishing. Gets annoying real quick. I know in one day my dad and I pulled in over a dozen fishing the walleye run. Must've hit some spawning grounds or something. Got some real beauties too.

Crawlers work good as well during the summer

Re: River Muskies

Posted: Thu Aug 24, 2017 1:48 pm
by JAK
In my neck of the woods in small rivers u can't beat a one knocker spook.. under rapids is a good place to look deeper holes..

Re: River Muskies

Posted: Sat Aug 26, 2017 3:26 am
by Sam Ubl
Some considerations for river fishing muskies...

    Like any fish, muskies will face head first into the current. In 25 years of chasing these slimy green fish I can count on one hand the number of times I've seen a bait come past a fish from behind and watched that fish chase it down. It's easy to cast downstream and reel against the current for control, but you won't get bit nearly as much. Cast upstream and work your bait down the current if it's not too strong. A bait going past the fish head on is more likely to get bit, or chased, than something that blows by from behind.
    Similar to the mention above, if the current is rip-roaring, cast parallel to the current with a slight angle upstream. Doing this allows the bait to come past the faces of a musky facing into the current, plus it arrives at your feet in a better position for you to work into the figureight.
    Look for Eddy's in the current, usually an emergent boulder, or a bridge piling... Baitfish rest in those eddy pools and muskies, do, too. Whether a musky is resting in the eddy, or hunting it, the odds are in your favor to cast around that eddy.
    Cast into the same general area you believe might hold a fish many times over. It's river water, so it's unlikely to be high-visibility and the current disrupts the displacement of water made by the bait very quickly, so it could be the fish hasn't seen, or felt, your bait in the first several casts. If you believe she's there, cast at her many times over until she goes.