Fishless again

[Tony Scime]

Went out yesterday 5:30am to 10:00 am.

Started in triangle casting/dragging tubes. Several drifts with nothing. Up to Thompson's Hole, start drifting, tap, tap, tap, of the tube skittering along the rocks, then another tap, slight, almost imperceptible movement of the line, a hint of slack? The brain says yes (I wasn't thinking), and sends an immediate command through my nervous system to my arms, legs, and body followed by a contemporaneous, seemingly reflexive and involuntary motion of my arms and body setting the hook one, two, three times. All in a nano-second. How easily we are conditioned. And the brain was right, fish on. And I fight it in 5, 10 seconds. I think I got it. I think I got it. Pop....goes the muskie. Gone. Again. 

I love tubes. I know I will hook a fish or two every time out when I use them. Of course, hooking a muskie isn't catching a muskie. Especially with tubes. I've tried everything I can think of. Short rods. Long rods. Medium action rods. Extra heavy rods. Dipsey Diver rods. Cranking in like a madman. Fighting like a bass. I think my best percentage was when I used treble trailers. But the snags and the moss? Try it with trebles. So I lose half my hook-ups. But that still gives me a better chance at success, I think.

So a few more drifts, and a dozen or so more snags with nothing. I think the fish hit as the clouds cleared and the sun first broke through. 

Tired of snagging, I finished with an easy relaxing troll down the east. But nothing doing.

[Josh Ketry]

Also fished Sunday in the river. Jigged and cast from Strawberry down to well below the Grand Island bridge.  No bites or fish.   You could kind of tell it was one of those lip locked days.   Back at it again this week.  Hopefully the fish will be in a better mood. 

[Jim Kinner]

With the heavy weight of the jig heads needed to fish the river, I think the fish can use it against us to dislodge it with violent head shakes.