How do you land your muskies?

[Duke]

Just curious how you all run your muskie business? Good handling and release tactics should never be taken for granted!

[hemichemi]

I'll let you know as soon as I catch one!

But I voted "Play until they begin to tire, then into a monstrous net". I would add, "just begin to tire", though.

I know it's bad to overplay them to exhaustion, but I expect it can be bad to try to net/de-hook them before they tire, since they can harm themselves thrashing too much in the net, too.

PLEASE tell me if I'm wrong about that! I don't want to be killing muskies out of ignorance.

[Will Schultz]

In most situations I'm ready to put the fish in the net by the time the person in the back of the boat has their rod put down and the net in hand. We've landed some big fish in 10-15 seconds over the years because they were hooked at the end of the retrieve or on a F-8.

[hemichemi]

So you say, "Ready with the net on the very first pass within reach"?

[Will Schultz]

One more thing to add... On deep hooked fish I will back way off and try to do the least amount of damage possible.

[Duke]

One very interesting difference, and a fortuitous one I'd say, between pike and muskies is that they behave so differently once netted. Pike seem to be vengeful- they seem to save all their energy during the fight for the moment they're in the net or especially when you begin to reach for the hooks and they go apenuts. Muskies really seem to just chill out much of the time as soon as they hit the net. Its not a hard and fast rule by any means, but it sure is thoughtful of them and handy for getting those hooks out, and saving them some added stress of a longer fight. Bottom line for me and my fishing buddies - you will never ever hear the phrase "not yet, she's too green!" Taking a green fish does take some experience and skill though, to avoid the dreaded premature release via getting the bait stuck in the net...

[ron berry]

as quick as possible...

[Pete]

Something else to add - Duke and I often get the net in hand and ready to scoop BEFORE a fish is hooked. This is done on throwbacks to hot fish, figure 8's when it's obvious they are probably going to take a swing, and also when entering into an area where a customer has been pinpointed. We have landed nice fish, had hooks out, snapped a quick pic, and had them swimming away in literally a total of a few seconds this way.

[Kingfisher]

None of the above. Every Musky hooked is a different story and trying to put a netting practice into one Idea works for all is Impossible. Michelle and I use our common sense when handling Muskies. I dont care what anyone says. Bringing a green fish into a net is hard on the fish and even more dangerous to the anglers. I also think playing one out to exaustion is not right. I use a beckman fin saver magnum. It has a huge net pen and the fish just stays in the water until it goes back. Pics are short just a few seconds. But I do NOT rush the process of handling these fish. Getting unzipped by a musky is dangerous because you could open a wrist vein and bleed to death. I will not pick up a green fish or let Michelle either. They are after all a fish, not a thing to placed above human safety. Common sense is how we approach handling muskies. We do the best we can do putting (our) safty first. We dont take pics of small fish anymore so that lets a lot our fish off in the water. I still photo fish in 45" and up range. This is a good way to limit how many you handle right there. On our Fluke Lake trip in 2006 we took pictures of only 8 fish out of 104 . Common sense. Be safe and use a big net pen if pictures are a must. Kingfisher

[Duke]

So what you are saying Mike is you have netted green fish that subsequently injured themselves, and that if you had tired them out further before netting it would have been a healthier release?

Discussion like this is the reason I posed the question, its good. Personally, I have concluded getting them into the net at the first opportunity is my preference. That is the reason and value for buying a modern muskie net. As far as our safety while unhooking, that's what our complement of tools are for. My opinion is they render the point of tiring a fish out before unhooking, for safety, moot. If someone were waiting until a fish no longer has the gas left to even headshake so that they are motionless during unhooking, I think that is uneccessary stress. Yes, I fully appreciate they are "just a fish", but again I say that release tools and a good net eliminate the trade-off between "its him or me!"

[Abomb]

I picked the net right away option. But this isn't always the best option, depending on who is doing the netting. Like my brother or some other inexperienced net person always trys to do the swoop em in like he's catching butterflies in a field. When this is done, the muskie will imediately go on an explosive run. It is better to just leave the net way down in the water and lead then into it on the closest pass.

[jasonvkop]

How many people net every fish they hook? Im going to start trying to water release smaller fish as to put as little stress on them as possible. If im going to net a fish I will net the fish at the first chance I get. However, if I am going to water release the fish I will probably play it out a little more so I can safely get the hooks out. Im not sure on this, but I would think that less stress is put on the fish by being played out more and water released than being netted and held for pictures.

[Will Schultz]

Each situation is different, of course. Much of how a fish reacts in the net is due to angler induced circumstances. Lifting the fish or pulling them toward the boat with the net or not keeping their head under water is what causes fish to thrash. Even a really green fish will calm down quickly if their head is kept under water. Out of about a 1000 fish that have gone in and out of my finsaver I can honestly say that a fish being tired or green doesn't have any relevance on how the fish behaves in the net. In my experience it is the fault of the person hurrying the unhooking process or doing something stupid (like lifting a fish with the lure in its mouth) that causes problems. The amount of time it takes to get the fish to net or how green the fish is in the net has no bearing on these bad situations.

[Steve Horton]

Wow. More differing opinions than I thought. My take.....green fish + net = twisted net, hooks buried, hurt fish, bleeding Steve. Way tired fish + warm water = stressed fish, possibly dead fish. Somewhere in between seems ideal but its not reality every time. From my experience a net in the water waiting for a fish = a fish that turns away from the net confusing the net man and usually means a real mess and/or lost fish. A good net man doesn't make a stab at the fish. He waits for the angler to say "I'm ready" and then the angler guides the fish toward the net head first as the bag is dropped from the right hand and slides it toward and under the fish. Once in the net or 3/4 in, the net man holds the net handle up so the bag collapses and fish is OK, still in the water, and won't come out. Magnum fin-saver XD Pen net by Beckman. Starting this year, I will not put fish on a bump board or girth them. I'd rather keep them in the net, and weigh them with a hanging style scale if I think its necessary. You simply weigh the net and subtract it form the total weight to get the weight of the fish.

[Steve Horton]

So Will your saying that a green fish does not have the tendency to thrash more for a longer period of time in the net vs. a fish that has made a couple runs and jumps, if you keep its head below the water, even if you're going at its face with hookcutters or pliers? Not trying to sound sarcastic, its just interesting. How does one "hurry the unhooking process"? I agree that all situations are different. With that being said, we never play a fish longer than when its willing to come to the net. If its made a couple hard pulls or tailwalked a bit, we net it when it comes along side the boat.