New River Musky

[Fish&Surf757]

Im mostly a saltwater guy but I have been going to school in Radford for the last 4 years and have caught countless smallies to take my mind off of not being by the ocean. Since we are having such a nice winter, ive decided to try something new. I have seen pictures in the local tackle shop of giant musky which made me excited. i did some research and learned a little about the fish and tackle. Unfortunately, trying to find out information on musky fishing in the new river is like trying to get into area51. I have made several floats below the dam in my canoe in the last few weeks and specifically thrown musky lures over and over (large spinner baits, sebile crankbaits, top water spooks) without any luck. I know they are supposed to be the fish of a thousand casts blah blah. Well ive made 5000 casts and im starting to get bored. Does anybody have any pointers or any advice to give me about this fishery? Its supposed to be one of the best musky rivers in VA and the state record was cauught here. I tried asking a local guide i saw at the ramp for advice and he replied "Fish another 20 years like me and youll figure it out". I dont have $400 to hire a guide because im a broke college student haha. Im not asking for a secret hole or anything like that. theres just no good information about river musky on the internet. It all talks about northern lake fishing. Any hints or suggestions about these fish woul be GREATLY appreciated.

[Salmo trutta]

Look up Savage Strike http://www.trophystriperguide.net/. Find a buddy and split the guide. Do a half day trip even. Now is the time. This guy in getting into multiple fish each trip right now. Going deep with large jigs like sassy shads, the bug, bull dawgs is one way or large jerk baits too. I think you're in the right area. A canoe on the other hand is not the best tool for the job. You want to be able to stand, mostly so you can see a fish following the lure. Always do a figure 8 at the boat, they often follow it and refuse until you change direction. Go big, use top quality snaps and leaders, 100 pound floro leaders or steel. 80 pound braid to protect the expensive, heavy lures.

[Fish&Surf757]

We figured it out! Its nice to find some big fish so far away from home.

[Salmo trutta]

Nice! The bite has been very good for all the rivers around the area from pa through Va and KT. This weather is keeping them red hot. So what worked for you? What kind of retrieve and what not? THe first report is one I posted on here the other day.

www.opportunisticfisherman.blogspot.com

[Fish&Surf757]

Yea thanks for your advice. This was our third trip in the last 2 weeks and we finally got on them. I had been casting large diving lures, sebiles, spinnerbaits with no luck. We decided to get up in the eddies of the pilons under the bridge and got our first one on a 5 inch chartreuse grub down deep after a few bounces. I dont have a depth finder but i think the depth is around 15 ft. Found another one further off the bridge on a large gulp swimming mullet. I know its unconventional muskie fishing but whatever works right?

[JPritch]

Congrats on the Muskies!

Salmo Trutta, that is an awesome blog you got there.

[shoot-straight]

i was a student at VT years back. hooked and was cut off by many muskie while smallie fishing. the new is incredible. we used to put my 14' jon in at whitethorne and ride all the way up to arsinal falls and back. belieive it or not, i actually got a few HUGE LMBs as well as SMB there over the years.

enjoy.

[Remobeater]

We've been thinking about muskie fishing a bit. One of my friends said he almost got bit by one while reeling in a small sunfish. I'd say if you can get any live bait it could help you find more of them. I've heard midwest fishermen using live suckers as bait, but then you'll have to catch some sucker first. We are still trying for SMB and we haven't found much over 16". Once we starting using minnows the bass fishing was pretty decent over the summer. Thinking about trying fishing some deep areas near the claytor lake dam this weekend. Nice catch!

[dist2109]

Creek chubs are good too.

[Don Hershfeld]

When I was a fisheries student at VT, much of the 'ski effort was expended on the Whitethorne Pool, which is consistent with the theory that river musky populations are strongly skewed in favor of the largest deepest pools offering good ambush cover (laydown logs and/or weeds). One guy I knew did well fishing live sunfish below a float at weed bed edges. Others trolled large plugs. Neither approach was my cup of tea. For a year or so I lived on the river, but the musky bug did not bite me hard until later on.