Musky Fishing

I was looking for any advice available for Musky fishing in Western Pa. Any information you guys can give will be greatly appreciated. I am new to the sport of Musky fishing  and was hoping for some help. Have been fishing all my life just wanted to try something a little different.

Best advice i can give you is do some reading in magizines there is a really good one out called "musky hunter" and the secound this i can pass on to you is put time in on the water. I had a 13 hour day in Min. throwing a 4 oz bucktail, in 90 degree weather to have one hooked and landed fish, and three follows. I was sore, bloody, and sun burn but worth every minute. It is taxing to spend alot of time to have minimal results. But when they hit it is all worth it.
 
 

The best thing i can say is pick one body of water and learn it well.Every year i try to learn a new body of water.Also pick 2 or 3 lures and learn them well .If you are into casting I would pick lures like a bucktail,black with crome blade is a classic.a leo jerk bait.The size depends on the body of water your.I throw basic colors like firetiger,black sucker,andwalleye.trolling you cant beat Wileys,tuffshads,and Feris pikies. Hope this  helps  Mike

call howard wagner,  call the Fish Education Center at 724-452-4464.
 
http://www.fish.state.pa.us/pafish/musky/ab_articles/2003nov_dec/00musky_fishing.htm
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06337/743058-358.stm

Tackle,
 
I have had some success fishing Woodcock Lake Outflow.  Have never really put any time in on the lake itself, but vertical jigging the fast water at the outflow and tight along the wall will produce fish.  Also, drifting live bait in the fast/white water of the flow has produced.  Nothing real big, about 30 inches was my largest, several in the mid 20's, but they still fight.  Have seen bigger ones in there.  Spring and fall seem to be the best time.
Buddy trolls up at Pymy in the spring and fall, about 10-12 ft back, 3-4 ft down.  He does extremely well.  Saw several pictures of 40-50 inch fish.  Largest he caught last fall was 52 inches.  I am begging him to tag along one weekend.  Hope that helps!!

It certainly takes a different breed to get into it heavy, but I assure you, when you hook and land your first one; you will be hooked!  Don't expect big things at first.  You need to put your time in.  Persistence is the key.  If you are more of a caster, a good place to start would be Woodcock lake (9.9 h.p. max lake)  If you're a troller, try Pymatuning or Conneaut.  Some baits of choice for me are as follow...CASTING:  bucktails, jerkbaits and small to medium cranks....I like the Leo Jerk, Shayle Shad, Wileys killer and King Jr.  TROLLING:  Wileys, Leos, Tuff Shad, Monster Shad are good to start with.  When casting, look for structure like weed beds, drop offs and points.  Edges Edges Edges are hot.  When trolling, troll the same types of structure and stay off the edges in anywhere from 6 to 15 feet of water.  Don't be afraid to troll speeds of up to 5 and 7 mph.  Usually, I use smaller baits in the spring and up-size as the water heats up.  You can also troll a little slower in the spring when the fish are more lathargic.  Usually 4 mph. is the slowest I go...I like to troll fast to cover more water.  The more water you cover, the more you learn and the more fish you go over.  Also, don't be afraid to short line limiting snagging up.  I have caught fish with less than 10' of line out trolling over weeds believe it or not.  They will even hit right in the prop wash.  Hope this helps...Good Luck in your new endevour. 
 
I didn't even cover tackle, but if you want more info, feel free to PM me.  Tight Lines.

Go to Google and Type in Red Childress then click on his page.  That fellow will tell you anything you want to know about musky fishing.  I know guys that fish Woodcock Lake, Pymo, Tamarack Lake  French Creek for them.  I don't fish for them but am always happy to hook and land one while on the creek.

Tackle,
 
I enjoy fishing for steel.  Unfortunately wife got a new job this year and I have been homebound with the kids fir the majority of the season.  I only made it up to Erie a few times this year.  My son is about 3 years from coming along and my daughter is well behind him.  Both like to fish though and I get them out to the river and a couple local lakes when I can.  I am looking forward to the opening day of trout.  Last year we fished Oil Creek, I think my son out fished me 3 to 1  It was a great day.  Hopefully he and I will have many more adventures this year.

Tacklebuster
 
I was like you about 7 years ago until i joined three rivers chapter of muskies inc.  I learned more by talking to guys and listening than i could have by reading any articles.  you have to be careful when reading articles in musky hunter because 90% of the articles deal with natural lakes in minn., wisc, or canada. completely different fishing in west. pa.  different types of weeds, structure and just different waters in general.  you got some good advice on lures and methods from your post and a real good suggestion to stick to a couple of lakes and learn them