About 8 years ago, when I was about 14 years old, I was just starting to get into ice fishing. The first reservoir I ever ice fished was Pineview, because Doug Miller made the perch fishing sound like a ton of fun. For a while, Pineview was my exclusive ice fishing lake until I got bored of the big messes of little perch that weren’t worth the time to fillet and moved on to ice fishing trout at Scofield and Huntington. One time me and some friends were fishing by the dock and boat ramp on the west side of Pineview. We were gettin into lots of perch. My buddy was pulling one up on a two jig rig and suddenly he felt a huge tug which doubled his tiny ultralight perch pole over. It pulled and pulled until the line went all the way out to the end of the spool. We ran over to see what we could do and tried pulling the line back in slowly by hand because his little reel wouldn’t do it, and that’s when the line snapped. After a little while we figured that a tiger musky must have snatched up the perch while he was reeling it in and got hooked by one of the two jigs. Since then I have always wanted to go back and hook me a Tiger Musky with the equipment capable of bringing one to the surface.
After alot of research, and I do mean alot, I’ve come to the conclusion that this is not only possible, but with the right tactics, might not be so difficult. So I’m going to dedicate a few days this ice season once Pineview freezes up strictly to seeking tiger musky - a fish I have yet to catch. I’ve learned that they can be treated like Pike, which in Canada is considered one of the easiest fish to catch. Why is this? Because they have big appetites and aren’t finicky about what they’ll snap at. They are just different from the other species that Utah anglers are used to catching. Over the last few years, more and more people are starting to figure them out, so it’s becoming less of a rare thing. Anyway, the key to fishing them is location. Which is made harder by the ice and not being able to see.
I’ve purchased a Pineview topo map, and referenced it with other bodies of water that Pike Fishermen have good success at. Tiger Musky, like their Pike parents, are ambush predators, so they always hug cover. I’ve found some spots, which according to the guys at In-Fishermen, should be prime. There is one in particular -It’s got cover, it’s got rocks, it’s by the old river bed, and it’s by a shallower weedy section that drops off into deep water. I’ll have to drill alot of holes and move often, but my fishfinder will help out alot too. And thanks to the two pole permit, it should double my chances. Here’s what I’ll rig up:
-two good rods and reels with 14 to 20 lb. test line and a low-profile 12" wire leader.
-Lures will be bright orange and silver, and perch colored with lots of action. Jigging rapalas are killer, and so are big flashy spoons like the ones you would use to troll with and not for casting. I’ll tip with a chub head.
-The rod I am not holding will be jigged by an automatic jigger.
I was worried about the size of the ice hole in the event I ever got a really big one, but even the largest ones rarely have a girth larger than 24 inches, which is the same circumference that a typical 8" auger makes. If it is a problem though, I’ve got a plan to widen the hole. You have to plan for everything.
Hopefully with good planning and some luck I’ll be pullin my own water wolf out of an ice hole for a good picture!
Keep in mind the chub head has to be no longer than 1 inch long to conform to bait regs at pineview. Also, yes, you will have to have at least a 10 or the max 12 inch ice hole. The problem is that the tiger muskie will likely come up sideways and jam across the entrance. It will take some skill to get the head into the hole. Caught quite a few tigers while panfishing.
Sounds fun i caught a good share of tigers last year and i noticed when i used lighter line i caught more but i dont know how it would effect ice fishing i normally use 8 pound test on my reel with a 12" leader good luck
Well I have been fortunate to catch a few pike through the ice in my day and your plan sounds just like what I did for pike in Alaska. Up there I used tip-ups mostly with whole smelt or herring but I also caught them on jigging raps with small chunks of cut up smelt I also caught them on 1/2-1 oz crocidile spoons jigged agressively tipped with smelt or herring. Whenever I fish Pineview this winter I will have a tiger rod rigged with either a jigging rap or a big plastic minnow jig or a croc spoon ready to drop down with a small chunk of perch on it. I use a fishfinder so if I see something big move in suspended the tiger rod is going into action. Good luck in your quest.
Chad
Dang that Pineview 1’’ bait regulation. I almost forgot about that. I can make it work though. I guess I should lean a little bit towards a lighter line to preserve the lure action, but I don’t think I’d be comfortable to go under 14lb. test. On the other hand, I’ve learned that in some instances and lure combos a heavier line can be better because it slows the drop of the lure causing it to flutter more. The superlines like Fireline are a better choice, maybe I’ll do that. The diameter of 8lb. mono but 20lb test, more sensitive, better in the cold because they absorb less moisture, and nigh to indestructable. It’s just wierd to me to see fishing line over $20, but it might be worth it. I had my fish finder once perch fishing and I did see a couple times a larger fish suspended over them, but wasn’t geared for Tigers. It’ll be different this time. Regarding the size of the ice hole, I was at Cabela’s and saw a special ice saw that I think I could use after the initial hole is drilled. Man I can just picture my shoulders and arms being sore after a long day of doing all that.
(Icing Perch, you lucky dog. I’m trying to convince my wife that we should move to Alaska, but she hates the winter and cold and it takes all she has to put up with Utah. Maybe one day I can convince her it is a good thing.)
I am moving to Montana in the end of January and they don’t have the 1 inch restrictions on baits like here so it makes it easier when you are going after the toothe critters. Not that I am bashing Utah because I have loved living here and the fishing has been great but some of the rules are just silly. In Montana a lot of the warm water fisheries east of the Continental Divide you can use live minnows or at least whole minnows/smelt/herring. Plus most of those lakes you can use 6 lines in the winter through the ice. I am looking forward to it. Fort Peck is only about 3 hours from where I am going to be and my dad was talking to some guys up there 2 winters ago that limited out with 12 pike each averaging 16 pounds. So I am definitely looking at getting a bigger auger. My biggest northern was 12.5 pounds but only 33.5 inches long but huge girth and it was tough getting it through an 8 inch hole definitely time for the 10 inch auger when I get up there. Well hopefully as soon as Pineview gets some ice maybe we can hook up and try and get a tiger or 2.
Chad
Dude, I’m jealous. And that was a fat little pike. Probably looked like a football.
Yeah I have been fairly lucky and it was a toad of a fish. Attaching a few pics of it. The cooler it is in in a 100 quart cooler so gives you an idea just how fat it was.
Chad
Good luck in your quest! Have you been to pineview lately? Water is pretty low. Hardly any cover anywhere on the lake. You might get there and your cover is in plain sight and actually above your head from where you are standing on the ice!
That was the challenging part, but Pineview actually does have some areas of deep cover. I plan on the Tigers being 40 to 50 feet deep. This will be my starting depth. This area I plan on fishing has a rock pile that goes out into 60 feet of water all the way to the old river bed. But that’s based on the reservoir being at full capacity. So now it should be at the right depth. To the east of it it gradually goes into shallower water, but to the south its a good incline to the shore. Its a good combination. I’m going to work the rock piles as best I can at varying depths. There’s about 5 of them in the reservoir, and 3 humps. One of them is probably an island right now.
And that’s a fat pike icing perch! Good pics!
when I was there on Labor day… All 3 humps WERE Islands. (it got pretty low).
**I float tubed Pineview near the dam last week. The water level is at least 15 vertical feet down from where it was at ice-on last year. Deepest spot I could find on sonar was 50 feet and it was tough finding any depth over 46 feet. ****I had a “bite off” on a small jig, right on the bottom in 45 feet. **
**Last winter there were several tigers hooked in that area. Some of them cruise at mid depth and when you see them on your sonar you reel up to them and try to entice them. There are also tigers that hang right on the bottom and occasionally snack on the abundant perch and crappies which school up in that area. **
Slow down buddy. Pike fishing is alot different than muskie fishing. Your chances of pulling muskie after muskie out of the ice like you can pike is slim to none. I would say if you pulled out two muskies in one day you would have an excellent day.
In my experience at Pineview I have found that the perch fisherman have better luck with the muskies than the Muskie fisherman. The muskies aren’t going to be schooled up just sitting around, they are going to be following the perch around and munching on the stragglers. I have watched an Aqua-view at Pineview and the bottom is just stuffed full of perch, as soon as those perch scatter off of the aqua-view, thats when you drop the muskie stuff or reel in a perch real slow.
Most of the people that catch the Tigers are people reeling in perch or crappie. I would say your best bet is to get out with everyone else and fish for perch, just make sure to use heavier line(10lb) and buckle up.