[{"@context":"http:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BlogPosting","@id":"https:\/\/community.legendarywhitetails.com\/blog\/making-the-most-of-muskie-follows\/#BlogPosting","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/community.legendarywhitetails.com\/blog\/making-the-most-of-muskie-follows\/","headline":"Making the Most of Muskie Follows","name":"Making the Most of Muskie Follows","description":"You\u2019ve been out casting since sunrise.\u00a0 Your wrists are sore, your shoulders are tired, the sun\u2019s been beating on you...","datePublished":"2017-08-25","dateModified":"2018-12-04","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/community.legendarywhitetails.com\/author\/hagosto\/#Person","name":"Hector Agosto","url":"https:\/\/community.legendarywhitetails.com\/author\/hagosto\/","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d7bfedbdc5ef3ed8f8df91eb37e1ffbe?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d7bfedbdc5ef3ed8f8df91eb37e1ffbe?s=96&d=mm&r=g","height":96,"width":96}},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Legendary Whitetails","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"http:\/\/community.legendarywhitetails.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/logo-legendary-whitetails.png","url":"http:\/\/community.legendarywhitetails.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/logo-legendary-whitetails.png","width":522,"height":226}},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/community.legendarywhitetails.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/4V5A9929-e1503523113285.jpg","url":"https:\/\/community.legendarywhitetails.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/4V5A9929-e1503523113285.jpg","height":1136,"width":1950},"url":"https:\/\/community.legendarywhitetails.com\/blog\/making-the-most-of-muskie-follows\/","about":["Fishing"],"wordCount":1018,"keywords":["Fishing","Tips"],"articleBody":"You\u2019ve been out casting since sunrise.\u00a0 Your wrists are sore, your shoulders are tired, the sun\u2019s been beating on you all day, and you haven\u2019t even seen a fish.\u00a0 You start to wonder whether there really are any muskies in this lake or whether it\u2019s just an elaborate hoax by all the other muskie fishermen to keep you off their real favorite lakes.Suddenly, you look up to see a muskie following your lure toward the boat.\u00a0 That fish trailing your bait is the most beautiful sight you\u2019ve seen since your wife walked down the aisle.\u00a0 You mentally record everything about this moment.\u00a0 You can see the old-age version of yourself: \u201cGather around, kids and grandkids, as I tell you the tale of the muskie follow on Great Hoax Lake.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0The fish looks up to see you, turns around, and bolts off in the blink of an eye.RELATED: How To Make Muskies CommitWhile even scoring a follow from the fish of 10,000 casts can be exciting, what you do next can make the difference between just another follow and hoisting that heavy brute out of the water for photographic evidence of your catch.Here are some important tips to keep in mind when you see a muskie following behind your lure:Stay Calm! This isn\u2019t always easy to do, especially if the fish is big or you haven\u2019t seen one in a while.\u00a0 Reactions can range from smoothly transitioning into a figure eight to stopping everything (including your retrieve) to point and stare at the fish.\u00a0 Try to stick with the former of the two.\u00a0 The younger version of myself would shout loudly and point wildly, making sure everyone in the boat was aware of fish.\u00a0 For some reason, I never managed to get those muskies to bite\u2026Focus on the figure eight, not the fish. A good figure eight is a work of art.\u00a0 The lure will turn smoothly, maintaining a steady speed until you\u2019re on the outside of the first turn, when some fishermen like to slow down a bit.\u00a0 By slowing down on the turns you can make the lure appear to hang, often triggering a strike.\u00a0 Dig the lure deep when it\u2019s under you to make the fish think the bait is trying to dive to the safety of the depths.\u00a0 If you\u2019re watching the fish instead of the lure during the figure eight, you won\u2019t be making a good figure eight.If the fish doesn\u2019t bite, cast back. The fish may swim off as you begin your first turn, or may follow the lure through a dozen or more turns before swimming off.\u00a0 Either way, cast in the direction it swam off.\u00a0 If you have multiple rods rigged up, try throwing whatever is on your other rod.\u00a0 Sometimes just seeing a different bait can trigger the strike.Mark the fish on your GPS map. You do have a GPS map, don\u2019t you?\u00a0 Most fishermen have one built into their boat\u2019s electronics\/sonar.\u00a0 If your boat is a little more \u201cvintage\u201d like mine, there are many free smartphone apps that can handle this duty.\u00a0 By marking whenever you get a follow, you can get a good idea over time of the best places to fish.Keep fishing! Apex predators like muskie are often triggered to feed by environmental factors, such as weather fronts, moon movement, and pressure changes.\u00a0 If you see one active fish, chances are there are more.\u00a0 Focus especially on structure similar to where you just got a follow.\u00a0 If it was on rocks, fish more rocks.\u00a0\u00a0 If it was on weeds, work more weeds.Legendary Angler Ryan Swan with a nice muskie caught on the first cast following a follow up.Last Friday, I set out after work with fellow Legendary Whitetails angler Ryan Swan.\u00a0 I\u2019d had some previous success on this lake a few weeks ago (read about it here) and wanted to see if the fish were still biting.\u00a0 It was a beautiful evening on the lake \u2013 fairly calm with a slight wind out of the north, warm, and cloudy.\u00a0 It was a great night for drifting.\u00a0 We started on the north side of the lake and let the gentle wind push us out into deeper water.\u00a0 On our third drift, as we got out to 15 to 17 feet of water, Ryan pointed out a fish.\u00a0 It had come in far behind his retrieve and he was already pulling his lure out of the water when he saw it.\u00a0 He confidently casted back out in the direction it had gone.\u00a0 We watched his black and orange bucktail spin back to the boat with that same muskie right behind it.\u00a0 At about 4 feet from the boat, the fish lunged forward and nipped the end of the lure.\u00a0 Ryan set the hook swiftly, and a wild fight ensued.\u00a0 The fish was not hooked well, and Ryan was using my backup muskie rod, which included a spinning reel and heavy mono instead of braid.\u00a0 After a lively fight, I netted the fish, and it quickly shook the lure.That was the only muskie we saw on the trip.\u00a0 For us, casting back made the difference between an uneventful night with one lazy follow and one nice muskie who put up a heck of a fight."},{"@context":"http:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https:\/\/community.legendarywhitetails.com\/#breadcrumbitem","name":"Legendary Whitetail's Blog"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https:\/\/community.legendarywhitetails.com\/blog\/making-the-most-of-muskie-follows\/#breadcrumbitem","name":"Making the Most of Muskie Follows"}}]}]