Shenandoah River Muskies

lovedr79 · Mar 10, 2011

does anyone on here know where to find the muskies on the shenandoah? i have seen pics and heard stories, but no one will tell where.....

Scottinva · Mar 12, 2011

There is a reason they don't tell. It takes a lot of time to learn where, when and how to fish for muskies, especially in Virginia, where we don't have many. There are also a lot of people that blame the muskies for the reduced population of smallies in the Doah, so a lot of muskies are killed. Most musky fisherman release all muskies they catch so they don't want any killed. If you are in Front Royal, you are in a pretty good area. Just go fish, put your time in and you will find some. If you truely want to catch them, you really need just focus on them on your trips and not take smallie tackle. It is too easy to go back to smallie fishing if you don't see any fish. Don't expect to catch many. Out of 11 trips last year for musky, I only landed 9 fish - and for me that was a good year.

Scott

LonLB · Mar 13, 2011

Scottinva said:
There are also a lot of people that blame the muskies for the reduced population of smallies in the Doah, so a lot of muskies are killed.

Those people are wrong. A muskie may eat a smallmouth once in a great while, but it is VERY rare, and if it does happen it's an anomaly.
I would have to dig it up, but there has been a study done about the effects on a smallmouth fishery that come from a Muskies diet

Scottinva · Mar 13, 2011

I totally agree with you. However, there are some noted guides that have been saying that for a few years. We had a major smallmouth fish kill caused by other reasons for about 3-4 years in a row. It is hard to change what people think, even with facts!!

Scott

lovedr79 · Mar 17, 2011

wow! i wouldnt even think about keeping one much less killing one. there are plenty of smallies in that river. i have been trying, for two seasons, probably going to start the 2011 quest on sunday. and i do leave all the other small gear at home when i target the muskies, it just gets frustrating trying everything i have read and not finding even a little one. plus i guess it is just me i could care less about giving up my hot spots for any fish even offshore, where i am from we usually share where the fish are just so someone else might have a chance at catching a fish. well i will keep trying. and i am trying to catch one before a buddy of mine does as we have hunted and fished together since we were kids and he is now down in grenada in vet school so trying to put him on one as he has put me in position to kill many game animals and fish. chin up and keep casting i guess.

Scottinva · Mar 17, 2011

I fish south of you and have never fished that area. I would suggest calling your local VDGIF office and they can and will tell you some good areas - at least our local guys do. From what we have been told, the further north you go on the Doah, the better the musky fishing gets. They aren't called the fish of 10,000 casts for no reason!!

As far as not telling spots, I don't do it - especially on the internet. Just look at the number of views posts get. I personally witnessed one area on the James that never got much fishing pressure and the fishing was great. 1 or 2 guys started posting about it on the some smallmouth sites and the fishing pressure increased 10x - the fishing also declined.

Scott

lovedr79 · Mar 17, 2011

i hear ya there. the james is where i am from down around jordan point. we have a nice spot for huge cats. you only catch 2-3 a night from sun set to sun up. but when you hook one you are hooked on catching the huge cats. i have been all over the riverton section, all over down to route 50. even have access to the section below the dam just below riverton as that section is all private subdivisions and vdgif says they stock below the dam. have only had one siting and i wasnt there to see and confirm that it was a muskie and not a carp. was a guy from texas that wasnt sure what a carp was when i was asking for detailed desciption.