Musky Surfacing Like an Alligator

[FishinFool247]

Well I went Musky fishing yesterday for a couple hours after work and witnessed a monster musky come up to the top of the water right in front of me. But this beast of a Musky wasn't going after anything at all, it just came to the top of the water stuck it's head out casually and seemed to be looking around. It was probably the coolest and most bizarre thing I ever seen a fish do while on the water. I am 100% sure it was a musky and it was well over 40 inches probably much closer to 50 inches based on the size of the head. I threw several different lures in the area in which I saw him come up and I didn't have any luck.

Has anyone ever witnessed a musky do this type of thing before? Or does anyone know why they do it?

I tried looking it up on the internet and other people have witnessed them do this before, as for why or how often they do it I haven't a clue. I read many different peoples theories and don't know which one is right...lol

All I know is that it was awesome and I can't wait to hook into my first monster musky;) I am pretty sure I am going to be going a lot this month in search of landing one of these beasts.

[mondofish]

Just this past weekend watched an episode of River Monsters hosted by Jeremy Wade. He spoke of the exact same thing you mentioned regarding them lifting their head out of the water. Pretty cool stuff!

[Chrisper4694]

not sure why they stick their head completely out of the water but i very very often see them chilling out right on the surface, fins exposed even. problem is usually once you spook them they probably won't bite...they'll still follow lures for a little but not all the way to the boat. if they follow you to the boat you have a chance!

[yumasdad]

One thing to keep in mind with MUSY is that they do not play by the same rules as other fish as they are the top predator & know it. They are unpredictably predictable & never cease to amaze.

Have seen they ignore a big fat juicy looking MUSKY lure & smash a small spinner bait, chase a prop, flip trolled spinner baits in the air repeatedly like a cat playing with a mouse & other odd things.

My PB was caught while bass fishing with a spinner bait in 50' of water during a herring rise. The biggest one I ever saw grabbed a small spinner being trolled right after launching on the ramp. That fish snapped a 80 lb SS leader on the second attempt to net with a huge musky net which it made look small. It was a submarine with teeth that would have shattered the NJ record by feet/lbs. Yes, the hunt for that beast will continue...

[Gatto1227]

I was musky fishing once and saw something from a distance coming at my boat. Thought it was a beaver or something until it got close enough to see clearly and realized it was a huge tiger musky swimming with its whole head out of the water and it's mouth wide open. Swam so close to me that I was almost able net her. If the net didn't get caught on my rod holder I would have had her lol. I've never seen one do this before and it was awesome. I think it might have something to do with letting air in or out of the swim bladder???? Not an expert just my guess. It's not like the fish came to the surface real quick and went back down. It swam half way across the lake like this.... wild!

[yumasdad]

Probably just using the wind velocity to force down the duck it had for breakfast!

Our neighborhood has a few families of swans that rear their young by the docks. They will usually have 5-6 chicks but by the time July comes around maybe one or two left. They get really defensive about their young once they start to get down to the last 1 or 2 & keep them on land or really shallow water & are vigilant. Not they can do much to prevent a submarine attack from below.

[UglyStick]

This is a common occurrence for muskies - seen it a number of times while fishing for them. Many theories about it but no one has ever been able to really nail down a reason. The one thing I do know is that when they are doing it, you can throw the tackle box at them and they want nothing to do with it.

[FishinFool247]

I was musky fishing once and saw something from a distance coming at my boat. Thought it was a beaver or something until it got close enough to see clearly and realized it was a huge tiger musky swimming with its whole head out of the water and it's mouth wide open. Swam so close to me that I was almost able net her. If the net didn't get caught on my rod holder I would have had her lol. I've never seen one do this before and it was awesome. I think it might have something to do with letting air in or out of the swim bladder???? Not an expert just my guess. It's not like the fish came to the surface real quick and went back down. It swam half way across the lake like this.... wild!

Yeah when I first saw it I thought it was a big snapping turtle and as it got closer I could clearly see it was a musky. Some of the reasons that I have read include helping them to digest or swallow a big meal but this one seemed to actually be looking around it was so cool. I wish I had my Go-pro with me for the encounter!

[jimmythegreek]

My cousin used to be a die-hard musky guy before the wife and kids and regularly fished LH and GWL midweek for them. He watched a huge 50" class musky doing this but its focus was on a coca-cola can that was bent up and floating on the surface. It made 2 swipes at it the first time biting at it then a second pass swatting at it with its body and tail. He too thought it was a muskrat or something until he got close to it and saw what a giant it was. The fish wanted nothing to do with any lures, it was in its own world

[AndrewT]

This is a common occurrence for muskies - seen it a number of times while fishing for them. Many theories about it but no one has ever been able to really nail down a reason. The one thing I do know is that when they are doing it, you can throw the tackle box at them and they want nothing to do with it.

Nailed it 100%

[yumasdad]

FINAL WORD: MUSKY'S CAN BE ALOT LIKE WOMEN-JUST WHEN YOU THINK YOU HAVE THEM FIGURED OUT THEY WILL DO SOMETHING TO COMPLETELY DESTROY YOUR WHOLE MODEL & LEAVE YOU WITH A BROKEN SPIRIT & SPEECHLESS! (They did it to Jeremy Wade & left him with a deep respect)

WHICH COULD ALSO EXPLAIN WHY SO FEW GAY MEN FISH FOR EITHER OF THEM! :D

[thyer]

I've seen a Tiger Musky do this in the Adirondacks. Baffled me as well. Even when I got close he just kept top swimming right by me.

[buzzbaiter]

Personally I always wondered why carp jump out of the water for seemingly no reason. The best answer I've read is that maybe they just like to jump. Its fun! :D

[muskynut]

THE BEHAVIOR IS CALLED "PORPOISING"....WHEN I FIRST STARTED FISHING FOR MUSKIES I WAS TOLD ONLY THE TIGERS DO IT......HOWEVER I'VE ALSO SEEN THE TRUE STRAINS DO IT AS WELL....THEY LITERALLY STICK THEIR HEADS OUT OF THE WATER, AND SWAY IT BACK AND FORTH....I WAS ALSO TOLD THAT THEY "ARE LOOKING AROUND".....WHO KNOWS?????:confused:

[NorthJerzyG]

This is a common occurrence for muskies - seen it a number of times while fishing for them. Many theories about it but no one has ever been able to really nail down a reason. The one thing I do know is that when they are doing it, you can throw the tackle box at them and they want nothing to do with it.

Next time, just throw the tackle box at em, LITERALLY!!! Stun em for a sec and grab the net!!!!! :p

[Chrisper4694]

The jumping carp are supposedly knocking parasites off them.

[Shameless14]

cool article about carp jumping here:

https://croixblanche.wordpress.com/2010/11/10/why-do-carp-jump/

A few theories vary from adjusting the amount of air in its swim bladder or to clean the dirt from its gills. No idea about muskies though.

[FishinFool247]

Thanks for all your comments guys!

THE BEHAVIOR IS CALLED "PORPOISING"....WHEN I FIRST STARTED FISHING FOR MUSKIES I WAS TOLD ONLY THE TIGERS DO IT......HOWEVER I'VE ALSO SEEN THE TRUE STRAINS DO IT AS WELL....THEY LITERALLY STICK THEIR HEADS OUT OF THE WATER, AND SWAY IT BACK AND FORTH....I WAS ALSO TOLD THAT THEY "ARE LOOKING AROUND".....WHO KNOWS?????:confused:

Thanks! That is exactly what he was doing when I saw him!

[dakota560]

Had one on the Delaware do what you described about two weeks ago. Came to the surface in the pool we were fishing and raised it's head out of the water in a side to side motion. Unlike other reports, this lasted for only about 10 seconds and he went back down. There were about 4 guys fishing who saw it, very cool sight. Looked to be about a 45 inch true strain fish. I don't have a lot of musky experience so I'm not 100% about the type musky but consensus of other guys was true strain. Good sized fish and as everyone else has said very cool and unexpected sight.

[Jedhead]

Probably the same reason why a dog licks himself, because they can and it feels good! I've also seen them doing it numerous times, pretty cool to see.