Muskie fishing is called the sport of a thousand casts because it takes a thousand casts to cross a hungry muskellunge. To cut the number down, anglers search the water for prime habitat and big muskie lurking just below the water.

Standing in the kayak reduces glare on the water and improves casting distance and accuracy. To target one of the most elusive predators in the world, plan on rigging a kayak for sight fishing.

On Your Feet

Upstate New York pro guide Justin Hausner secretly fishes for muskie when he’s not running tournaments for Kayak Bass Fishing and New York Kayak Bass Fishing. “Searching for those big, toothy critters is always fun,” he admits.

Hausner focuses on weed beds where he can cast a big lure into a hole or clearing. “Spotting the weedlines and pockets is the difference between catching fish and getting skunked,” he insists.

To make that happen, serious sight fishermen put their faith in high-quality polarized sunglasses. “Five layers of polarization and protective coatings on my Coyote Polarized glasses cut the glare and UV exposure, even in shaded water.” Amber lenses are best for green water and indirect sunlight.

[ Further reading: The Ultimate Kayak Fishing Sunglass System ]

“Standup fishing improves casting distance and accuracy, too,” Hausner adds. Being able to pitch the lure a few feet or launch it 50 yards with pin-point accuracy requires unrestricted range of movement.

For Hausner, standup fishing starts with a stable platform that is easy to maneuver. He chooses the

34-inch-wide and 12-foot-long Jackson Kayak’s Liska as his favorite standup platform. “The boat is comfortable to stand all day and short enough to paddle while standing.”

Rigging the kayak comes down to placing essential gear in easy reach and removing everything else. “Keep the net where you can reach it quickly,” Hausner suggests. Muskie can grow over 50 inches and weigh more than 50 pounds. Armed with a mouthful of punishing teeth, landing a muskie requires a huge net. Hausner recommends a folding net with a collapsible handle and rubber-coated mesh.

He recommends a boat with a flat, open cockpit and flush-mount rod holders. An elevated, frame seat provides more support and a solid foundation to stand up and fish. Once Hausner is on his feet, he moves the seat back and out of the way. “I want to use every inch of the deck,” he insists.

[ Also read: Standup Tips From Feelfree Pro AJ Morton ]

A standup angler isn’t made in one day, Hausner recommends newbies start out on a stripped-down kayak in a controlled setting. He encourages first-timers, “Practice before you go out on choppy days.” Even old pros need to stretch and warm-up before a long day on their feet. “Try to prevent legs from cramping on the water,” Hausner says.

Standing room only for trophy muskellunge. Photo: Chris Ingram
Standing room only for trophy muskellunge.
Photo: Chris Ingram

Stand and Fly

Sight fishing for muskie is popular with fly anglers, too. Searching for a target then landing the cast is a perfect application for the long rod. And muskie really like huge streamers darting across the surface.

Fly fishing guide Brian Cadoret sneaks around the backwaters of New England searching for logs lurking in the shadows. “Eighty-five percent of the time I’m standing up,” Cadoret says.

[ Also read: Tips and Tactics Fly Fishing For Muskie ]

Not only does extra elevation allow him to see through the water to structure and fish, but it allows him to track the movement of his fly. “I’m focused on my retrieve adding strips and pauses, noting the depth of the fly and changing the speed to elicit a bite,” he says.

Then the real thrill. “I’m always looking for a muskie to appear behind the lure,” he says. The giant predators are famous for stalking a lure all the way to the boat. “When the fish is close, I swirl the fly in a figure eight.”

A stand-assist strap gives the angler a third point of contact when standing or sitting. “I place my feet as wide as possible on the deck and pull myself up with the strap,” Cadoret says. Once on his feet, he tests stability. “I’m always surprised how far I can lean to the side,” he says. To improve confidence and take full advantage of the hull design, anglers should be comfortable with the limits of the boat.

[ See the largest selection of boats and gear in the Kayak Angler Buyer’s Guide ]

Cadoret looks for a boat at least 35 inches wide for standup fishing. He limits accessories to a large net, a box of flies and a large fly patch. “I take the kayak out of the wrapper and fish it,” he jokes.

Standing room only for trophy muskellunge. | Photo: Chris Ingram

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Ric Burnley
Kayak Angler editor Ric Burnley has been kayak fishing since the dawn of the sport. In 2007, Burnley wrote The Complete Kayak Fisherman, with chapters on how-to make a PVC rod holder and glue a fish finder transducer to the hull. In 2013, he landed his dream job as editor of Kayak Angler magazine. Burnley is a regular contributor to Salt Water Sportsman, Sport Fishing, Outdoor Life, In the Bite and other print and online publications. Burnley lives in Virginia Beach with his wife, adult daughter, daughter’s boyfriend and daughter’s two cats. Experience In 2004, Ric Burnley stole his first milk crate from behind a 7-Eleven and fashioned it into a gear crate for his Ocean Kayak Prowler 15. Many years and many milk crates later, Burnley has witnessed the rise of kayak fishing from a bastardized fringe element to a legitimate industry with millions of devotees. The journey to becoming an angler started early in Burnley’s life. His father, Eric Burnley, is a renowned outdoor writer and former fishing guide, so the boy grew up in the cockpit of a charter boat and in the pages of national magazines. After college, Burnley lost easy access to his father’s boat, but not his passion for fishing. Once he had exhausted the limits of land-based angling, Burnley decided to try out a new thing called kayak fishing. About the same time, Burnley was looking for extra work to pay for his expensive addiction. His father, editor of the Mid-Atlantic Fisherman Magazine, offered him freelance assignments for the weekly publication. That led to a position as regional editor at Salt Water Sportsman, publication of The Complete Kayak Fisherman and editorship of Kayak Angler. Meanwhile, Burnley and his partner-in-crime, “Kayak Kevin” Whitley were exploring the boundaries of kayak fishing. With the bountiful Chesapeake Bay and Atlantic Ocean as their playground, the two anglers were the first to target big red drum, cobia, trophy striped bass, monster black drum, sheepshead and many other species. Once inshore species were exhausted, Burnley loaded his kayak onto motorboats and fished for bluefin tuna, blackfin tuna, king mackerel and amberjack. All the while, Burnley shared his experiences and knowledge with anglers through print, photos, video, radio, seminars and online. Almost 20 years later, Burnley continues to fish obsessively and share the stories. His recent projects for Kayak Angler cover the latest trends in forward-facing sonar and remote-controlled electric motors. Over the past two decades, kayak fishing and Ric Burnley have come a long way from PVC rod holders and stolen milkcrates. Education ● Radford University: BA English; Virginia Teacher’s License. Highlights ● Other Interests: Mountain biking, traveling, hiking, surfing and skateboarding ● Day Job: High School English teacher at an alternative school for at-risk students Fun Fact Ric’s name is a contraction of Eric. Ric is named after his father, Eric Sr. To differentiate between the two Erics, Mrs. Burnley removed her son’s E. To this day, she writes the boy’s name ‘Ric, with an apostrophe replacing the E.

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