First off let me let you know that I am by no means a Muskie expert, however i did find a huni hole on the river for a week last year and got into a few. Who is your guide? Crash's is a great one and so is TNT. so in my experiences let me try to help you out a bit.
The hookset... Yes they pound it, it will feel like no other freshwater fish hitting your lure especially on a fast retrieve. You will probably hook up on more than you will catch, these fish are very powerful and have a rock hard mouth full of teeth. I hooked 5 fish in that week and only caught 1.
This time of year I'm not sure what they use on cave, thats what the guide is for. I caught mine on a big 1oz Muskie spinnerbait, bluegill color. They say bright flashy colors work great though. I'm a fan of the spinnerbait, it is the summertime bait it seems.
When i was retrieving my bait i was burning it just about as fast as i could. That was just the situation i was in. Don't think These fish are scared by a 3oz bait buzzing past them.
REALISTICALLY a good fish is anyone you see, not catch, see. In muskie fishing if you get a hookup, catch or no, or a follow, that is doing good. If you catch any fish at any size you should consider it succesful. Most people would consider a muskie over 40" a trophy but there for sure 50's in cave, if you don't beleive it go to any muskie shop and there will be a few replica mounts.
In southern Muskie fishing there is a technique called the figure 8. it is when you bring your lure back to the boat instead of pulling it out and casting again, make a figure 8 right at the boat with you lure a few passes is sufficient unless you see a fish and then i would jsut keep going. go deep and bring it back up. you do this by sticking your rod in the water, but you better have both hands on the rod. A lot of times these fish will follow your bait back to the boat, sometimes you see them and sometimes you don't. This is the technique to use on every cast, i promise you that. they will absolutely still hit your bait inches from the boat, like i said they are not scared.
Catching one of these fish is addicting. They are soo mean and powerful. The one that i caught jumped completely out of the water on me 3 times, just like a smallie but 39". I love it. I hope you have a good day out there. But like i said you pay your guide the big bucks for a reason, do whatever he tells you to do, cause he knows. Also don't expect anything, If you see one you should consider it a good day.
If you have any other questions, shoot em this way, i can try and help.
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