Successful musky anglers are a unique bunch.  Most of them have developed unique tactics over years of fishing.  Whether they realize it or not, their tactics have been molded to match their own personalities and experiences.  Therefore, a musky angler’s tactics are as unique as the individual and no two are alike.  Two anglers may each be using the same lure, but that is where the similarities usually end.  Inevitably, many subtle nuances separate one angler’s technique from that of the other.  Knowing how an angler fishes and even watching them in action does not mean that another will be able to fish like them, or especially duplicate their success.  What a successful angler is doing may not seem complicated but there is much more going on than what meets the eye or than words can explain.  All the examination in the world will not allow another person to throw a football like Brett Favre or hit a golf ball like Tiger Woods.  These are extreme examples, but it is the same for any complex and advanced set of skills.  Such skill sets are usually made up of natural aptitudes developed through practice.  Learning from other musky anglers is a great way to gain knowledge, but only practice and experience builds skill. Read More→

…..The use of an inexpensive Dremel tool will allow an angler to put a sharper point on a hook in less time.

I have extensively written and published material on the importance of hook sharpening and how to sharpen hooks.  This by no means makes me unique, as many authors have done this.  What does make my writings on this subject unique is the fact that I promote the use of a Dremel (a small hand held rotary tool) for hook sharpening, instead of a traditional flat file.  I began publishing such ideas over four years ago.  I have been using Dremels for over a decade to sharpen my hooks, and to me it just makes sense.  Most construction workers, metal workers, and craftsmen use power tools to increase the accuracy and efficiency of their work, why should fishermen be missing the boat. Read More→

First Look At The Collins

To my knowledge, the Collins River in central TN is the warmest climate musky fishery, if not the furthest south as well.  Even in a harsh winter, good musky action can be found in the Collins if water levels are right.  The Collins supports muskies at its latitude because it is spring fed with clean cool water, too cool in fact to support muskies in its farthest up stream reaches.  Trout inhabit those waters. Read More→

……If the muskies are off in one body of water, find one in which they are on.

When muskie anglers speak of a body of water that is “on”, it means that a good number of muskies in that particular environment are responding well to presentations.  The reason they are responding well to presentations is most likely because they are feeding heavily in areas where anglers are working.  The reason the muskies are feeding is usually a combination of several environmental and biological factors. Read More→

I am writing this article in response to the weather patterns that occurred during the 2007 and 2008 musky seasons.  Granted, I am only 29 years old and have completed only 17 seasons of musky fishing, but those two years brought weather conditions like I had never seen before.  There are many theories that attempt to explain the unusual weather patterns of the last few years, but I will discuss none of these theories or their validity.  Discussion of such theories ends in heated debate and that is not what this article is about.  I am writing this to discuss unusual weather I have encountered, how it affected my musky fishing, and what I learned.  Adverse weather can make fishing poor, but it can also make fishing better and even create opportunities that hadn’t previously existed. Read More→

My uncle gently placed his tackle box on the canoe floor.  We were tucked up beside a grassy bank on a small river in northern Wisconsin.  He pulled out a battered, black, Heddon Zara Spook that had been with him for many years.  Before I could even ask, he began to explain how much he loved it.  He preferred removing and re-installing the front eyelet to a forward facing position rather than the downward, factory installed position.  I watched as he casted out into the large eddie, directly beneath the rapids we had just run.  His spook danced left and right, diving down and rocketing up, through the foam that had collected on the calmest part of the eddie.  I glanced back and noticed the erratic, sharp, twitching motions he used to give life to the spook.  I had always worked mine with a very predictable rhythm and they never ran beneath or above the water with such acrobatics.  On His second cast into the eddie a 44 inch Musky consumed his spook and forever embedded that moment in my brain. Read More→

Small River, Big Musky

Often, simplicity plays a very important role in my musky fishing success.  Large amounts of tackle and big expensive boats can improve musky fishing results, but they are not necessary.  Anybody who is familiar with my writing knows that one of my basic philosophies is that muskies bite on well made presentations, not wads of cash.  The main aspects of well made presentations are:  knowledge, experience, quality tackle, proficiency with tackle, and quality lures.

A well designed lure is a lure with a lot of triggering ability.  The trigger of a lure is what causes a musky to strike.  Trigger is evident in any lure that looks good running through the water.  My favorite lure (and I have several that are close) is the Manta Hang 10.  It triggers more fish for me than any other, and it is the best running lure I have ever seen. Read More→

87 Inches Of Musky

On October 28, 2007 my wife Nicole and I visited one of my favorite small lakes and were pleasantly surprised to find that the high temperatures and algae bloom that had plagued it all season were both gone.  Visibility was 10’ and the water was 51 degrees F.  The lake, which is fairly void of structure has a few areas that consistently hold adult muskies.  We immediately began raising fish off of these locations.  Less than an hour into the day, while rounding a minor point, we raised a few large fish on consecutive casts.  Just afterward, our sucker was taken and while I looked to see were the musky was taking it, I continued my retrieve all ready in progress.  Within ten seconds of the sucker strike, my Manta Hang 10 was taken as well.  Read More→

………..Small flowages full of muskies dot the landscape of northern WI.

Small Flowage Basics

In WI, lowland reservoirs are called “flowages”.  Flowages (lowland reservoirs) differ from hill-land reservoirs.  Hill-land reservoirs have more defined shapes, usually long and narrow because of the steeper surrounding land.  Hill-land reservoirs have a well defined main channel and tributary channels.  The flooded river valleys of hill land reservoirs often look like a carrot with roots coming off of the sides.  Flowages tend to sprawl; encompassing lowlands, wetlands, and pre-existing lake basins.  Also, the topography of the channels is much less defined.  In WI, reservoirs are small compared to some that exist in North America.  Even the Petenwell, Chippewa, and Turtle Flambeau Flowages at 14,000 to 22,000 acres pale in comparison to southern, prairie, western, and Canadian reservoirs that sprawl hundreds of thousands of acres.  On the smallest end of the spectrum are the small flowages of northern WI which are no more than 250 acres in size. Read More→

It was the full moon of August 2003, I had recently graduated from college, and was trying to make a living in my home town of Ashland WI.  Of course, trying and doing are never the same thing.  I was cooking at a local restaurant, about to be a substitute teacher, working on some articles in hopes of being published, and of course fishing.

My dad and I had headed out fishing for the morning.  Unfortunately, I was due in the kitchen that afternoon.  Our destination was the Pike Chain in neighboring Bayfield County.  We would fish one of its lakes in our row boat (I was in between motors at the time).  We rowed from spot to spot on the lake.  As we went along, we moved a few muskies and caught a few panfish. Read More→