As a young boy growing up on Lake Superior’s Chequamegon Bay in Ashland WI, my father would take me fishing at various shore spots along the lake.  In those days, many of the massive crumbling industrial docks (left over from Ashland’s boom days nearly a century before) still existed.  Today, most of these docks have been renovated, removed, or made off limits to the public.  One such dock was the pulp hoist dock which is now the Ashland Marina.  Today it is a modern marina with boat slips and services, but back in the day it was a beautiful derelict dock built of creosote pilings, cement, and rock falling apart into the lake.  By today’s standards, the dock would have been deemed unsafe, at that time though it was an angling paradise.  My memories of it are but brief glimpses into the past, but what I remember is an abundance of excellent wood and rock structure, steep breaklines, and fish.

I also remember fishermen and angling methods the likes of which I have never seen since.  In those days, one target specie of my father and I was yellow perch.  This was the target of many other anglers as well.  Our methods usually consisted of simple but effective live bait presentations.  But there were some old timers who used seemingly ridiculous tactics to put together long stringers of huge perch that put all others to shame.  I remember multiple stringers filled 5 and 6 feet apiece strung with jumbos.  Looking back, it is no wonder why our perch fisheries have all but collapsed.  These anglers used long flexible rods and home made lures that looked something like a Johnson silver minnow without the weed guard.  The spoon and its fixed single hook looked way too big for perch, but it worked.  The lure’s action and the bite of the perch were very subtle.  So much so, that was hard to tell exactly what was happening.  The only thing that was clear is that huge perch were being caught one after the next.  One time, one of these men took a break from his factory like production of perch to try (unsuccessfully) to show me how it was done.  The failed lesson consisted of him telling me I had a bite, me not realizing it, the lesson ending, and the old timer taking his rod back and resuming catching the beautiful delicious fish without end.  This is all I remember, but these images have haunted my mind ever since.  Looking back on it now, the memories seem surreal and dreamlike.  Nothing though was more real than the skill of those old timers who were masters of what now seems to be a lost art.  To say the least, they had “the touch” and I think their tactics would have been nearly impossible to mimic by an angler not raised in that angling tradition.  In the future I plan to research this style of fishing, but for now my memories will suffice as a shinning example of hard earned skill.

In May of 2009, I had the pleasure of fishing with my college friend Joe Pavilonis (of Muskies Inc Chapter #03) for the first time in over 6 years.  Joe and I went to school in DePere WI on the shores of the now famous musky factory known as the Fox River.  In those days, I partied more than I fished when I wasn’t in class.  It is shameful I didn’t fish more, but I suppose many of us loose our way sometimes.  Joe on the other hand, was learning the river the whole time, hitting it up whenever he could.  Since graduating, he has continued to fish the Fox regularly.  Watching Joe fish the Fox really opened my eyes to how many aspects of musky fishing I am unfamiliar with.  Joe proved his proficiency as a troller by pulling 6 lines around and amongst piers, bridge pilings, massive floating debris, and vast schools of large carp.  Each day, his expertise lead to multiple muskies.  To the untrained eye, he was just dragging lures through the water, but I could only imagine the disaster that would have ensued if I had taken the helm.  Even if I could keep everything straight, I didn’t know the river.  He knew exactly where to go and what passes to make.  Anybody who has fished the Fox and lower Green Bay knows there is a lot of water there, and that much of it looks exactly the same structurally, and that there is really no water clarity.  It is just the type of water I try to avoid, but the Fox has huge muskies.  I started to realize that Joe wasn’t making asinine passes through the river but had a plan of attack and a clear sense of where he was and where he was going without the use of a GPS.

He also proved to know locations and tactics to catch the Fox River muskies using casting presentations, which I know is very unique and unusual on that water.  As a part of the trolling team, I learned quickly, did well (I think), and caught fish.  When I tried to figure out my own casting patterns, the results were largely laughable.  On the last day we were joined by our friend Brian Zofkie (also of chapter #03) who is also a Fox River veteran and skilled trolling team member.  The three of us worked together well and had good results.  I learned a lot and began the process of developing several new skills.

First Fox River Musky

Knowledge of individual waters is as important as building and practicing skill sets.  Familiarity with the habits of individual populations of muskies is as import as the honed tactics used to catch them.  Knowing exactly how to apply a lure to certain fish is just as important as proficiency with the lure itself.

Often, I think back to the fall musky fishing I did living in northern WI before I moved to the west metro.  Fishing the deep clear water lakes in Bayfield County is much different than chasing Leech Lake muskies in the highly fertile waters of Southern MN.  MN muskies mostly stay shallow until and during freeze up, and maybe after as well, but I can’t be sure.  Northern WI muskies on the other hand, the ones living in clear deep lakes, are mostly deep come fall and have been there since mid-summer if not earlier.

In those days, I spent much of my time probing depths of 20’-40’ with massive sinking 12” Bobbies weighing 10-12 ounces.  I would cast them unless it was so cold that my tackle would ice up, in which case I would creep troll the Bobbies with powerful sweeps and long pauses.  Live bait was a good option, but often I was too poor and/or too lazy to drive to Hayward to purchase suckers.  I spent hundreds of hours working those chunks of wood, lead, and steel through the depths without anything but my knowledge of the water to guide me.  I had no sonar.  In those days, I went out in a 14’ utility boat with a small transom mount electric motor and oars for backup, and that was it.  I was well practiced though, and learned to make those Bobbies look very enticing, and I caught fish.  Days when nobody was out for whatever reason, I was out.  I caught my first 50 inch plus musky like that, and to this day it is still my only WI 50.

Even though it was only four years ago, it seems like it was much longer than that.  Sometimes I wonder if I could go back to fishing like that and be as successful as I was.  I really don’t know what I would do without my digital bow mount trolling motor and universal sonar.  I still don’t have GPS, but the GPS on my brother in law’s boat proves very useful when I fish with him.  Back in the day, all I had to concentrate on was the water, controlling my boat, and working my lure.  That concentration allowed me to develop a style that I fear I have lost, but hopefully I have just evolved into something better. The best I can describe it, is that I was feeling things out down there, and if I put in my time the muskies fell into place.   Looking back, success with such an approach seems unlikely, but I made it work and was regularly one of the more successful anglers on those waters.  I didn’t work much, I didn’t have much money, but I had a lot of time and I used it to learn how to make what I had work for me.  I had no problem telling anybody exactly what I was doing, because I didn’t think anyone would actually try it.  Most people thought I was at least a little “off”.  If others had gone out and tried it, I doubt it would have worked for them right away.  I think they would have had to put in some time to really learn the technique.

Any technique or pattern is like that though.  An angler cannot expect just to pick up the new hot lure and have it work for them right away.  They must learn that lure, and adapt its use to their own style of fishing before it will really work.  I am not saying that instant success never happens, but it is certainly the exception, not the rule.  A lure that feels foreign on the end of your line will seldom work, even if it is working for others.  To be successful with a lure, one must really get to know it.  The lure must feel like “a part of you”.  When I think back to when I first started chasing muskies, all of my tackle felt weird and foreign.  As such, I had very poor results even when fishing good spots at good times.  One thing I did notice though was that my success increased at the same rate as I became accustomed to my tackle.  My rod and reel felt great in my hands and I started to find some lures that I really liked and became more and more comfortable with.  Today, I know my lures so well that I don’t need to see them working to know if they are running correctly.  I can simply feel it.  A good running lure just feels right.  If a lure goes out of tune, it feels like a chipped tooth or new dental work.  All of my tackle is like a living part of my body, I have total control over it and am completely in tune with it.

This control and awareness has allowed me to be a successful musky angler, but it has also come at a price.  I am so in love with such a small handful of lures, that I haven’t broadened my horizons lure wise as much as I could have.  That is to say there are still some types of lures that I should be more comfortable with that I am not.  The lures I love and my tactics with them will cover almost any situation that I have ever encountered, but there are a couple of instances over the years that I can look back on and say, for instance, that I wish I knew how to “really” fish a bucktail well.  Of course, I can throw a bucktail with solid fundamentals and make it look like I know how to fish one, but I cannot “really” fish a bucktail well.  In fact, and readers may want to brace themselves for this one, of the hundreds of muskies I have caught, I have never caught a musky on a bucktail or a spinner of any type.  For years, I tied my own deer hair spinners as my go to lures for trout with great success, and one would think I would have made the connection, but no.  Call it weird.  Call it unbelievable.  Call it dumb.  Call it whatever you like, but it is true.  Check the Musky Inc. lunge log.  I developed great skill fishing spinners for trout, but none for muskies.  So therefore, I can’t “really” fish a bucktail.  I do not know Ken and Wesley Worel (two of Muskies Inc.’s more successful members when it comes to boating muskies) or anything about them really, and I hope they don’t mind me dropping their name.  I am just using them as an example of people who I think can “really” fish a bucktail.  They have designed them, had great success on them, fished them for hundreds if not thousands of hours, and thus “really” know how to fish them.

To an observer, it may seem like I could “really” fish a bucktail.  I am probably skilled enough to put on a good looking facade, but it would be nothing more than a charade.  I could not fool myself though.  I would know it in my heart and therefore it would be so.  The difference between fishing a lure and “really” fishing a lure is in the confident mindset of the user.  The ability to “really” fish a lure comes from practice, experience, and success.

The reason different anglers have different lure preferences is that they have individual personalities and different experiences.  Had I fallen in love with bucktails instead of jerkbaits, things might be different today.  I don’t consider myself a fatalist, but I don’t think it could have happened any other way, and if my lack of diversity has me hurting, at least I love every moment  I am on the water and I am never disappointed with a day of fishing.

There is an interesting phenomenon that often exists between anglers who regularly employ very different techniques.  It occurs when they are fishing the same body of water at the same time and the muskies are biting.  For example, I would be using a Manta Hang 10, and another angler a Double Cowgirl or Bulldawg for instance (not that that ever happens!).  Both of us are likely catching muskies, but if we were to switch lures, it is very likely that our action would stop, unless the other is proficient with the new lure and has confidence in it.  However, this is rarely the case, because there is a reason for the individual’s lure choice.  An unexpected unwanted lure switch would be a total monkey wrench thrown in the system of a musky angler, even if the lure was working for another in the same situation.

Many experienced musky fishermen think a tackle box should be treated like a carpenter’s tool box, and that every on the water situation has but one tool that will do the job right.  If they decide that fishing a bucktail best suites the given scenario, throwing a crankbait would be like pounding a nail with a screw driver.  However, I disagree with this mentality.  Musky fishing is not black and white.  Much like life, it consists mostly of a large gray area with very small margins of clear cut black and white, which by the way is just one of the many reasons I love musky fishing so much.  Getting back to my point, what all of this means is that when you become proficient with a single lure, you can cross boundaries with it and adapt its use to many different on the water situations.  That is why when a rookie musky angler asks me how they can shorten their learning curve to successful musky fishing, I tell them not to buy more than a few lures at first.  Unfortunately, it is usually already too late at that point, but I digress.  I recommend they pick a few they like the look of, have seen a demo and like the action of, or have watched a buddy use and/or catch muskies on.  I don’t think blind recommendations are as good.  Seeing is believing, and confidence starts with believing.  The individual is usually drawn to the lures they like, and they must make up their own mind.  If a tackle store employee is doing their job, they will tell the newbie that they need a wide range of lures.  However, I disagree.  The fewer expensive lures you have to buy, the less you have to work, and that frees up time to be out on the water learning how to fish.  All musky lures will catch muskies if one takes the time to learn any one lure as an individual.  Obviously, maximum proficiency with all types of lures is ideal, but that takes a lot of time.

I have spent enough time on the water to be proficient with all types of lures, but I am not because I haven’t tried to be.  I have not tried to be, because I just don’t enjoy using some types of lures.  In the past, my limited selection of lures I enjoy fishing (and there are very few) have made it tough for me to tackle some situations.  A few years ago though, I began to make sure that if I encountered a situation I couldn’t adapt my favorite lures to, I would find one that did, become proficient with it, and learn to like it.  Now, a few years later, I can honestly say that I have adapted a technique for every new situation I have encountered since.  I can adapt to almost any situation, but I still haven’t caught a musky on a spinner or soft plastic lure of any type.  For most situations, I have little desire to learn either of these lures.  This obviously has more to do with me as a head case, rather than the effectiveness of these lures.  Of course, they are very effective lures for many anglers.  I do want to develop some bucktail confidence for speed triggering, covering water quickly, night fishing situations, and some low water clarity situations; but I have no desire to ever use the large soft plastic lures and creatures that have become so popular, and I hope I never have to.  I am in the process of learning smaller jig and plastic combos for finesse presentations, but I put those in a separate category.

In order to be successful, I think I have to enjoy fishing the lure I am fishing.  I have to be into what I am throwing in order to fish well.  If I am not enjoying how I am fishing, it tends to defeat the purpose of being out on the water in the first place.  The goal is to catch muskies, but ultimately it is to have a good time.  So therefore I have adapted the lures I like and my presentations of them to fit most any circumstance.  Obviously, there are many who would disagree with my approach to the sport, and some of those I am sure even catch more and bigger muskies than me for less time spent on the water.  Maybe they are right, maybe not.  The point is, I don’t care.  I enjoy the way I fish and that is what matters to me the most.

Stadler Says "Do Your Own Thing"

If you enjoy the way you fish, don’t let others criticize your approach.  If you want to make a change that will help you enjoy your fishing more, do it.  If you want to catch more muskies, try adapting your presentations to really fit the individual set of circumstances you encounter every time out on the water.  This can be done by learning new lures, but it can also be done by learning an old favorite better.  Time on the water is always the key.  Fishing is a very natural sport.  It is in our very nature to try and capture living things.  Therefore, increasing angling skill and advancing as an overall fisherman should be a very natural progression.  Do what feels right, not necessarily what another suggests you do.  If a piece of advice or information seems solid, go with it; if not, don’t.  In that way, you will develop skill sets and methods that are completely unique and individual, and thus lead to greater success and more overall enjoyment of the sport.

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.

I am constantly checking the sharpness of my hooks and touching them up with my Dremel.  I will compare the sharpness of my hooks to those of any other angler world wide.  I would love to see someone produce a sharper hook point than me.  I can put an excellent point on my hooks with a flat file, but it takes much longer and is never quite as nice.  The Dremel makes many precise strokes in a very short amount of time.

Large hooks typical of musky lures are made from thicker gauge metal than small hooks.  That means that a small hook out of the box is sharper than a large hook out if the box for the simple reason that the tip is already thinner.  A small thin panfish hook is fairly sharp right out of the box, but still needs some touching up in my opinion.  I use the fraise “right out of box” a lot because no large hook right out of the box is sharp enough for me, even the new premium hooks that some say are.

The way a musky strikes a lure makes the sharpest hooks crucial.  Muskies are notorious for striking lures in a way so as not to get hooked.  They nip, slash, bump, and purposely put the parts of the lure in their mouths that have no hooks.  A musky solidly striking my lures accounts for only half of my catches.  Much of the time, muskies don’t hit lures like pike.  I cannot keep pike (even the smallest ones) from getting all tangled up in my lures.  I wish big muskies would hit my lures as well as 20” pike.  The big muskies are usually the worst ones because they are the smartest.  Smart muskies have a way of testing, closely examining, slapping, and touching lures before committing to any kind of a decent strike.  If your hooks are razor sharp though, you can hook them during these behaviors if you can get your points to stick to them.

I use a Dremel MiniMite that costs under $20.00 at Walmart.  A higher priced Dremel capable of higher rpms is not necessary, and since they are used in outdoor conditions, replacing the most inexpensive model will be more cost effective.  That being said, they are very durable.  I have soaked mine many times and dried them out with little if any damage.  Even when soaking wet, they usually continue to work.  The MiniMite is also perfect for hook sharpening because it is compact and light weight and doesn’t take up much room in the boat or backpack.  Much of the time I keep it right in my pocket or waders’ pouch.  In conjunction with the small rotary tool, I use a Dremel #952 tapered aluminum oxide grinding stone bit.

When using the Dremel I put a four sided point on my hooks.  I only sharpen the last 1/8” of the point, but I make sure there is a smooth transition between the tip of the point, the remainder of the point, and the barb.  First I sharpen the bottom of the point, then I sharpen the right and left sides, and last I bring it all together by sharpening the top.  After that, I touch up any side necessary to create the finest point.  I bring my hooks to the finest point I can possibly make.  Unfortunately, the finer the point, the easier it will dull.  I spend a lot of time fixing points during the course of my time on the water.  Many musky fishermen don’t want to spend so much time sharpening hooks, so they intentionally leave their points a little more on the stout side so they hold up against abuse a little better.  It is true that this type of point will take more abuse, but it will not catch hold on the musky as well as the ultra fine point.  Meticulous hook sharpening can become very tedious, but when a big musky lightly nudges a lure with a closed mouth and that point catches the outside of its lip, all the hard work pays off.

A steady hand is your best asset when Dremel sharpening a hook.  Steady your arms by holding your elbows tight into your sides.  Steady the hook by holding it against the lure and both the lure and hook firmly in your hand.  Further steady the hand the Dremel is in by holding a finger of that hand against the bend of the hook being sharpened or the body of the lure.  In the low speed setting, sharpen the top and sides of the point by lightly pressing the bit against the side of the point in a parallel fashion.  Sharpen the bottom side by turning the bit and Dremel in a perpendicular fashion to the point and coming up from underneath.  I like to examine my work closely while in progress, so I wear safety glasses or sun glasses to keep steel filings and aluminum oxide dust from flying in my eyes.  Practice will make perfect.  At first it is likely to catch the end of the point with the bit, severely dulling the point. Keep the bit away from the end of the point.  Only work the four sides to create the point.

I bring two Minimites with me just to be safe and two or three fully charged battery packs as well.  I charge them every night to avoid running out of juice.  I always have a spare bit on hand as well.

Using Dremels has kept my strike to caught musky ratio very high.  Missed muskies make for stories.  Landed muskies make for success.  A key example was the 2009 PMTT September qualifier on the St. Croix River, in which my tournament partner Justin Teske and I took third place.  We only took two strikes, but we put two big muskies on the board.  The second and largest musky barely got any of the lure, and came off as soon as it was in the net.  Had the hooks not been Dremel sharp, we would have been left with only guesses and disappointment.  We also would not have finished in the money.  The hook point is the first point of contact with the musky, it is crucial that they be as sharp as possible.  This task is best completed with a Dremel tool.

Justin With A Money Musky

In the modern world of musky fishing, we are surrounded by technology and its benefits.  We invest copious amounts of time and money in finding the fish, getting to the fish, and getting them to strike.  Falling flat at the moment of truth doesn’t make any sense.  It is time to step into the future of hook sharpening as well.  Dremel dynamics put more muskies in the net.

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.

Boat Side Battle

The Collins River is part of the Great Falls Reservoir system, of which the entirety has a strong population of muskies.  Great Falls has excellent water quality due to the health of its tributaries.  Muskies are constantly moving between the reservoir and its tributaries due to seasonal change in water conditions, spawning migrations, and forage migrations.  The Collins most likely has muskies that are year round residents, but also has groups of muskies that come and go during the course of the season.

The Fight Continues

The muskies in this system are very fast growing big bodied fish, and muskies well into the 50” 30lb. range have been caught recently from these waters.  A strong population density exists as well.  The waters are fertile and warm, but not so warm that the muskies can’t find cooler well oxygenated water during the heat of the Tennessee summer.  In the Collins River, the water is very fertile due to the leaching of nutrients from the limestone in its watershed.  The musky growing season goes year round.

Admiring A Tennessee Musky

At normal water level, the Collins runs a beautiful blue in color and is very clear.  The river has good current in areas and slow holes in others.  Action is excellent all year long, though I have only fished it in winter.  In January 2008, I fished it with guide Dwayne Hickey and caught 10 muskies in 3 days.  The river was low and clear, with a measured discharge of only 150 cfs.  However, we fished it slowly, quietly, and thoroughly; and had great action.  Water temperatures ranged from 36-39 F, which forced slow yet tantalizing and meticulous presentations.  It was some of the most fun I have ever had fishing in January.

Tempted By A Cast Back

Dwayne is one of the most knowledgeable musky guides on the Collins River and Great Falls Reservoir, and has an excellent secluded stretch of the river almost completely to himself.  I highly recommend breaking the winter doldrums by booking a trip with Dwayne.  When planning a trip to the Collins, make sure to keep an eye on the USGS website for measured stream flow data.  The Collins is highly subject to severe flooding under heavy rains which are common all year, but especially during winter.  Statistically speaking, the Collins has an average measured stream flow of 800-1200 cfs at its gauging station by McMinnville TN.  However, it can reach 10,000 to 20,000 cfs very easily, at which point it is not only unfishable but very dangerous as well.

One Last Look

At average discharge, the river has good clarity, but enough color to give the muskies some security.  The river is fairly fast at this discharge level, and if the water is very cold, the muskies may be reluctant to come out and chase lures.  If cold temperatures have been persistent, fishing the Collins at lower discharge levels is a good idea.  In winter, I had excellent success with Manta Hang 10’s, #14 Husky Jerks, #12 X-Raps, and live bait.  In summer, Dwayne says there is an excellent topwater bite.  Contact Dwayne at www.stonesthrowadventures.com, the website is excellent and advertises many quality fishing and adventure opportunities in the Great Falls area.

Away She Goes

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.

If a lake or river is on, it will become apparent quite quickly.  If a body of water is off it will take a little longer to determine, as muskies often take a while to respond if it is  a marginal day (which is a good day by musky fishing standards).  If nothing is moving after several hours using appropriate tactics in appropriate locations, it is safe to say the lake or river is off.  It is possible that the muskies are on but in unexpected locations and/or responding to unexpected presentations.  However, this is unlikely as muskie behavior is usually fairly predictable even though they are challenging to catch.

Muskies are predictable, and an angler has to have confidence in what he is doing.  Human society has only reached as far as it has because of our confidence in our understanding of the world around us.  If we had no such confidence, we would still be walking the Earth’s landscapes scavenging for bugs, nuts, and rotten fruits; hoping in vain not to be eaten by felines, canines, and bears.  We know how best to catch muskies, it just doesn’t always work out because they are challenging; it is just one of the many characteristics that make them beautiful.

Many factors influence whether a body of water is on or not, including those within the aquatic environment, the local weather, and the fish themselves.  All of these factors are interrelated and affect each other directly.  A successful angler pays close attention to air temperature, cloud cover, wind speed, wind direction, precipitation, electrical activity, seasonal changes, water temperature, water clarity, water current, bottom material, shoreline material, moon phase, and levels of dissolved oxygen within the water.  These factors directly affect each other and in turn affect musky behavior.

Perfect Day, Nice Tiger

Weather

Weather plays a huge role in turning muskies on and off.  Weather affects muskies in both direct and indirect manners.  The reason for this is that muskies (and all fish) are somewhat removed from the direct effect of the weather as their environment lies beneath the air water boundary.  Air temperature, light, wind, precipitation, and electrical activity all affect the aquatic environment, but their potency and nature are changed as they pass from air into water.

Air Temperature

Air temperature affects water temperature and thus musky activity.  However, air temperature often fluctuates many degrees in a matter of hours or even minutes, where as water temperature fluctuates in smaller degrees over longer periods of time.  A large change in air temperature usually only causes a relatively small change in water temperature, which usually has a big effect on muskies activity.

For example, it is July and the average daily highs have been holding steady in the mid 70’s F and water surface temperature has been steady at 73 F.  Then, on the three subsequent days, high temperatures only make it to 45 F, it will most likely take to the third day to drop water surface temperature to 70 F.  So, where as it took no more than 12 hours for the air temperature to change 30 degrees, it took the surface water near 3 days to drop only 3 degrees.  This relatively small change in water surface temperature has a large effect on musky activity.  The effect this has on the muskies is that it almost always turns them off, as the before mentioned scenario is obviously a cold front.

The rate at which air temperature affects water temperature varies depending on the disparity between the two and other external factors.  Large disparities between air and water temperature will cause quicker changes than small disparities.  High winds will cause wave action that will mix air and surface water, making for a faster change than low winds.  Sunlight, or lack there of, also affects water temperature.  Clear skies and calm water will cause water to warm or at least cool more slowly if the air temperature is much cooler than that of the water.

Temperature changes within the muskies’ environment often cause feeding or will shut feeding down.  Warming trends will usually cause muskies to feed unless stressfully warm water temperatures are reached.  Cooling trends usually cause muskies to shut down, unless it is triggering a fall feeding binge or dropping water temperatures down and out of a stressfully high range.

Sunlight and Cloud Cover

Sunlight has a large effect on musky feeding.  Muskies prove more often than not to be low light feeders.  Therefore, most anglers have the best success early in the morning, late in the evening, on overcast days, at night, and sometimes on windy days.  Many anglers overlook wind, but wind causes waves which keep much of the sunlight from entering into the aquatic environment.

In any season, I can trace most of my best fishing days to those that were overcast, those on which I hit a good low light window (morning or evening), or a combination of the two.  Cloudy mornings or evenings are great.  The only thing that seems to salvage a sunny calm day is a full moon.  Of course I have had those odd ball sunny calm days without a good moon phase that produced good action, but they have definitely proved to be a rarity.  Bright skies usually turn muskies off.

Wind Speed and Direction

Wind causes waves and water current.  Waves break up sunlight, which makes for favorable conditions.  Waves also roil up the water, a turmoil in which muskies can more successfully attack their prey.  Current attracts and concentrates forage fish which attract muskies, but muskies are drawn to current regardless of forage.  Muskies evolved in rivers, and though they are perfectly at home in the relatively still waters of lakes, they have a primal love of moving water they will never forget.  Good spots often become excellent when wind blown.  The wind usually turns muskies on.  A change in wind direction will also often trigger a narrow feeding window to occur.   If possible, when a change in wind direction occurs, get to the best spot possible or where a large musky has been recently spotted.  In rivers, strong winds blowing opposite of the current direction can cause current irregularities in a normally constant and unchanging currented environment.  Such conditions often turn river muskies on.

The wind has a tremendous amount of impact on water current, but again not all of the wind’s power is absorbed by the water.  As air is driven across the water’s surface, friction between the two causes some of the wind’s energy to transfer into the water, but certainly never all of it.  Obviously, water currents in a lake never move as fast as the wind, but river currents are a different story.  While water currents in a river usually never move as fast as air currents in a moderate wind, slower water currents are vastly more powerful than faster air currents because the water being moved has much more mass than that of the air.  Therefore the environmental effects of water current in rivers and even those lesser occurring in lakes and reservoirs should never be underestimated.  These effects will be discussed further at a later point in this article in the “Aquatic Environment” section.

The Perfect Day Continues...49 Inches

Precipitation and Electrical Activity

Precipitation usually has an excellent effect on musky fishing, although a light rain or drizzle seems to be better than a driving rain.  However, it is hard to say, because driving rain is usually associated with electrical activity which most anglers don’t fish through.  Therefore, an accurate frame of reference is hard come by.  Some of my best catches have come from rainy conditions.  A late fall snow storm can also make for some amazing action.  Mixed precipitation during fall is also another personal favorite of mine.

Electrical activity associated with approaching storm fronts can really turn muskies on.  Approaching storms can cause extremely aggressive and sometimes unusual behavior in muskies.  Hitting these narrow windows can be both action packed and risky.  I try to hit a good spot and then get to shore, but I have defiantly been caught out in some dangerous weather due to foolish judgment.  While the brief window before electrical activity can be excellent, the muskies are often off for at least a few hours after the front passes.  If the weather was very severe it may even take a day or two to get right again.  However, this is just another set of circumstances where the bad must be taken along with the good.

Change Trigger and Weather Philosophy

Good combinations of weather will make for conditions in which muskies are on, while bad combinations will turn them off as off can be.  River environments and those with dark and/or murky water are less affected by poor weather, but tough weather is hard to overcome on any body of water.  However, long periods of bad weather make the action all the better when good weather finally hits.  During long periods of excellent fishing weather, action will slow from the level it was at when the weather pattern first occurred.  It seems the novelty wears off after a few days, and that any heavy feeding needs have been met and leveled off.  Usually good weather patterns are short, so muskies feed as much as they can, but when the good weather extends, action slows off as the good weather becomes the norm.  Often, a spell of bad weather is needed to get the muskies ready to feed when the next front moves in.  Change is good, and good weather wouldn’t be good if it wasn’t for bad weather.

The Aquatic Environment

Within the aquatic environment, which is the muskies habitat, there are also many factors which affect the level of feeding and activity of muskies.  These elements are water clarity, water current, water temperature, bottom material, shoreline material, and levels of dissolved oxygen within the water.

Water Clarity

Water clarity is a huge deciding factor of whether or not muskies are on.  There are many extremes of water clarity.  I have seen clay banked musky rivers turn to brown paint with zero visibility during a light rain.  On the other end of the spectrum, I have fished clear water lakes in northern WI that have 30’ of visibility during late fall when the small amounts of summer algae completely die off.  No matter what the clarity of the water is to the human eye, muskies can see many times further through the water, and not because of the glare we experience when looking through the surface from above.  The muskies underwater vision is still many times more effective than that of a human’s through a submerged snorkeling mask for instance.  The human eye is designed to see through air, obviously the musky’s eyes (and all other fishes as well) are designed to see through water.

In clear water, as an adapted top predator, a musky can see vast distances under water to detect both potential forage and danger.  In such environments, muskies are visually aware of everything that is occurring in vast sections of their environment.  Muskies that are on and feeding with a high level of activity will move in on presentations from long distances if they like what they see.  Obviously, when combined with the muskies’ lateral line sense and awesome physical ability, high visibility makes for conditions that aren’t even fair for the muskies’ forage.  I have watched small schools of large aggressive muskies hunt large schools of crappies in shallow water, and the results were devastatingly impressive.  The crappies were fast, but the muskies were faster and surprisingly accurate.  They slashed through the schools which of course scattered seemingly to safety.  But when the musky was next seen resting a little distance away, it almost always had one of the school’s larger crappies sticking half out of its mouth.  In my experience, the actual strike was too fast even to be seen (and the water temperatures where near freezing), but they were hitting the crappies with not only accuracy, but size selection as well.

Stained water doesn’t mean low visibility.  Staining is usually caused by tanic acid (bog stain), and only tints the water various shades of brown to near black.  Stained water does have less visibility than clear more colorless water, but it can still have good visibility.  Stained water is often murky, which will cause it to have reduced visibility, but clear water can become murky also.  Murkiness is caused by fine particulate mixing with the water causing a cloudy appearance that can range from very slight to totally opaque.  The fine particulate can be algae, zooplankton, fine clay particles, fine soil particles, fine sand particles, or combinations of all.  Algae and plankton are living and high volumes can exist when conditions are suitable.  They are also usually close to neutrally buoyant and suspend within the water column or float at or near the surface with no help from any current.  Sand, soil, and clay particles are heavier though and need current, an increase in current, and/or erosive factors to come loose from lake and river beds and banks and mix with the water.  These erosive factors are wind and/or precipitation.  However, extremely fine clay and/or silt particles can become permanently suspended in even calm water.  This phenomenon is known as a colloidal suspension.

Muskies in murky water can still see to a degree depending on how murky the water is.  If the water gets too murky, they need to rely much more heavily on their lateral line sense.  It has been proven that blinded muskies can still successfully feed, but this does not mean that they do not prefer sight assisted hunting.  In my experience, very murky water almost always turns muskies off.  However, slightly murky and/or stained water can provide the muskies with a little cover under which they can feel safe feeding.  Very clear water makes it easy for muskies to feed but it also makes them very spooky and cautious.  In clear water, muskies feed much less often, as they often wait for perfect weather, though under such conditions action can be amazing.  Muskies in stained and/or slightly murky water have a much wider array of conditions under which they will prominently feed and are thus on more often.  Muskies in clear water are also more susceptible to being put down by fishing and recreational pressure than those in water with a little less visibility.

If I am faced with tough conditions, I almost always fish water with reduced visibility, opting to hit clear water when conditions are just right.  However, stained and/or slightly murky water is also best fished under the most favorable weather patterns.  If visibility gets very poor, the use of loud steady retrieve lures is usually best.  Loud topwaters are my favorite.  Occasionally, I specifically target just such a bite.

Pre-Fishing Window Reveals A Hot Spot

Water Current

Water current plays a huge role in musky location and activity.  In lakes, reservoirs, and rivers; currented areas almost always attract muskies because of the effects it has on their environment and the food chain contained within.

As currented water moves across structure in these environments, the food chain kicks into high gear.  Plankton, aquatic insects, and crustaceans are knocked free from any nook they may have been holding in.  They, along with those that were already free floating, funnel through areas of natural concentration such as narrows, saddles between islands, channels, around points, and through areas with highly erratic solid structure.  Erratic structure includes boulder fields, areas of dense timber, weedbeds comprised of dense but separate clusters, or anything with similar characteristics to the before mentioned.  These erratic solid structures will cause the water to funnel as well.

As the lowest level participants in the food chain funnel through these areas, minnows, rough fish, and panfish are drawn by their presence to feed.  Muskies will feed directly on these, but they will also feed on walleyes, pike, and bass that follow the food chain in as well.  Factor into this excitement the musky’s natural current addiction, and it is no wonder these areas can become so hot.  Muskies also use currented areas to their advantage because there is often more dissolved oxygen in these areas.  The increase in oxygen content assists the muskies physically, as it allows them to sustain more prolonged aggressive predatory activity.

Wind and wind created currents also concentrate surface water by essentially pushing it to one end of the lake.  This can cause a few different effects.  The first is a seiche tide which makes the water on the down wind side of a lake or reservoir deeper, and the water on the up wind side shallower.  An increase in depth on a down wind piece of structure can cause feeding muskies to move in and feed or at the very least cause existing muskies to turn on.

The second effect is that these currents concentrate water of a certain temperature.  Warm surface water concentrates on the down wind side of the lake, and during certain times, such as spring when muskies are seeking out warmer water, these areas can become dynamite.  A lesser known phenomenon also occurs as the warm surface water gets pushed down lake.   On the upwind end of the lake, cooler water from lower layers wells up to replace the receding warm surface water and concentrates near the shore.  If muskies are stressed by high summer water temperatures, they may take this opportunity to move in from deeper haunts to feed comfortably in the shallows of these areas as they fill with relatively cooler water.

Water Temperature and Seasonal Change

Water temperature is a major factor that influences the seasonal feeding behavior of muskies.  Depending on the season, muskies have a wide range of temperatures and temperature trends that induce heavy feeding.  For example, cooling water and a 50 F water temperature during spring or early summer usually makes for terrible fishing.  However, the same conditions during fall can cause some of the best action of the year.  During summer, muskies prefer temperatures in the low 70’s.  During spring, the water doesn’t have to be warm to have good action.  It just needs to be warming.  There is little worse for turning a body of water off than a spring cold front.  During fall, steadily cooling water temperature is often better than long periods of stable water temperature.  The cooling water seems to create a sense of urgency.  The approach of winter makes them want to feed.

Winter is an interesting time in terms of musky activity.  In many bodies of water, muskies seldom if ever show any signs of activity during winter.  Surprisingly, ice cover is not always the determining factor of this.  Some northern bodies of water have good ice fishing action at least part of the winter every year.  Conversely, some southern bodies of water that never develop any ice cover are consistently marked by poor winter fishing.  Lakes with good ice fishing for muskies are usually stumbled upon by ice anglers who are targeting other species.  Reasons for the under the ice activity could be the need for additional calories to fully develop adequate numbers of eggs in females, insufficient forage during previous months, and/or simply a specific propensity within the individual population.

In bodies of water that do not freeze, muskies are more easily caught from waters where the muskies winter in shallower water due to forage location or the limits of the body of water itself.  Muskies may be on in the cold water; but precise, meticulous, and slow presentations are often a must.  If the muskies are spread out in deep vast lake basins and river channels, the feeding muskies may be near impossible to present to effectively.  During winter, my preference is to fish shallow southern rivers.  If much of the water has a fairly strong current, it is easy to predict that most muskies will be in the deeper slower holes.  From there, it is easy to pick these areas apart with confidence that most of the muskies where presented to properly.

When the heat of summer is on, muskies use their preferred feeding grounds less and less if the water temperature in these areas reach stressful levels.  Stressful temperatures for muskies begin at 78 F and once they hit the low 80’s the situation becomes drastic.  In such conditions, muskies seek cooler water, more currented water, deeper water, or a combination of the above.  These conditions will provide physical safety and proper feeding conditions.

Ryan Starts The Day Off Right

Bottom and Shore Content

Bottom and shore content can play a large role in musky activity especially if the muskies are responding to daily or seasonal weather patterns.  For instance, if the shore and or bottom content of a lake or river are composed largely of clay, silt or other fine particulate; its water will become very murky in the presence of heavy rain and/or heavy wind.  Some bodies of water are more subject to turbidity due to precipitation rather than wind, and vice versa.  Some are heavily affected by both.  Turbid water usually turns muskies off, especially if the water in which they live has good clarity under drier and/or calmer conditions.  On such bodies of water, especially those that are turbid more often than not, muskies often come on in a big way when the water develops good clarity.  Watch for long periods of calm and/or dry weather, whatever is necessary for the particulate in the water to settle out.  Hit these waters hard during those times, and chances are, muskies will be taking advantage of the improved conditions and feeding heavily.

Certain bottom types encourage the water above them to warm faster than others.  In spring, active and feeding muskies are often attracted to bays or protected areas with dark bottoms often comprised of dead leaves, silt, and other decaying vegetation. These areas warm faster in the sun due to the dark bottom content than do areas with lighter colored bottoms such as sand.  During times when muskies seek warming water, such as early spring, these areas can really have active muskies.

Certain bottom content is best for growing the types of vegetation that muskies use most heavily.  Lakes in which the bottom content is composed mostly of sand, gravel, and, rock; seldom have large vegetative growth.  Most aquatic vegetation needs good soil to grow in much as plants on land.  Sandy content within the soil is fine, but straight sand has little if any nutrients to support good growth.  Anybody who has fished sandy infertile lakes knows that good weeds are hard to come by, but that when scraggly patches are located they can be dynamite spots.  Muskies love weeds and will work with what they are given.

The best weeds are those that grow in large vertical columns and have some spacing in between for the muskies to move comfortably through.  If such vegetation grows very thick with little spacing, then muskies will use the edges very heavily and will actually be easier to locate most of the time.

Dissolved Oxygen Levels

In rivers, where currents are usually much stronger than in lakes, muskies move between areas of varying current intensity based mostly on water temperature.  In cold water, muskies prefer low activity and thus do not want to expend the energy needed to hold in and use fast water, thus they seek out slower usually deeper water.  In excessively warm water, muskies need more oxygen but the water is only capable of carrying lower levels of dissolved oxygen.  To combat this, muskies often hold behind obstructions in shallow fast water where the emerging riverbed structure is causing the water to mix with the air, therefore increasing oxygen levels.  The muskies can hold easily while allowing the oxygenated water to pass through their gills with little if any effort on their part.  Muskies can tolerate much more current than most think.  It is impressive to watch them do their thing in water that is ripping along.  At moderate temperatures between these extremes muskies are generally found where the forage is regardless of current.

Unfortunately, I have watched some of my favorite musky lakes get very stagnant in the heat of summer.  I am sure they were nowhere near the point of summer kill, but when this happens muskies become very inactive.  As mention before, warm water cannot physically contain as much dissolved oxygen as cooler water.  On its own, water at 78 F and above will have low enough oxygen levels to make muskies much less active than at slightly cooler temperatures.  However, other problems (mainly algae bloom) often accompany overly warm water and make matters much worse.  Algae bloom causes the water to absorb more of the sun’s heat while blocking the sun from reaching aquatic vegetation.  At first, the lack of sun disables the rooted aquatic vegetation from carrying out its needed life processes, one of which is producing oxygen.  Sunlight isn’t directly used in producing oxygen.  Sunlight is used in photosynthesis which produces sugar that the plant uses for food, which creates the energy the plant needs for respiration, the process by which plants absorb carbon dioxide and produce oxygen.  This further compounds the oxygen reduction within the aquatic environment.

If heavy algae bloom persists, it will often cause rooted aquatic vegetation to starve, suffocate, and die.  As the vegetation dies, the amount of shade and thus cool water it provides reduces as well.  Algae bloom can sometimes become so thick that it impedes the wind’s ability to produce wave action which is the main source of water oxygenation in lakes.  This may sound silly, but I have encountered patches of water so thickened by algae bloom that my boat slowed down when I motored through them.  Granted, it would be an understatement to say that I don’t have the hottest of boats, but it was still very thick

Perfect Conditions Provide Another Fish

Moon Phase

Knowledge of moon phases is extremely helpful in determining whether or not muskies will be on or not.  It is a very external entity, as it interrelates with the above mentioned environmental factors very little if at all.  Yet, it is profoundly powerful in determining musky moods.  Moon phases have effects that reach far and wide and have the ability to simultaneously turn on many if not most musky waters across the musky’s home range.

My best moon phase action has occurred on full moons and the days prior.  Many people like the days following a full moon, but I have had nowhere near the results on these days than my results on the day of and the two prior.  It almost seems that the action builds and peaks and then the muskies take a break rather than the action slowly tapering.  I have experienced good action during new moon periods, but nothing quite as profound.  I have however talked to anglers who prefer a new moon to a full moon.

Get It Together

Understanding the environment and watershed in which a musky lives as well as how external factors affect it is crucial when determining whether or not the muskies are on in a certain body of water.  Checking on conditions through any resources possible prior to an outing will prevent wasting precious time and money.  A little homework goes a long way.  Obviously, on the water inspection will be the final determinant.  While fishing, quickly evaluate the water and other conditions.  If things don’t seem right and a possible better option exists, go for it if time and money allow.  Don’t beat a dead horse.

Finishing the 1-2-3 Punch

June of 2007 brought heat like I had never experienced.  Waters across Wisconsin and Minnesota warmed rapidly.  So rapidly in fact that summer peak surface temperatures of 70-74 F occurred only in narrow windows early in the season.  The heat also combined with far below average precipitation.  Less rain meant more sunny days and less fresh water to replenish lakes and water ways.  Low water combined with warmer surface temperatures and lots of sun caused many lakes to develop serious algae blooms.  The smaller lakes I fish near my west metro home were 80 degree tubs of goo by the second week of June.  Muskies willing to strike lures became hard to come by in many waters.  In waters where muskies were still being caught I heard many boat landing stories of unsuccessful releases.  Many anglers were not prepared for the quick in water releases necessary to keep muskies alive in such water temperatures.

From the middle of June to the middle of August I gave up on fishing lakes unless they were in the northern most regions of Wisconsin and Minnesota.  I opted instead to fish fast moving rivers and slow rivers with cool water tributaries.  I learned that small cool water inlets can hold many muskies if the rest of the system is 80 degrees plus.  I also learned that in fast moving rivers, muskies do not prefer the slow deep water if the water gets too warm.

The fast rivers I fished in the summer of 07 were very low due to the near drought conditions.  Because of this, I thought the muskies would be holding in the deepest water I could find.  However the deepest water I could find was also very slow and stagnant in appearance, but I fished it any way and moved no fish.  I found where the muskies were holding by accident when I quickly drifted through fast shallow water between the slow deep holes.  In these areas I began to spook numerous large muskies.  Most held tight to whatever weeds, wood, or rocks they could find; but some held to no structure at all.  Targeting these spooky fish proved very difficult and boat positioning in the fast shallow water was no picnic either.  Working against the current with my electric motor seemed to give me the best boat control and opportunity to make presentations.  I compare it to working into high winds for the best boat control.  I also found that casting to likely areas from a long distance with shallow running presentations would take a few strikes, although I still spooked many more fish than I caught.

I think the muskies were in these areas because emerging obstructions caused surface interruptions where the current mixed a little more oxygen into the water.  Also, the fast current moved as much of the slightly oxygenated water across their gills as possible with little or no effort on their part.  After all, the warmer the water is the more oxygen the muskies’ bodies require.  Unfortunately, the warmer the water becomes, the less dissolved oxygen it can contain.  Obviously, this creates a deadly combination for the muskies.  Any extended physical exertion (such as predation) can cause a decrease in the oxygen level and an increase in lactic acid within the musky, the combination of which can be lethal.  It is for this reason that muskies are much less willing to chase lures when water temperatures are 78-84 F.  If muskies are hooked during times like these, great care must be taken to play the fish as quickly as possible and minimize the time the fish is out of the water (no more than 10-15 seconds).  Never taking the fish out of the water is the most desirable.

As the dead of summer progressed into late summer, the nights began to cool and so did the water.  By the last week of August the water temperature in my rivers had dropped 6-12 degrees in a week.  I learned that extremely hot weather is needed to sustain water temps over 80 degrees in any body of water, but especially fast moving water.  Usually this means many days in the upper 80’s and lower 90’s without the usual cool north country nights.  As soon as the heat breaks, the water will cool rapidly.  In my slow rivers, the muskies moved off of the cool water inlets and began using weed edges directly adjacent when the main river temperatures hit 74 F.  In my fast moving rivers the muskies moved into more traditional locations immediately as well.  I really don’t think they liked being exposed in the shallow water.  It goes to show how desperate these fish were, that they exposed themselves like this being a creature devoted to such seclusion.

James With A 54" Monster

My lakes took a little longer to get right.  As I waited for them to cool, I experienced good action in my rivers until early October.  High water chased me off of some of the small fast ones and cooling water caused limited muskies to scatter into vast deep areas in large slow ones.

In the second week of October I began fishing lakes again.  Some were still too bloomed out.  Others were just not cooling quickly enough to get good fall action.  During the second week of October, I found water in lakes still holding in the upper 60’s F.  In September, this is when action usually gets good, but I think the muskies where wanting cooler water.  I was finding poor action and was convinced that if I found water 55 F or cooler I would find good action.  On October 15^th I found a lake with a surface temperature of 55 F.  That day I caught 42” and 48” muskies and over the following 6 day period, 5 more muskies went into my boat in 3 outings to the same lake, all 42” or longer, including a 54” monster that went to my friend James.

Some lakes however were still not ready to produce good musky fishing.  One of my favorite small lakes was still bloomed out on the 18^th of October and still not producing any substantial action.  However, I fished the same lake again on the 28^th of October and it was a whole new ball game.  The water temperature was 51 F and the bloom had died leaving the water as clear as I had ever seen it in that lake.  In 3 hours, Nicole and I moved 15 muskies over 40” and took a double measuring 44” and 43”.  Obviously the improvement in conditions caused a feeding frenzy of fish literally starved for good conditions, starved for over 4 months as a matter of fact.  Over the next two weeks, this lake put a dozen more fish in my boat 41”-48”.  I learned that the longer a lake stays bad, the better the action will be when it finally gets good.

On that same lake, the summer algae bloom killed the vast majority of its aquatic vegetation.  There just wasn’t enough clarity to allow sunlight to penetrate and sustain it.  By the time the water cleared only a few sparse weed patches existed in the entire lake, and they grew no deeper than 2-3’.  To make the situation even stranger, the crappies moved up onto the edges of these weeds in thick schools and were still there during freeze up when I stopped fishing the lake for the season.  The muskies also moved in thick to feed on the crappies, and as I tried to catch them I watched them herding the crappies against the weed edges then tearing through them.  Some would ambush the broken schools of crappie as they spooked from my boat.  It seemed that the crappies were moving too fast for the muskies, but when everything settled the musky would be lying there with a crappie half in its mouth.  This went on all day every day for two weeks.  I can only imagine the stomach contents of these muskies.  They were absolutely terrorizing these crappies in water 1.5’-3’ deep, and these weren’t small muskies either. They were all 40-48”.

Another thing that surprised me is the activity level of these muskies.  They were absolutely slashing through the crappies, even when the water reached 39 F.  When I could get them to bite my presentations (which wasn’t as often as you may think given the circumstances) they still preferred them slow, and I did try faster presentations.  It went against everything I knew about late fall muskies, and I know that cold water muskies are not usually this active, but it was certainly evidence that exceptions to this rule do exist.  I learned that fish don’t always do what they are supposed to and that muskies will follow forage anywhere, including knee deep freezing water.

My action stayed good for most of November, but then in the last week and a half of November the unseasonably warm weather turned unseasonably cold, and my lakes iced heavily before the season was done.  Months of above average temperatures turned into months of below average temperatures.  The winter of 07/08 reminded me of growing up in northern Wisconsin, even in the Twin Cities metro area.  I travel across the nation for my job, and all winter and into spring I encountered temperatures well below average with no reprieves for months.

In late January 2008 I fished muskies in central Tennessee.  Normal daily highs for that time and region are the low 50’s F, but in 3 days of fishing we experienced nothing above the upper 30’s F.  Water temperatures were 36-38 F and we had to break ice at the landing to get out.  In spite of fishing the coldest water I have ever fished we landed 13 muskies in 3 days (14 hours) of fishing.  I already knew extremely slow fishing was a must in cold water and it proved to be a valuable skill.

I didn’t get out after the muskies again until May on the southern Wisconsin River.  I had to choose my location carefully as much of the Wisconsin River that opened on the first Saturday in May was at or near flood stage.  Since summer of 07 Southern Wisconsin had received well above average precipitation, while Northern Wisconsin for the most part had been well below average levels of precipitation.  The fact that these two weather patterns bordered one another is amazing considering that they were so prolonged, severe, isolated, and opposite of each other.

So I found the northernmost stretch of the Wisconsin River in the southern zone.  Spring was behind and the river was high and cold.  Spring was behind everywhere, the icy grip of winter just wouldn’t quite let go.  I managed to salvage the trip with a decent spawn or post spawn male, but by and large the muskies were very inactive in spite of my meticulous efforts.  If the fishing is poor, I learned that sometimes a 37” musky is better than nothing even if you had to work your but off to catch it.

Later in May I fished on the Wisconsin/Michigan boundary waters and it was still cold.  In two days, I couldn’t move a musky.  I had had a lot of experience on the water I was on, and it had been a good early season producer in past years, but things were just so far behind and the fish were reluctant to say the least.  I tried every cold water tactic I knew including finesse live bait, but to no avail.  I learned that you can’t force a musky to bite, and that it is best not to waste precious resources on futile enterprises.

I fished Wisconsin’s northern zone opener on the St. Croix River.  The weeds I usually fish were still very low and the water was cool in spite of being stained.  However, we struck early during a sunrise feeding window and took a well built 44” musky and raised a few others within half an hour.  However, success in this location evaded me in the weeks to come even though conditions seemed to improve.  Sometimes the muskies don’t do what they are supposed to, but when they give you a feeding window it is best to take advantage of it.  When the bite ends, find a new one.

On the Minnesota opener I made the mistake of not fishing my local lakes in the west metro thinking they would be poor like the year previous.  However I fished the day after on the west metro to find water temperatures perfect, beautiful weed growth, no algae bloom, and active muskies.  I moved many nice fish, but took no strikes that Sunday.  Had I been there the day before to show the same muskies the first lures of the season, I am confident I would have taken a strike.  I learned that different seasonal weather patterns can bring about very different conditions from one year to the next.

I was planning to rely on rivers for most of my fishing during June and July, because I don’t like dealing with summertime pressure that most lakes receive.  However, the rivers that I fished during the droughts of the previous summer where now very high, fast, and murky.  I did find action in my local west metro lakes that hadn’t bloomed out yet due to cooler and cloudier weather than normal.  Results were spotty but when I hit it right, I had some excellent days.

The summer of 2008 was much more normal, though it was still very dry in many areas across the north land.  Surface temperatures never hit the levels they were at by late June of the previous season.  Rare storm fronts and good moon phases produced good but isolated bites for me and those I spoke with, but overall it was typical dog days.  I hit a good morning in early August, landing 4 muskies measuring 40”, 43”, 43”, and 46” in two hours all on top water.  I learned that loud surface lures can call in muskies even if there is no water clarity at all due to algae bloom.  The bite was shallow and continued on mornings if the night had been cool enough for the muskies to feel comfortable moving up.  I learned that a few degrees of surface temperature can make a big difference even if the change only lasts a few hours.  The bite always ended after the sun had been up for an hour and the water warmed again.

September came with normal cooler temperatures, but precipitation was still very low.  Lakes that I had been struggling with due to warm water and algae bloom cooled and cleared and the muskies came on big time.  Two days before the September full moon, my brother in law and I hit 6 hours of perfect weather.  It was heavily overcast with intermittent light rain and light winds.  We boated 37”, 47”, 48”, 49”, and 53” muskies and a 42” tiger.  We knew where the fish were and when they came on we hit them hard.  I learned that it pays off to track the location of fish even in not so great conditions, so that when conditions improve the cooperative fish can be targeted as efficiently as possible.

October came with the normal weather, winterlike some days, summery others.  Turnover came to different lakes at different times like usual.  To find the best action, I opted to fish lakes that had stabilized instead of trying to find action in unstable water.  Smaller shallow lakes were ready to go much before larger and deeper bodies of water.  I called it quits on my younger more foolish days of beating a dead horse, and stuck to the bodies of water in which I found stable water and biting muskies.

During November, the lake I had been counting on for a late fall hog threw me a curve ball.  Instead of staying on the weed edges until freeze up, the few big muskies I had been working on all season seemed to scatter into vast deeper water.  I didn’t have the time, resources, or patients to locate the proverbial needle in the hay stack, so when my friend Ryan got on an excellent weed edge live bait bite on another lake, I happily hit it with him until the end of the season.  His timing couldn’t have been more perfect, as my late fall go to lake from the previous season was oddly holding onto an extreme algae bloom making action very poor.  Again, don’t try to force it, the muskies will usually be biting somewhere.  You just have to look.

Cold, Dark And 51 Inches

Action peaked for Ryan and I when water surface temperatures reached 44-42 F.  Active muskies began to school up on specific structures. One evening, after moving nothing all day, I took 3 muskies from one weedy point in 45 minutes.  The last one, right at dark, measured 51”.  When water temperatures hit 41-38 F, bites became much tougher to trigger.  Slower and more precise presentations became a must.  There was no longer any time to search for muskies on unproven weedlines.  Once again, the importance of water temperature, low light conditions, and key structures was very evident.

I look forward to each new season, but make few solid long term plans.  I learned that playing the game day by day is best.  Learning from past success is excellent, but duplicating it can be tricky.  Don’t try to force it.  Let the muskies tell you when, where, and on what they will bite.  Keep an open mind and be ready for anything.  Be versatile and count nothing out.

44" River Musky Caught By Author's Uncle

Fast forward fifteen years.  I am fishing in the rear of my good friends boat on a Minneapolis Metro area lake.  We have been fishing this lake for years and have seen good numbers of large fish using the structure we are fishing.  The fall weather is perfect.  45 degrees and the rain is lightly falling. A 25 mph wind blows strong enough to keep everyone else off the lake.  We know the conditions are perfect.  In my mind I wrestle with thinking everything is perfect for my buddy and not me.  He has the front of the boat and the first cast into most of the good structure.  We both decide to fish lures we have tons of confidence in.  They happen to be the same lure.  I wanted to throw the same color, too, but I ultimately go with a much darker version.  We fall into our casting rhythm, trying to get close enough to the weed edge without getting caught up in it.

I can barely see the baitfish pattern, Hang Ten Manta beneath the churning waves.  As we weave in and out, following the weed edge, the wind shifts slightly and certain spots along the edge become more calm and visible.  I can see the most dense patches of weeds and cast right up next to them, knowing they will be excellent ambush positions for larger fish.  I reel up the slack after a cast and begin working the Manta tight to the thicker weeds.  Seeing my Manta move through the patches of weeds brings back memories and I reflect on the times with my uncle and all that he taught me during those river Musky trips.  I mimic the erratic, sharp twitching motions I had witnessed so long ago, and dance my manta through the weeds.  After a handful of erratic glides a musky rushes through the slightly murky water and t-bones the manta.  I get a full side view of the fish upon impact and after a quick, sweeping hook-set, immediately exclaim, “fish…big fish!”  This is the reward we expect on such a day.  After a well fought battle and multiple drag peeling runs, my buddy, Adam, put the net under my personal best to date.

Author's 53" Personal Best

These days, there is a vast forest of techniques in the musky fishing world. The techniques range from simple, straight retrieves to whacky, rod splashing figure eights, but we all (or most of us) have past experiences that have sent roots deep down into our fishing soil.  The fruit we bear from these experiences are unique and valuable to each of us.  My buddy often retrieves his Manta in a completely different way than me, but he has confidence from his own influential experiences. These experiences have grown and shaped his technique.  We talk about our differences all the time and know we are more successful and dynamic because of them, especially when fishing together.  On that day my presentation and technique won over a near 40 lb. fish, but on any other day a different technique might give up a trophy.

The important concept to understand from this example is if we were both doing the same, popular thing, neglecting our roots, we both might have missed that fish.  Reflect on your roots and be true to what you know.  Yes, try new techniques and send out more roots, but don’t uproot and forget where you came from.

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.

In the picture is a hefty 46″ musky I caught while wading in a small stream in northern WI in July of 2009.  I was wearing shorts and sandals.  I had a few simple tools in my pockets.  And I was using quality tackle and a Natural Perch Manta Hang 10.  I had nothing else and needed nothing else.

I worked tight to the  shallow wood and weeds she was using from a distance.  At first she followed for a long way, so high in the water column that her back and tail were out of the water.  I taunted her with wide sharp sweeps and short pauses.  However , she did not strike and tucked herself in under a large log.  On my next cast, I threw past the log and brought the Manta 5′ from it at a different angle.  As it swept by the log, the musky exploded on it with its body rigid and mouth flared.  The rest is history.  Simple is wonderful.

Back To The River

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. 

I quickly netted my fish and went back over to the sucker strike.  Nicole made an excellent hookset and we quickly put that one in the net as well.  They were 44” and 43” respectively, and were both quickly and safely released.  We only spent about three hours on the water that day, but in that time we raised eighteen muskies at 40” or better, with three double follows, and a few on consecutive casts.  We only boated the double, but it was easily one of the best days of musky fishing I ever had.  Obviously, the positive environmental change had the muskies on a feeding rampage.

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.

Small flowages have a river or rivers running into them.  Some of those rivers are large enough for muskies to make seasonal migrations into and out of.  River spawning muskies may migrate many miles up stream during spring from the flowage to reproduce.  After spawning, a percentage may stay in the river to feed.  Some members of the population may be year round river residents.  Some muskies may winter and spawn in the flowage, but move into the river to feed during summer and fall.  Many different scenarios are possible depending on the density of the individual musky population, amount and location of acceptable spawning habitat, amount and location of forage, size of the flowage compared to its main tributaries, and water level fluctuations caused by precipitation and/or human control.

Find That Post-Spawn Pig

Small flowages commonly have high density populations of muskies.  That means they have above average numbers of adult muskies per acre.  Compared to other gamefish species, muskies are a low density inhabitor, which means that among other things, the individual needs a comparatively large amount of habitat to successfully exist (predate, grow, reproduce, etc.).  Fortunately, small flowages offer a good amount of habitat suitable for all aspects of the musky’s life processes, hence the high populations.  Part of this suitable habitat includes rivers, which may have the majority of the system’s suitable musky spawning habitat or may draw large amounts of the system’s musky forage for a multitude of reasons.

Seasonal Movements

Most small flowages are part of a river system in which the main river is large enough to support a sustained population of muskies.  Usually the river is at least 15 yards average distance across and contains holes that commonly reach a depth of at least 4 feet.  In such flowages, a large amount of the system’s muskies may spend a lot of time in the river for reproduction, foraging, to avoid overcrowding, higher oxygen levels, or a combination of the four.  However, these rivers seldom have enough (if any) suitable wintering habitat (deep slow holes) for the muskies in the system.

In late fall, when the water temperature in the large flowage tributaries drops into the mid 40’s and below, many muskies move down into the flowage in anticipation of winter.  When this happens, musky density in the flowage proper increases and often competition becomes fierce.  Muskies will stack up in prime areas, and marginal areas hold more fish than they did before the influx.  Competition for forage combined with the pre-existing fall binge causes muskies to become very aggressive.  Multiple fish days become common for the angler with proper timing.  The trophy potential of the system also increases as old wary muskies drop their guard slightly when faced with the feeding frenzy.

Post spawn action in the small flowage’s large tributaries can be excellent as the season opens.  If the majority of the musky spawning habitat in the system is in the river, then that is where its muskies will be around spawning time.  Often, they will concentrate heavily below the first migratory obstruction.  Usually this is a dam, but a falls higher than 4 feet will stop any further upstream progress as well.  Sometimes, it may take many miles to reach this obstruction, but the muskies reproductive drive should never be underestimated.  They will travel long distances through shallow, fast, obstruction filled water without exception if that is what the habitat dictates.  During a cold spring, concentrations of fish may still be heavy upstream as the season opens.  If this is the case, excellent action can be had by the timely angler.  Often, these areas are remote, or at least hard to access.  Fishing pressure can be light, and the action excellent.

The Forage Connection

Small WI flowages often have an abundance of excellent musky forage.  Most common are white suckers, red-tailed chubs, and common shiners; which create appropriate size structures of forage necessary for all stages of musky life.  Redhorse suckers are also common rough fish in these systems that muskies predate on.  Muskies often prefer soft finned rough fish, but if an abundance of walleyes or panfish exist, adult muskies may target these gamefish at times, especially if sucker numbers are down.  As suckers migrate, adult muskies follow, and anglers that have found the suckers have almost surely found the muskies.  Suckers in small flowages migrate up stream to spawn during spring just as muskies do.  Muskies spawn at 49-59 F, while white suckers spawn at 57-68 F.  Hence, white suckers usually complete their spawning after the muskies do.  Post spawn muskies will often stay in the river to predate on the concentrations of distracted suckers.  Opportunistic muskies may often be located by looking for schools of spawning suckers.

After spawning, suckers spread out through the system, and stay spread out in small schools unless they migrate back up stream to predate on invertebrates hatching in the river bed and moving water.  Like muskies, suckers go where the food is.  Feeding suckers are usually obvious in most small rivers.  Use polarized glasses and a brimmed hat and simply look for them as you move through the river.  When feeding, they often turn sideways to aid in rooting out the insects.  Look for the flash of their silver sides.  Following the food chain is key to finding muskies in any body of water, and small flowages are no exception.

Seasonal Small Flowage Tactics

Spring can be a bit of a crap shoot for musky fishing on small flowages in northern WI.  By the time Memorial Weekend Saturday rolls around, the muskies are usually in a post-spawn pattern.  On the plus side, these flowages are usually shallow and dark which helps them warm faster in the spring.  Locate musky spawning areas and fish just outside of them.  As mentioned earlier, if muskies spawn up river, look for them in those areas or just down stream.  However, muskies will also spawn in shallow areas of the main flowage.  These areas and those adjacent could hold good numbers of muskies, especially if they have good structure and forage.

Because of the small size of these systems, muskies typically distribute throughout them, setting up for summer very rapidly after the spawn, so searching for them may be necessary.  This is especially the case if the spring was warm and spawning concluded early.  In such small systems though, searching is never all that tough of a task.  In large bodies of water, large post spawn females often have a way of disappearing for a few weeks, but they are easier to search out in small flowages.

Post spawn muskies can be tough to trigger, especially the big females.  Down sizing and/or slow fishing is often necessary to get bites.  Finesse live bait tactics can be excellent.  For artificial lures, I prefer gliding jerkbaits such as the Manta Hang 10 and small neutral divers such as weighted 6” Bobbie Baits.  I fish these jerkbaits hard with long pauses, the cooler the water the longer the pause. If I really need to get extreme with the down sizing, I use #14 Husky Jerks and #12 X-Raps by Rapala.  I fish them on heavy spinning gear and 20lb. Fireline with a 27lb. seven strand wire leader from Chequamegon Tackle Company to maintain the action of the lure.  I work these lures in a series of three very sharp twitches followed by a long pause.  Again, the cooler the water and tougher the bite, the longer the pause.

Summer on small flowages can be excellent, but there are some variables that affect where and how to best catch muskies.  Summers in northern WI are usually mild and small flowages have continually flowing water, so it is rare that the water in them will become stagnant.  However, their shallow usually dark water absorbs a lot of the sun’s warmth, and if their water temperature gets much past the mid 70’s, oxygen levels can get too low for the muskies’ comfort.  If this occurs, muskies may move into the river where oxygen levels are higher, or adjacent to small tributary mouths for the same reason.

Available structure is another factor that affects summer musky location in small flowages.  Some flowages have good rock, wood, and vegetative structure.  However, many small flowages lack weed growth because of water level fluctuations caused by precipitation and dam function.  If such a flowage has stable water for a few months in the summer, it will grow good weed beds and muskies will use them heavily.  Muskies love weed edges, especially when they have been deprived of them for a long time.

Most lures will work in small flowages during the summer as long as they are fished properly around the right structure.  For a real good time though, the topwater bite can be excellent.  These flowages usually have stained water, low fishing pressure, and muskies holding tight to dense shallow structure.  This combination of factors scream topwater bite.  Some of the fastest most aggressive topwater action of the season can be had in these waters as they heat up during summer.

Fall is a magic time on small flowages.  As mentioned before, small flowages often have a higher density of muskies come fall, which makes for excellent action.  The muskies are feeding and fat. Action is often the best when the water temperature is 40-46 F.  By this time, any weed growth has died off and the muskies are using wood, rock, deep holes, or the river channel.  Combinations of the above features are often deadly.  Also, don’t rule out up flowage areas where the river comes in.  Often, current attracts forage and in turn muskies to these areas.  These tributary mouths are excellent places to intercept muskies moving into the flowage.  Again, muskies can be all over especially since so many of them are on the move.  Fall spots can be the same as summer spots, and if summer spots are being abandon for fall locations, transition spots between the two can hold muskies.  Count nothing out until the muskies show themselves.

Bryce With A Lot Of Fall Action

Live suckers and jerkbaits are my staple fall presentations.  Of course, in WI anglers are allowed to use three lines apiece, and if I can get away with it, I use all of them.  Years ago in northern WI, my buddies and I named this firing up the meat wagon; and it can be very productive.  However, working small flowages usually means working in tight quarters to heavy cover.  Ideally, I would like to have a sucker directly under my figure eight pattern a little deeper than half way to the bottom, a sucker 15 yards behind the boat for that boat shy lunker (where trolling is legal), and an artificial rod in hand constantly picking out structure.

If trolling is not legal, then any sucker line must run completely vertical into the water from the rod tip.  This is considered “position fishing” and not trolling.  Trolling is illegal state wide in WI except on certain waters or in certain counties that are specified as open to motor trolling.  Where motor trolling is not allowed, suckers can be row trolled, but then rowing takes the place of casting a jerkbait and that sucks.  An electric motor with universal sonar allows for the most pinpoint hands free control of the boat and positioning to structure.

I use 5 oz salmon stalker slip bobbers on all my sucker lines and 4.5 ounces of lead above every quick strike rig.  Such rigs come pre-weighted from Chequamegon Tackle Company.  The weight balances out the bobber, so the musky feels little resistance when it takes the sucker.  Also, the weight keeps the sucker struggling in place which is very tempting to sluggish cold water muskies.  A hooked sucker will often out run a hungry musky that isn’t all that hot.  Also, a sucker that is weighted down can’t swim into a submerged tree as easily.  Rigged suckers want nothing more than to get out of the open, and will swim into any cover they can.  A clump of vegetation is manageable, a crib is a disaster.  At the very least the sucker is gone, if not the entire rig.  That is also why I always use bobbers even for my boatside vertical lines.  If a sucker gets chased by a musky the adrenaline rush will make it much stronger and it will dart towards any cover it can.  The bobber will hinder this effort, and help regain control of the sucker immediately after the short burst of energy is done.  This assistance in control is very important especially because I am probably retrieving a lure while this takes place.  If I put down that rod mid cast, I could end up with two snagged and/or tangled lines instead of just one.  Control of all lines is very important to avoid messes on the meat wagon.

Any artificial will work in fall as long as it retains good action at slow speeds.  When fishing likely areas over 8 feet deep, use different lures to cover all depth zones and pick the hole apart.  I like to work a Manta Hang 10 up high to pick off the most aggressive fish, then I scour out the depths with a weighted Bobbie bait, and finally I work my suckers through for the ones that have to have the real thing.  Often, when moving a lot of fish in the fall, clear daily preferences between artificial and live baits can be observed in muskies.  Sometimes they only want meat, but more often than one may think they are hot on lures only, even in the face of lively struggling suckers.  Of course, when they really get on, nothing is safe in the water.  I’ve gone through half a dozen suckers my first half hour on the water.  At those times it’s hard to keep a sucker alive in the water.

The Diamond in the Rough

Often, small flowages receive very little musky fishing pressure.  The smaller they are, the more remote area they are in, the tougher they are to get into, and the harder they are to launch a boat on; the better they usually are.  Often, these waters are overlooked by many anglers because they are known as numbers lakes with few large fish.  This is often the case because it often takes larger waters to grow larger fish.  However, some small flowages (especially those that aren’t even known as musky waters) have only a few but much larger muskies since there is more food and space to go around.  Many anglers also shy away from these waters because their big modern musky rigs are often too large to get into these waters.  In this way, flowages are very friendly to those on a more modest budget.  Small flowages are ideal for small boats and canoes.  The small boat angler can fish in comfort with out having to worry about rough water or jerks tearing up the water all around them.  Small flowages are therefore great bodies of water on which to teach kids how to fish muskies.

More Flowage Gold

To find small flowages with largely unknown musky populations, look for those connected to known musky waters by some type of river or stream, even if it is a long way away.  If there are several dams or falls in between, just make sure it is down stream.  All it takes is a few small muskies funneling down over the years to create an awesome fishery.  If I think a forty acre flowage has five muskies in it, I am all over it.  Chances are, few people if any are using it, and the five muskies are either big or will be in the future.  On the other hand, are the flowages with lots of muskies.  True, many of them will be small but there are big ones too.  I don’t care for the modern elitist attitude that only the largest muskies are worth chasing.  Those types of guys can fight each other out on Mille Lacs all day and all night for all I care.  I like catching very large muskies, and I do catch them, but I love all muskies; and those that live in these small flowages are very unique and beautiful and I love them.  Also, some of them do get very big.  I say let the snobs fight each other for the hot reef.  I like to escape the crowds and get back to what musky fishing is all about, what musky fishing came from:  Exploring, and seeking out the diamond in the rough.