Night Fishing Muskies 7/7/09

[Chas Martin]

It is that time of year again when people are traveling up to the North woods from all across the country and fishing pressure is at its peak for the season. Use this trend to your advantage and hit the lakes at night for some incredible action. All popular fresh water species, with the exception of northern pike, feed under the cloak of darkness and fishing during these conditions can yield the best action of the year, even when anglers are pounding the water and jet skiers are tearing up the shores. Don’t be afraid to put the head-lamps on! Pick a body of water that you know well and fish the same spots you normally fish during the day. There are a few slight changes I make during different light conditions but you will pick up on these fine tuning skills with time on the water. Usually starting around July 4th, I will start fishing at night as a way to beat the pressure and the heat. Bucktails are easy to throw and also very effective fishing lures at night for shallow water presentations. For deeper water, go with jointed deep diving cranks with rattles. Just like fishing during the day, you will have to check both shallow and deep spots for action but I will generally have a strong bite in shallow, weedy cover. I took this fat 41 incher the last night fishing a breakline with a deep diving crankbait and earlier in the afternoon, I saw one of the biggest muskies I have ever seen in the state of WI. Get out there are fish hard!

Good luck,

Chas Martin
www.muskymastery.com