Muskie Matt
07-10-2009, 09:44 AM
5764
Just finished a 5 day run of fishing, first chance I've had to sit and do some computer work. 5 seventeen hour days in a row is enough... here's an update...
On a scale of 1 to 10, I'd give the past week's muskie fishing a 7. Not seeing a lot of fish but when we'd bring one up it was usually a "hitter". We took 5 fish in 5 days, again, not a lot of action but steady results. Two fish were taken on surface baits, three on bucktails. Had to put your hours in...
Bucktails are still my bait of choice, yellow, black, and brown with gold blades have been producing best. Also seeing a steady increase in surface baits working during the morning and evening hours. The medium size, quieter surface baits seem to be the pattern muskies prefer now. Small mud puppies and globe baits are the ticket. Speed and a good figure 8 are a must. Too slow a presentation and all you'll get are follows and a good deep figure 8 will get you fish you never saw coming in.
Where do you look for these fish...? Weeds, weeds, and more weeds in the 4-8ft depth range. Learning to work thick weeds is a must, drifting large weeds flats also worked well. Pretty simple approach really, typical muskie fishing... put your time in.
We also did some panfishing and found small crappie minnows to work best when suspended a couple feet under a slip-bobber in the six foot weed flats. Took some nice sized crappies this way and you'll pick up a good mix of fish in this manner also. This is a good way to fish with the kids, it should keep them plenty busy.
The attached photo is 17 year old Theresa Clever with her very first muskie, she had just learned to cast and took this fish on a surface bait. Theresa is visiting Wild Eagle Lodge with her family from California, they're part of the Evans Family reunion, a group of 40 or so family members visiting Eagle River for the week. Excellent fishing Theresa, good job.
Good fishing to everyone this coming weekend...
Just finished a 5 day run of fishing, first chance I've had to sit and do some computer work. 5 seventeen hour days in a row is enough... here's an update...
On a scale of 1 to 10, I'd give the past week's muskie fishing a 7. Not seeing a lot of fish but when we'd bring one up it was usually a "hitter". We took 5 fish in 5 days, again, not a lot of action but steady results. Two fish were taken on surface baits, three on bucktails. Had to put your hours in...
Bucktails are still my bait of choice, yellow, black, and brown with gold blades have been producing best. Also seeing a steady increase in surface baits working during the morning and evening hours. The medium size, quieter surface baits seem to be the pattern muskies prefer now. Small mud puppies and globe baits are the ticket. Speed and a good figure 8 are a must. Too slow a presentation and all you'll get are follows and a good deep figure 8 will get you fish you never saw coming in.
Where do you look for these fish...? Weeds, weeds, and more weeds in the 4-8ft depth range. Learning to work thick weeds is a must, drifting large weeds flats also worked well. Pretty simple approach really, typical muskie fishing... put your time in.
We also did some panfishing and found small crappie minnows to work best when suspended a couple feet under a slip-bobber in the six foot weed flats. Took some nice sized crappies this way and you'll pick up a good mix of fish in this manner also. This is a good way to fish with the kids, it should keep them plenty busy.
The attached photo is 17 year old Theresa Clever with her very first muskie, she had just learned to cast and took this fish on a surface bait. Theresa is visiting Wild Eagle Lodge with her family from California, they're part of the Evans Family reunion, a group of 40 or so family members visiting Eagle River for the week. Excellent fishing Theresa, good job.
Good fishing to everyone this coming weekend...