Pete Stoltman
05-23-2012, 08:19 AM
Here it comes, the opening of the musky season. Matt and I really regard this as a holiday at least on a par with Christmas, 4th of July, and National Take a Fishing Guide to Lunch day. Are you ready? Of course all winter long some of us sharpen hooks, buy new lures, organize tackle boxes, etc. but now is the time to check to make sure you've got sufficient and good line on the reels, leaders ready to rock, and some of the less glamorous jobs done.
Now, where to go? Dang, I'm just not sure, this year water temps are in the mid 60's, good weed growth on a lot of lakes and the usual opener thing of dark bottom bays on the north side of lakes is probably not going to be as significant as it is in cooler years. Probably still going to stay relatively shallow and look for the good weeds where I've been catching walleye and panfish. I've seen a number of cruising muskies the last few weeks so that's a good indicator. Another area I like is to look for those sandy shorelines that are still just bare sand and look for the first break where the weeds start. That's usually a pretty decent early season location.
What lures to throw? In this regard I'm a pretty traditional guy and will likely pull out a small minnow style crankbait for starters. Bucktails and possibly even a surface bait will be right behind depending on what the conditions are telling me. Some of my crankbaits may be quite small as I've had some musky follows when I've been pitching Luckycraft Pointers or Rapala Husky Jerks for bass. Still a lot of walleye guys hooking up muskies on a jig and minnow so those 3"-4" baits may be the ticket.
Wherever you go or whatever your results let us know what you see on your favorite lake. Good luck this season and let's all have a hoot in 2012.
Now, where to go? Dang, I'm just not sure, this year water temps are in the mid 60's, good weed growth on a lot of lakes and the usual opener thing of dark bottom bays on the north side of lakes is probably not going to be as significant as it is in cooler years. Probably still going to stay relatively shallow and look for the good weeds where I've been catching walleye and panfish. I've seen a number of cruising muskies the last few weeks so that's a good indicator. Another area I like is to look for those sandy shorelines that are still just bare sand and look for the first break where the weeds start. That's usually a pretty decent early season location.
What lures to throw? In this regard I'm a pretty traditional guy and will likely pull out a small minnow style crankbait for starters. Bucktails and possibly even a surface bait will be right behind depending on what the conditions are telling me. Some of my crankbaits may be quite small as I've had some musky follows when I've been pitching Luckycraft Pointers or Rapala Husky Jerks for bass. Still a lot of walleye guys hooking up muskies on a jig and minnow so those 3"-4" baits may be the ticket.
Wherever you go or whatever your results let us know what you see on your favorite lake. Good luck this season and let's all have a hoot in 2012.